What books do you suggest for a 4 year old (with some delays) to learn to read?
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Anonymous
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My son loves books, mostly to look at pictures and talk about what is happening, but he is not yet reading (and I don't expect him to). However, I want to offer him some books that will actually help with learning how to read. He doesn't yet seem to know all his letters or numbers, so maybe something that would also help with that.
He has SPD, will probably be diagnosed with ADHD, and may have some learning delays, and what appears to be an expressive language delay - its hard to tell right now. I am expecting him to probably have some struggles in school, but hoping for the best. In any event, I would like to do my part to at least introduce him to books that can help him get ready for Kindergarten. He has a late birthday, so he won't go to K until he is almost 6. I would like to use this year to try to prepare him the best I can. He has a short attention span, so the books need to be short, include interesting pictures etc. He loves animals, bugs, legos. We have plenty of those DK reader books Level 1, 1 etc...but those actually seem too complicated to start with -too many words. I think we need something more simple to get him to put words and letters together. I've looked at Bob books, but I wonder if those would interest him at all. Thoughts? |
Anonymous
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OP,
If you haven't already, I would get a global assessment by a developmental pediatrician. "SPD" isn't in the DSM. It doesn't mean it doesn't exist; it's just that you shouldn't be getting a "diagnosis" of it. I would drop any practitioner who gave a diagnosis and switch. Secondly, reading all kinds of books contribute to literacy. If your kid has speech delays, they are often associated with language based learning issues later on. So just go to the library and have your kid pick out books he enjoys. Spend every day for reading. Do games to learn the alphabet and the sounds that go with the letters. Don't worry if your kid isn't reading by K. |
Anonymous
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Keep reading to him- 30 minutes a day minimum. This is more important. It expands his vocabulary and knowledge of language, plots and characters. Include him in conversation, let him ask questions and answer them, take him to museums, zoos, theatre, art shows, street festivals, concerts......Read some of the alphabet books to expose him the alphabet. Two of the best are Animalia and Eating the Alphabet. Get the old Richard Scarry books that have everything labeled in the towns and country side, the ones with the gorilla driving the banana car- but this is more for a 5 year old.
You don't say if he is just four or almost five, so it is difficult to know if he is showing signs of problems. Does he know his colors but take longer to say what it is or say the wrong color? Does he know the letters in his name? |
Anonymous
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Have you tried the Bob Books. They aren't for SN kids per se but I have them for my ASD kid. He's almost 5.
http://www.amazon.com/Bob-Books-Set-Beginning-Readers/dp/0439845009/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1430344942&sr=1-1&keywords=bob+books |
Anonymous
We did the step readers, preschool prep and leap frog videos. My child has language delays and read early. Don't underestimate. 
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Anonymous
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Oh and if he doesn't know the letters, you would be better off staying at that level with letter recognition and reading to him as much as possible. Any kind of books. I always point at the book title and we say each letter in the title and spend time talking about what sound each letter makes.
But I would focus on books that focus on letter recognition like Chica Chica Boom Boom, etc. |
Anonymous
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The best books are ones that repeat some words on each page. like Good Night Moon, Guess How Much I Love You or that have rhymes like Dr. Seuss series or that have good rhythm and are fun to memorize like Good Night, Good Night Construction Site or Steam Train, Dream Train.
For many kids the first step to reading is memorizing the words of a book and matching them up with what's on the page. At first he may not be able to match specific words but may know what the story says on a page or set of pages. Pretty soon he'll be matching up words. Then he'll be able to extrapolate from what he knows. For instance, he'll know that c-a-t spells cat and that s makes the sss sound and then he'll be able to read sat. Our own DCs couldn't stand the Bob books as they don't really have a story but I second PPs recommendation that they seem to work for some kids. |
Anonymous
| 18:11 here. Wanted to add that DS loved Little Critter at 4. |
Anonymous
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I gently suggest you slow down. Most 4 year olds are not developmentally ready to read. It's not something you can push if your DC (SN or not) isn't ready. Two of my three kids have SNs and NONE of them were ready to read at age 4 and even my NT DD wasn't ready when she entered K. And, research indicates the greatest predictor of achievement is the parental education level http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2853053/ . I know in this hyper-competitive area there is a lot of pressure on kids' academic achievement but don't drink the Koolaid. Exposing your kids to books, providing them education opportunities (like going to the library and letting your DS choose books, going to museums, spending quality time together, reading to your child, etc.) are sufficient for K prep. If your DS is later diagnosed with an LD, you can work with the teacher to reinforce at home what he's learning at school.
If you have other concerns about your DS, have him evaluated by Child Find and a dev ped and get him into a county special ed preschool. Your DS doesn't need to be reading until the end of K and even if he's not at that point there's still time for him to catch up. My oldest didn't get an IEP until the end of K, left K not reading but as a 7th grader is well advanced in reading. |
Anonymous
| As an early childhood educator working with children this she, I second the OP who gently suggested you slow down. Just read to him, all kinds of books. |
Anonymous
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I would also agree that even very intuitively bright children are not necessarily reading at age 4. Learning the letters of the alphabet and the sounds they represent is an early skills. Also, reading nursery rhymes and having your child learn to say them - at first by chiming in on a rhyming word or one at the end of a line and then maybe alternating lines helps build the concepts of words, rhyme and following on a printed page. Children learn at different paces - we have twin granddaughters in kindergarten, and the pace is varied and not surprising. I have always favored a phonics base to instruction. Reading aloud daily is so important as is taking the child to the public library to have books in your home and letting your child choose a book he/she would like read to him. |
Anonymous
| You're on the SN board and you want to get your reading at age 4? Slow down. Really. This is a journey that may take years. |
Anonymous
| Just help him love books and stories! Reading him things like the Bob books can make reading seem like a boring chore - there isn't much fun in those. But read him stuff he loves. My kid with dyslexia loves, loves, loves stories and can understand them even when he can't read them. Just feed the love of story, and let the reading part wait for a bit. You could make sure you are reading him lots of good stuff with rhymes and word play, because that is a good foundation for phonics. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is a great example. Poetry is also great - Shel Silvertein is a favorite in our house. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
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http://www.amazon.com/playful-pals-level-Nora-Gaydos/dp/1584762039/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430409408&sr=8-1&keywords=now+I+can+read
This is at the Bob book level but with more interesting plots and pictures. Lots of animal themed sets. |