The more you can read to him the better. This is the #1 best thing to do. He'll hear you pronouncing words and get the idea.

You can also work on him recognizing letter sounds that will help him with phonetic reading.

If he's asking for it then give it to him.

There are books without words that he could "read" to his sister. He could narrate them. "Where's Walrus" is a good one. There are also storytelling game cards that your children might enjoy using to come up with stories together. Even if your son couldn't read the words he could come up with stories based on the pictures.

I did Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons for my 4-5 year old. He now reads on a second grade level. My younger ds was two at the time and he got jealous because i wouldnt teach him so I got him Hooked on Phonics kindergarten level just for fun. He just watched the DVDs while I taught older DS. He's three now and reads at end of Kindergarten level (BoB books). If he wants to read just teach him. He'll learn more because he wants it.

Really? Your 3 year old is sad he can't read? What rubbish. Why are you insane and putting this kind of pressure on your 3 year old child? Go see a therapist.

Anonymous wrote:Glad to see all of the warnings about pushing too hard, too soon. I do want to add a note that some kids really *do* want to (and can!) learn to read at (and before) that age. I think that if you've got one of those, it's great to support it.
One of mine couldn't be bothered before K (now loves it) and another just couldn't get enough years before K. So it goes.

My kid started reading just before she turned four. We never did any kind of formal instruction, but she always liked to play games with words--we'd take turns saying words that started with a specific sounds, or rhyming words--we'd usually end up just making up nonsense words and giggling. We'd read rhyming books like Dr. Seuss and she'd fill in the last word of the verse. We played "I Spy" with colors, shapes, and letters. It was always a game. Someone gave us the first set of Bob books and she liked it because, in her words, "I can read it!" We got the Bob books, but we never pulled them out--again, she always initiated reading them. I also read before I turned four, without formal instruction, so she comes by it naturally. So my advice would be to keep it light and fun, and not push at all at this age. I do like the show "Super Why," which is a phonics show, because it's based on stories and addresses comprehension, not just decoding.

Glad to see all of the warnings about pushing too hard, too soon. I do want to add a note that some kids really *do* want to (and can!) learn to read at (and before) that age. I think that if you've got one of those, it's great to support it.
One of mine couldn't be bothered before K (now loves it) and another just couldn't get enough years before K. So it goes.

reading for 3.5 year olds looks very different than an adult reading. It's not about decoding words but rather about story comprehension, recognizing rhymes, and having an understanding of sounds. Look up "picture walks" and do that with your child, but please don't force decoding.. it is boring, and not appropriate.

Anonymous wrote:Do you have/do you read to him the very simplest Dr Seuss books (for example, "Hop on Pop"?)

Also +1 to other posters wondering where he is getting this idea and working on having him chill out about reading.

Yes, we read those books often together and he "reads" them back to me. And I've been impressed with how well he does pick up some sight words after repetition. I haven't pushed beyond what he himself initiates.

Because often his sister reads aloud to him, he wants to be able to reciprocate but finds himself getting frustrated. Like I said before I've reminded him that at he's beginning to learn letter sounds and even has sight words which is good for his age, but that's sometimes hard for kids to understand. He's got a sibling that does more and he wants to keep up.

Do you have/do you read to him the very simplest Dr Seuss books (for example, "Hop on Pop"?)

Also +1 to other posters wondering where he is getting this idea and working on having him chill out about reading.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid will turn 5 in the fall and can't do the rhyming words or sight words yet and doesn't know the letter sounds, so don't worry OP. For some kids it just takes time..If she can't do that at age 6, then you have to worry, not now.

I'm not worried. I know he's young, just want to encourage him in age appropriate ways since he's showing interest.

Thanks for the suggestions, pps.

There really aren't "age appropriate" ways to learn to read at this age. There are kids who do, but that's just random.

If you want to know sadness, try dealing with an older child with severe dyslexia who can't read at grade level and knows it.

OP, I don't believe that you are just trying to encourage him in age appropriate ways. You want to be able to brag that your kid learned to read b/f he was 4. Even if you drilled religiously on non-age appropriate activities, it still might not happen.

So read to him.

You can believe what you want, but it's really not true. I teach older children and have seen the damage of parental pressure on the love of learning. I want to support and encourage without frustrating my child. That's why I'm asking for advice from people who may have worked with younger kids. You have nothing useful to offer and ovviously are projecting your own issues onto my post.

Anonymous wrote:Two good things to work on at this age are letter sounds and rhyming. Easy to do when you are walking or driving together -- "I see a ball, ball starts with b, what else starts with b? Ball rhymes with tall, what else rhymes with ball?" And just repeat the letter and rhyming sounds a lot.

This. Point out and talk about environmental print. Encourage invented spelling. Read to him. Go to the library.

--former elem. teacher

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid will turn 5 in the fall and can't do the rhyming words or sight words yet and doesn't know the letter sounds, so don't worry OP. For some kids it just takes time..If she can't do that at age 6, then you have to worry, not now.

I'm not worried. I know he's young, just want to encourage him in age appropriate ways since he's showing interest.

Thanks for the suggestions, pps.

There really aren't "age appropriate" ways to learn to read at this age. There are kids who do, but that's just random.

If you want to know sadness, try dealing with an older child with severe dyslexia who can't read at grade level and knows it.

OP, I don't believe that you are just trying to encourage him in age appropriate ways. You want to be able to brag that your kid learned to read b/f he was 4. Even if you drilled religiously on non-age appropriate activities, it still might not happen.

So read to him.

Anonymous wrote:My kid will turn 5 in the fall and can't do the rhyming words or sight words yet and doesn't know the letter sounds, so don't worry OP. For some kids it just takes time..If she can't do that at age 6, then you have to worry, not now.

I'm not worried. I know he's young, just want to encourage him in age appropriate ways since he's showing interest.

Thanks for the suggestions, pps.

Get the Bob books

My kid will turn 5 in the fall and can't do the rhyming words or sight words yet and doesn't know the letter sounds, so don't worry OP. For some kids it just takes time..If she can't do that at age 6, then you have to worry, not now.