Getting Started on Learning How to Read

I LOVE to read, and I hope my daughter will too! So, we read every day - usually what she wants, but sometimes what I want, so I can expose her to new topics. We visit 2 different libraries every week, and I NEVER limit how many books she can bring home. I have the librarians help us find titles for subjects we're currently interested in (gardening, ballet, and camping right now). This way, she'll learn that libraries and those who work there are friendly and helpful.

At this age, she probably LOVES rhymes, so as you read rhyming words to her, show her how they're spelled similarly (best to do this with books she knows well so the flow of the story isn't interrupted).

I have labelled my house to help her with some word recognition, but I try not to force it on her. If she asks what a word is, I say it and sound it out while pointing to the letters. We also picked up a LeapFrog Word Whammer, which is a fun toy and a learning tool. I have heard of kindergarten and 1st grade teachers who can pick out which of their students have this toy - it's that good at teaching 3-letter words. The volume control is decent too.

Also, many kids enjoy learning names first - their own names, Mommy, Daddy, sibling names, favorite dolls and animals.

But, the best thing to do for your daughter is work with her current interests. If she is fascinated by letters and books and is always asking about words, then it's probably a good time to squeeze in some extra educational material. But if she's more into running around or singing loudly or taking apart the fridge, then her brain is probably growing in a different area, and maybe it would be best to encourage that for a while.

I used the books that have the picture of dog and the word dog. There is a whole series out....Scholastic Readers.....really great!!

If I were you I would leave it up to the preschool to teach her, if they even teach reading. My son and daughter did two years of preschool and they were just taught basic words and letter sounds. They really focused on letter writing and reconizing the letters. My fear in your situation would be that if you taught her too much ahead or a different way she will either be bored or confused. I think if you really want to work with her start her writing her name, letters and numbers. Here is a website with great stuff for preschool, as a matter of fact my daughter did the same pages in her preschool. http://www.softschools.com/handwriting/alphabets/
Good Luck!

I agree with Christine H.
It's too early to teach her to read, IMO. That is why she will go to school...to learn how to read and do math and such. If you teach her before she goes, she'll likely end up being bored at school.
You can however work on helping her write her name, tie her shoes, learn her colors, shapes, etc.
My daughter was 3 when she started preschool and was the youngest in her class by almost a year (because of the cut off date to attend...it was 1 day after her birthday). Her teacher was afraid she might be behind the other kids, but she was the first to write her name and tie her shoes... both before she turned 4 yrs old.
Once she sees what her name looks like on paper... the rest of the words will come to her rather quickly.

You can have her draw a picture (or cut out pictures from a magazine), have her tell you what's going on. Write down the sentence or word. Read and reread these. Pride in ownership does wonders when you want results :) I taught first grade & did this activity all the time with them.

Oh three is too early for reading, in my humble opinion. As an educator, I have seen many parents and schools push early reading when children were not actually ready to read. They ended up pulling teeth in the grade years to get them to read and do their school work, because they had this negative feeling towards reading. Just sit back and let her point out the pictures and enunciate and have fun with books. Find letters if you wish, be playful with the books. Eventually this fun loving attitude towards books will skyrocket into an all out love of reading and writing and learning (I have also seen this happen).

It is proven through research, that children are most ready for reading at 5 through 7 years old, depending on the child; not the parents. It is not a reflection of you and how great a parent you are; which you seem wonderful as you read to her daily and want to promote healthy learning habits. It is also not a reflection of the childs many intelligences.

One of the hardest things to come to terms with as a parent and teacher is that all children come to things on their own and in their own way. Allow your daughter to bring this to you. When she asks "what does that say?" Then teach her the sounds (not the names of the letters) and sound it out with her. Stop when she loses interest. It will come back. Each letter is like growing a flower: you plant the seed with the recognition of the visual symbols of the letter. Then the sounds grow from that. The combining of sounds into words is most difficult but will bring much joy when allowed to come from the inside of the child out to you. Let her lead. We learn so much from children.

My stepson has learned to read in this way and he is a bookworm who adores writing and reading and school in general. Some days we have to ask him to put the book down so we may play!

Enjoy and don't worry. Every child is an intrinsic learner and will ask for direction when they are ready.

A.,
Don't panic. If you're reading to your child every day, any decent kindergarten teacher will be able to teach her to read.

I have a set of 24 small paperback books designed to help children learn to read. There are interesting illustrations tied to the text, varied fonts from book to book, rhymes and visual cues that all work together to help little ones to "get it." Contact me for more info.

I am no educater, just a mommy of five boys....I don't think it's too early but I wouldn't push her or let her feel pressured, also there is a down side to going into preschool too far ahead...she'll be bored and that could(depending on your childs personality)cause problems(a habit of not listening or miss behaving)....that being said...I label everything....all of each childs things(from bath towels to water bottles)has their name on it...there are also sight words that children are taught to reconize and I think you can get them on post it notes(check staples) or buy or make your own flash cards...the most important thing for your pre schooler to reconize is her name(which the teacher will do)...if you want to read to have fun, go for it! but just for fun...

I do not agree with the too early to read info. I agree that the experience should be a pleasant one, and done at the child's level. My son was in a private school, so they worked at his level reading before kindergarden. My grandson was two plus, by the time he knew the alphabet, colors and could count. He can now read at the age of four. I have known other children who were reading before they got to kindergarden, and they are find. Sometimes, they have to skip a grade so they are not bored. Keep it fun. You asked how do they learn? You ponit to an object they see, you spell it out and have them repeat. When you read the same words in the book, it starts to click in their minds. Children pickup pretty fast.

You as a parent know if you are pushing your child too much so use your best judgment. I struggle with this issue as well since I have one twin who loves to write words and another who is still captivated by scribbling nonsense. I started them with the Leap Frog video The Letter Factory which teaches letter sounds (A says Ah) and they are now very into the Talking Word Factory which tells them how to put those sounds together. Like the other moms said, make it fun (and get a half hour break while she learns!).

A.,

Each child "gets it" in their own way and time. I wouldn't worry about "teaching" her at this point. You're doing exactly what you should be doing, reading to her on a consistant basis. Let it naturally develop over time. However, here are a few ideas for when she's ready.

The baby books are great for a child who is ready to read. The ones that have one sentence on a page and often repeat.

When reading simple books, point to the words as you say them.

One of the skills used to teach reading is teaching the families of words, ie. it, sit, hit, bit or cat, bat, sat.

There are also a list of approximately 25 site words that children should know by first grade and a list of 100 words that are the most used. You may want to get a poster and hang it up in the playroom.

The best advise I can offer is to teach her the joy and love of reading, not how to read.

P.S. It's never to early to start reading to a child. I hope you're reading to your 9 month old on a regular basis.