Pre-literacy for two-year-old: what’s next?

[Anonymous]

My 2 yr old knows all his letters and their phonetic sounds. We read to him a lot and follow the words in the books when possible (when the text is under the picture). What am I supposed to do next? Sight words? Blends? We aren’t doing tv/screens yet.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

What are you trying to achieve?

[Anonymous]

Nothing. Just keep doing what you’re doing, but remember that TV isn’t evil.

[Anonymous]

Yes, blends come next. And don’t forget to work on your child’s vocabulary. My toddler love those Mrs. Wordsmith flip/easel books.

[Anonymous]

You can look at some Montessori lessons like games. For example, label a bunch of things around a room in your house with sticky notes review them with your child. Then write a new sticky note with one object word on it and have your child try to find that object in the room. Your child can match the letters or just start to learn how the world looks. You can talk about words that start with a sound and both try to come up with as many words you can think of. To get harder, ask for words that end with some sound. You can show him that some combinations of letters make different sounds like SH. Kids like to learn so take your child as far as she wants to go. My child was more interested in numbers so I did things at that age like what number comes after seven and got harder like what number comes after 29. Finally I did things like what number comes before 20. She used to love it and beg for more and more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can look at some Montessori lessons like games. For example, label a bunch of things around a room in your house with sticky notes review them with your child. Then write a new sticky note with one object word on it and have your child try to find that object in the room. Your child can match the letters or just start to learn how the world looks. You can talk about words that start with a sound and both try to come up with as many words you can think of. To get harder, ask for words that end with some sound. You can show him that some combinations of letters make different sounds like SH. Kids like to learn so take your child as far as she wants to go. My child was more interested in numbers so I did things at that age like what number comes after seven and got harder like what number comes after 29. Finally I did things like what number comes before 20. She used to love it and beg for more and more.

This is a great idea! Not OP but my toddler would love this! Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Rhyming games and same-letter games. Also, clapping syllables.

[Anonymous]

BOB books

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can look at some Montessori lessons like games. For example, label a bunch of things around a room in your house with sticky notes review them with your child. Then write a new sticky note with one object word on it and have your child try to find that object in the room. Your child can match the letters or just start to learn how the world looks. You can talk about words that start with a sound and both try to come up with as many words you can think of. To get harder, ask for words that end with some sound. You can show him that some combinations of letters make different sounds like SH. Kids like to learn so take your child as far as she wants to go. My child was more interested in numbers so I did things at that age like what number comes after seven and got harder like what number comes after 29. Finally I did things like what number comes before 20. She used to love it and beg for more and more.

I agree! Also let your child watch you write out the words. Our kids rarely see us hand-write anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 2 yr old knows all his letters and their phonetic sounds. We read to him a lot and follow the words in the books when possible (when the text is under the picture). What am I supposed to do next? Sight words? Blends? We aren’t doing tv/screens yet.

Thank you!

Is he potty trained?

[Anonymous]

What is your goal?

Is it early decoding, or do you care more about skills that matter long term like comprehension and writing?

As a teacher, I see a pattern all the time where parents push early decoding, then boast about their early decoding, then reinforce their kid heavily for misbehavior they perceive as "bored" because they are "ahead" in Kindergarten, and end up with kid who are afraid to work hard, or show interest, or pursue rabbit trails and challenge themselves, because their parents have communicated that those things don't fit with the narrative of their kid being ahead.

Yes, with some kids, they're going to learn to decode early, despite your efforts. One of mine is like that. But I can't figure out why a parent would try to create that situation.

[Anonymous]

Preschool teacher here. Keep up the reading to him, as much as you can and whatever he wants. Put some bob books in his hands, but don’t force it, that’s an easy way to turn a child off of books forever. Don’t forget other skills—counting and science (baking soda and vinegar!), fine motor skills and gross motor skills—hand strengthening (playdoh) for future writing success. Ask questions, go for hikes, cook together. People get wrapped up in early reading and forget the other things kids should be working on through exploring their world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 2 yr old knows all his letters and their phonetic sounds. We read to him a lot and follow the words in the books when possible (when the text is under the picture). What am I supposed to do next? Sight words? Blends? We aren’t doing tv/screens yet.

Thank you!

Is he potty trained?

Yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Preschool teacher here. Keep up the reading to him, as much as you can and whatever he wants. Put some bob books in his hands, but don’t force it, that’s an easy way to turn a child off of books forever. Don’t forget other skills—counting and science (baking soda and vinegar!), fine motor skills and gross motor skills—hand strengthening (playdoh) for future writing success. Ask questions, go for hikes, cook together. People get wrapped up in early reading and forget the other things kids should be working on through exploring their world.

OP here. Yes, we do all that too. We just have a lot of time together!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Preschool teacher here. Keep up the reading to him, as much as you can and whatever he wants. Put some bob books in his hands, but don’t force it, that’s an easy way to turn a child off of books forever. Don’t forget other skills—counting and science (baking soda and vinegar!), fine motor skills and gross motor skills—hand strengthening (playdoh) for future writing success. Ask questions, go for hikes, cook together. People get wrapped up in early reading and forget the other things kids should be working on through exploring their world.

OP here. Yes, we do all that too. We just have a lot of time together!

Talk talk talk about the books you read. Don't do things that distract from the language like pointing at words or talking about letters. The number one predictor of a kid's success when they start school is their vocabulary and the sophistication of their language, and language always has room for growth. There are always more words and ideas.

So, do lots of dramatic play. Read lots of stories, talk about them reenact them. Try out the ideas from them. Read lots of nonfiction and talk about it.