Learning to Read

It's no secret that I love to read. Before I had children, I had visions of snuggling up with babies, teens and everything in between and sharing my love of books. Funny how most of those idealized visions never materialize. You see, I have 3 boys. Busy, crazy, active, amazing boys and I love it. They like books and like to read, but they would always choose something active over something still, so I had to make learning to read a bit more fun than looking at letters and practicing sounds.

So, just in case we have more kids at some future point and I'm too old to remember what I did well with the first 3, I thought I should write a few parenting things down, since my blog is pretty much our only journal now.  Also, a few people here were interested in how I got my boys to read fairly early, so I thought I should make a record of it. 

Before I start with my explanation,  you must know that I think children really catch on when they are ready. My boys are not "gifted" readers that plow through chapter books at 4 or teach themselves to read at 2. I've known a few kids like that and they are amazing. Also, all of my boys have learned differently. #1 knew letters and sounds at a ridiculously young age, #2 has great instincts and can hear the correct words when he strings sounds together without any effort at all, and #3 was so stubborn that he went from barely recognizing all his letters to reading 3 and 4 letter words with short vowels in 3 months, plus he really loves books. There is only so much you can do as a parent but you can do something!

That being said, I've always hoped my kids would be reading before Kindergarten, for the sheer fact that if they can do that, it seems they are immediately labeled as "smart," and that is nice label to start life with, even if it's not always true. On the other hand, my friend's daughter didn't read at all, not one word, until 1st grade, but then reading just clicked for her and as a 3rd grader she's her classes' highest performer and major book lover. So, lots of times it really doesn't matter, but since I loved it so much it was important to me. Plus, you hear of boys struggling with reading more often than girls, so anything I could do to give my boys a leg up was a good thing.

Also, I'm not a teacher or expert, but I thought I'd share a few things that were fun and worked for us so that I can remember too.

Books

These are 2 of our favorites. One thing I like about them is that they are easy for the kids to participate in. From the time they can talk, once they are familiar with the book, I usually leave the last word of the sentence out and let them fill it in. As they get older I leave out more and more. We have quite a few books they can recite. It gives them confidence and they learn to look at pictures and predict words. It's always been a fun game for us and keeps them engaged in reading.

Alphabet Floor Puzzles

We have used this puzzle like crazy. We have lots but this is my favorite because the letters are formed correctly and are easy to read and the pictures are in the background. We have used this to pieces with all of my kids. The ways we used the puzzle:

*We would do it together

*We'd sing the ABCs as we pointed to the letter. We'd sing it faster and faster and faster.

*We'd jump from letter to letter while singing.

*We'd point out the letters we knew.

*When they were familiar with some letters, I'd put a piece of sugar cereal on each letter, and if they knew the letter, they could eat the cereal. If not, I'd eat it. I'd start with just a few that I knew they knew then add one or two every time we did the puzzle. I tried to teach the easiest, most familiar ones first.

*Pretty soon, they knew all the letters, so we'd do the same thing with sounds. It was a fun game that kept their attention. It seemed like they looked forward to our puzzle time.

*We stopped when it wasn't fun or when interest was gone. One thing I knew was that I never wanted reading to be a punishment or chore but a fun way to interact with me and the world. 

The Letter Factory DVD

I'm not usually a fan of TV learning, in fact it seems like an oxymoron, but this DVD was awesome for teaching sounds. Once my kids knew the letters, I let them watch this DVD for their TV time and the sounds usually came lickety split.

My first steps to reading books

I think these books are painfully boring, but all my kids have really liked them and they teach lower case letters really well. Capitals seemed much easier than lowercase. You can get the whole set at the library.

Spelling!

One thing that has always worked well for us is using spelling to learn to read. In the car or when trying to pass time, I'll give my kids words to spell. In the beginning, I'll help them sound them out, letter by letter (meaning I'll say the sound and they the letter), but it's not long before they can do it on their own. I also like using spelling to teach new concepts like the silent "e" or the "y" that sounds like an "i." We actually spell a lot before we try read.

Foam Bath Letters!

We used these a bunch too. I'd suggest buying at least 2 sets, so you have 2 of each letter. We spent a lot of bathtub time spelling words on the wall. I love places where my kids enjoy (or have to) chat with me. This felt like a game to them too, so they were happy to play "bath spelling" which often leads to "bath reading."

Lists!

I'm always amazed at how quickly kids start stringing sounds together once they have them down. We like to write our own lists to read and start with a simple sound like, "at." Once they can do that, we add a letter to the beginning of the sound (cat, bat, sat, mat) then do another ending and do the same thing and presto! they can read. Watching their face when they do it on their own for the first time is magic. They are so proud.

Sight Words.

There are just some words you can't sound out, so we have to "remember" those. These are tough and it's helpful when a preschool teacher or kindergarten teacher has a list and reinforces it. If not, they are easy to find online. 

Beginning Books

There are so many series out there for beginning readers. We've almost always gotten them from preschool or kindergarten teachers.  If my kids ever got frustrated with it, they would read a page, then I would read a page. I never wanted reading to be a hassle for them or force them to read books that were too far above their level. That's just frustrating. I also didn't stop reading to them for pleasure just because they could read.

After this, I'm so glad my kiddos go to school! We try to supplement and reinforce what they learn there. All 3 of them would still rather play then read, so we have a plan each night:

Later Bedtime

We read scriptures together at 8, then they are all welcome to keep their light on for 30 minutes and read on their own. If they are not reading or looking at books, the light goes off. It's their personal reading time. I read to them at other times of the day. It's been a great way for our kids to settle down and have some independent time and makes reading a real privilege, not a chore.