Teaching my 4 year old to read

[Anonymous]

Don’t stop and ignore the posters who are too lazy to work with their kids. Lots of kids read by age 4.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t stop and ignore the posters who are too lazy to work with their kids. Lots of kids read by age 4.

But other ones don't.

Look, I've worked with a four year old on 100EL and it didn't take. But it worked awesome with the same child at five. She just wasn't ready back then. Please note that this particular child was the fourth child I've taught to read, and the third by 100EL.

You can maybe plough through it. But time is a limited resource, and if it is a serious struggle, at that age, I think that time it is better spent on other things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just read to your child.

+1

In Finland, reading isn't generally taught until age 7, and they have great success in learning.

https://www.npr.org/2014/03/08/287255411/what-the-u-s-can-learn-from-finland-where-school-starts-at-age-7


There's nothing wrong with teaching kids earlier if they're enjoying it, but if they are frustrated, just drop it and wait.

The myth of Finland being a great success at education just won't die. All this silly Look at Finland! nonsense was based on the great scores on PISA they attained two decades ago, but their PISA scores have been slipping ever since. Finland was always middle of the pack on TIMSS, the other big international comparative test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t stop and ignore the posters who are too lazy to work with their kids. Lots of kids read by age 4.

Speaking as someone who taught my kids to read, that’s ridiculous.

Kids develop at different rates. It’s like saying all 4 year olds should be 3.5 feet. That’s apparently taller than average, so the percentage might be relatively small (and I don’t know the actual percentage), but across the population that surely adds up to a lot of 4 year olds. Meanwhile, the majority of 4 year olds will be shorter, but will almost certainly get there and surpass it eventually. Every child grows at their own pace and barring extreme outliers it’s commonly acknowledged to be normal and healthy.

Yes, a lot of 4 year olds learn to read. Some will even learn at a younger age. The vast majority, however, learn to read somewhere around the ages of 5-6. Part of that is undoubtedly exposure to effective instruction, but a significant part of it is also developmental readiness, which like most attributes (including height) varies by individual. It’s good for the human race that we have diverse combinations of strengths and weaknesses. Reading is an important skill everybody should have, but it’s not critical that everyone acquires it before they turn 5.

[Anonymous]

He needs more phonemic awareness work. He needs to hear the sounds in the words.
Back up and have him segment the sounds a lot not blend them together. Look around the house or in a book and name objects with short names. Break the word up into its sounds. Give him directions by saying things like g-o. G-e-t th-e. P-l-a-te. Do this for a few weeks. Have him use magnetic letters and write some cvc words. Drop the teach your kid to read and build this first. Then try blending again. Repeat as necessary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He's not too young. Try other methods.

+1 Four years old is great age to learn to read. Try an app that has games integrated into the lessons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t stop and ignore the posters who are too lazy to work with their kids. Lots of kids read by age 4.

I agree and I think many of the naysayers are jealous and resentful because they cant or didnt teach their preschoolers to read.

[Anonymous]

I remember using picture cards where one side had the picture of a cat and the word cat. The other side just had the word cat. We would go through the cards with the picture and eventually go through with just the words. Over time the words became more complicated but they grew into it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I remember using picture cards where one side had the picture of a cat and the word cat. The other side just had the word cat. We would go through the cards with the picture and eventually go through with just the words. Over time the words became more complicated but they grew into it.

That's teaching sight-reading, which is a good skill for learning words like the, of, what, this, etc. If OP wants her child to get better at sounding out words, I think something like an app is better because it can integrate sounds with pictures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t stop and ignore the posters who are too lazy to work with their kids. Lots of kids read by age 4.

Speaking as someone who taught my kids to read, that’s ridiculous.

Kids develop at different rates. It’s like saying all 4 year olds should be 3.5 feet. That’s apparently taller than average, so the percentage might be relatively small (and I don’t know the actual percentage), but across the population that surely adds up to a lot of 4 year olds. Meanwhile, the majority of 4 year olds will be shorter, but will almost certainly get there and surpass it eventually. Every child grows at their own pace and barring extreme outliers it’s commonly acknowledged to be normal and healthy.

Yes, a lot of 4 year olds learn to read. Some will even learn at a younger age. The vast majority, however, learn to read somewhere around the ages of 5-6. Part of that is undoubtedly exposure to effective instruction, but a significant part of it is also developmental readiness, which like most attributes (including height) varies by individual. It’s good for the human race that we have diverse combinations of strengths and weaknesses. Reading is an important skill everybody should have, but it’s not critical that everyone acquires it before they turn 5.

Many more 4 year olds could read if their parents attempted it. I see many parents are scared off of it by naysayers so they wait until 6, but some of those kids could have learned it earlier. Everyone should give it a try in the 4s and if it doesn't stick, fine.

[Anonymous]

Why should a four year old be reading? What’s the point?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember using picture cards where one side had the picture of a cat and the word cat. The other side just had the word cat. We would go through the cards with the picture and eventually go through with just the words. Over time the words became more complicated but they grew into it.

That's teaching sight-reading, which is a good skill for learning words like the, of, what, this, etc. If OP wants her child to get better at sounding out words, I think something like an app is better because it can integrate sounds with pictures.

Nope, those should be sounded out, too. “The” and “this” are very straightforward. “Of” and “what” provide close enough approximations that the child may be able to adjust from context, or will at least be able to adjust when assisted with the sound shift. Even if they need some help at first, having similar sounds to cue off of is still better than having to memorize random combinations of letters representing random words.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t stop and ignore the posters who are too lazy to work with their kids. Lots of kids read by age 4.

But other ones don't.

Look, I've worked with a four year old on 100EL and it didn't take. But it worked awesome with the same child at five. She just wasn't ready back then. Please note that this particular child was the fourth child I've taught to read, and the third by 100EL.

You can maybe plough through it. But time is a limited resource, and if it is a serious struggle, at that age, I think that time it is better spent on other things.

That may not be the best for that child. You have four kids so no you aren’t devoting the time I did. That’s why I had. Less kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just read to your child.

Plus 1

Rhyming games, too.

Mom and Montessori teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember using picture cards where one side had the picture of a cat and the word cat. The other side just had the word cat. We would go through the cards with the picture and eventually go through with just the words. Over time the words became more complicated but they grew into it.

That's teaching sight-reading, which is a good skill for learning words like the, of, what, this, etc. If OP wants her child to get better at sounding out words, I think something like an app is better because it can integrate sounds with pictures.

Nope, those should be sounded out, too. “The” and “this” are very straightforward. “Of” and “what” provide close enough approximations that the child may be able to adjust from context, or will at least be able to adjust when assisted with the sound shift. Even if they need some help at first, having similar sounds to cue off of is still better than having to memorize random combinations of letters representing random words.