Reply to Tips on teaching a 3 year old to read?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]For those saying don't, can you say why? She has expressed an interest and seems frustrated with her current level of understanding. Doesn't feel like there is any harm in pointing her in the right direction. I get not wanting to pressure her or take the joy out of it, but what's the harm in just incorporating some reading skills into her usual playing?[/quote]

Educator here.  The problem is that when parents talk about teaching their child to read what they are thinking of is a very narrow slice of the reading pie—decoding symbols into sounds/words.  But the pie is much bigger than that—building vocabulary, understanding sentence structure, grasping narrative flow—these and other skills are what allow us to turn sounds and words into coherent, meaningful language and to use that language to express our own ideas back.  If you have ever learned a new language as an adult, you have probably had the experience of being able to read a sentence out loud and even recognize most of the words individually but not understand the meaning of what you have read.

Kids who learn the external piece of reading first (the decoding part) often take much longer to master the other components and can actually end up behind in reading comprehension.

The solution is to focus on surrounding her with language. Yes, it is fine to do rudimentary things like pointing to the words as you read, reading short words together such as signs when you are out for a walk, or ingredients in a recipe when you are cooking together.  But you should also be singing, telling increasingly elaborate stories to her and with her, engage in call-and-response oriented songs and games, listening to audiobooks, and reading longer and more complicated books to her at bedtime.  If you focus on a language-rich environment rather than mastering decoding it will build all of her reading skills at the same time and make her a better reader in the long run.[/quote]

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