Your baby can read.

[torinsmom]

Ridiculous. If these parents would put more time into meaningful activities with their children, like counting trucks, playing with Legos, cooking, crafts, cutting with scissors and nature walks their kids would be both well-rounded and less stressed.

I started homeschooling when my oldest was in 3rd grade and still not reading. I had but one goal for the year: learn to read. We read, we hiked, we played, we read, we wrote, we read, we baked, we read, and by Christmas John was reading. By the next year he was reading chapters books and begging for Shakespeare(weirdo.) I always encouraged him to read for fun and he is one of the most well-read adults I know.

I did the same thing with his sister. She had a hard time learning her letters--even in 1st grade there were 3-4 she wasn't sure of. Once again the old goal came out: learn to read. Same method. Eleni learned to read and she loves to read novels. She isn't as broadly read as her brother(he loved all teh classics, she loved Harry Potter) but Literature is her best subject.

Learning to read is very individual. I think pushing pre-K kids to read is a huge mistake; it puts unnecessary pressure on very young children, for what? So they can be the smartest, fastest reader in their 1st grader class? I hate to tell you, but by the time they all reach middle school you can't tell the ones who read at 3 from the ones who read at 8.

I think pushing is a strong word. In my classroom, we have the materials out, and when the kids show interest, we start introducing the sounds. We have little toys out to match the sounds and cute little books with funny rhymes. We spend max 10 minutes a day "playing" with the sounds with the child. The age from 4-5 is the time that children are usually very interested in language. When the child is interested, I have seen them learn all the sounds in a matter of a few weeks.When I get older kindergarteners that haven't been exposed to letter sounds, it is much harder for them to connect the letter to the sound. It takes a lot longer and they don't seem to enjoy it.

It sounds like both your children may be more whole word readers. This type of learner has a hard time learning letter sounds and even once they learn them have a hard time blending them into phonetic words. They are much better at memorizing sight words and word families. I have had a few students that were this way, and when they did not "get" the phonics, I went to a more whole language type of teaching.

If your child is going to be in public school, they need to start reading by mid-kindergarten. You'd be amazed at the level they need to be at in reading and writing to go to first grade.

Just wanted to put in that children from ages 3-6 are really like little sponges. Maria Montessori called it the absorbent mind. My 4-5 year olds learned about nouns and verbs last week. They can pick them out of a sentence too. Did I push them into that? No.....one of my advanced kindergartners was talking about nouns on line and someone asked what they were. We had a great time discussing them and they all wanted me to write their noun on the board. When an opportunity presents itself, I definitely go with it.

Marsha

 

[Mouse House Mama]

I think they should call that video "Something to brag about at Mommy and Me!"
I think it is absolutely ridiculous. All they are for is so the parents can go on and on about how amazing their kid is because they could memorize something. Although they think the kid is a genius.
Kids should be kids. Expose them to everything and they will learn. JMHO.