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dolorsofmary
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| Posted: March 06 2010 at 1:22pm | IP Logged
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My son who is 4.5 yrs old is very interested in reading or so it seems. He likes phonic games and is always asking me how to spell things or what this or that word says. I've been taking him to the library every week since he has been 3 months old. And reading to him almost every day of his life. He loves books and being read to. I've been waiting for his readiness to learn to read. He has spelled his name and frog and other things (well copied them) with letter magnets. He said he wants to learn to read. So I bought Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons. I did lesson 1 with him and it went easy and quick except when it came to sound writing. The lesson focused on writing letters M and S. I know he can do it but he just wants to mess around and says its boring or he can't do it. I know he can but he doesn't want to. I guess I can wait a few months more. Maria Montessori says that a peak time to learn to read is around 5 yrs old and if you wait until afterward the peak time it is harder to learn. Your suggestions please from those who have been down this road? Thank you.
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SeaStar
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| Posted: March 06 2010 at 5:59pm | IP Logged
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I like that old saying: "better late than early".
If he doesn't want to write, I would not push him at this age. I would let him keep messing around... maybe just do the lessons without the writing portion and let him pick what words he wants to write on his own (words that are interesting to him, like his name and frog- love that!)
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: March 06 2010 at 6:09pm | IP Logged
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I think that when the child is ready is the best time.. no matter what any expert says about this age or that age being early or perfect or late.. because if you push a child before he's really ready.. he may learn to read but may stop liking it.
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: March 06 2010 at 7:35pm | IP Logged
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I read (I think it was in the Tanglewood planner?) someone suggest that you try to teach a child to read. If it is at all frustrating, stop immediately, and try again in three months. My oldest is 5.5, LOVES stories, knows his letters, will listen to me read chapter books as long as I will do it. He wants to read, but he still doesn't get it. He watches the Letter Factory and the Talking Words Factory and we talk often about what words start with.
To me, these things are all good for instilling lifelong love of learning. He's building his vocabulary, learning what beautiful language sounds like, etc..., and to me this is more important than whether he can read Bob books right now.
I'm not sure about the peak time. I've heard that if you wait until a child is ready to read, it does not take that much time to teach them. Wherever I've read this, it seems this can vary a lot from child to child. I'm guessing, but my son was a late talker but quite early with fine motor skills (He could use a screwdriver at 18 mos but didn't talk much until he was close to 4). It makes sense to me that he would be later with reading as well. I'm not really concerned about missing the window since we are always reading books and talking about letters--many children don't even have to be "taught" formerly in this environment, they just pick it up when ready.
Imo, if you are reading together, using word magnets as you describe, etc..., you are not in danger of missing any windows for reading. All the tools are there for your child to use when he is ready. If he starts to show more understanding or interest in a bit, you could pick up the lessons again and see, but I would not push him at such a young age.
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Mackfam
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| Posted: March 06 2010 at 8:20pm | IP Logged
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I think I'm just going to add to the chorus. 
You're doing great!  Trust your instincts with your son!!!
It might be too much to write the letter M or S right now...along with the phonics lesson. Maybe try breaking up the lesson a smidge...teach the phonics part and play a bit and then come back and try tracing the letters with your finger in a big pan of cornmeal or writing it really big in the air. If he's resistant, that's your cue to step back a bit. You can either wait or just try another approach. Play with a few variables - very gently. Don't push.
If he seems ready and you can introduce a short lesson of phonics with cooperation then you might have found the "right time." From there, I've found nothing inspires motivation like success. Get your hands on some super simple readers (BOB books are great and even my woeful library system has them!) and work on a bit at a time - he doesn't have to read one book in a sitting!! My little fella has taken 2 weeks to really master his first little reader. He's so proud though. At first he read a couple of words and he was tired. I sensed it and asked if he wanted to stop...yep. Great. We were done for the day. I asked the next day if he wanted to read a bit with me...yep. We tried a bit more and stopped when he was ready. We just continued like this in short little lessons until this past Friday when he could read his whole little reader to me in one sitting - he was so proud!
I guess my "in a nutshell" advice would be to follow his cues, take a look at what you're doing with him -- are there ways to break up the lesson? ways to approach it in a way that is more creative/attractive? is he able to feel successful very quickly? maybe he's doing fine and just needs to move slowly? It could be that one lesson will take 4 days going in short little spurts for a bit. Is this making sense?
Good luck! Such fun!
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ekbell
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| Posted: March 06 2010 at 8:27pm | IP Logged
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I'm a bit wary of scripted programs because as you've found out not all children are willing to follow the script. 
My oldest daughter learned to read well before she was ready to write (fine motor control developed rather late).
I simply used homemade letter cards until she was better able to make the pencil go where she wanted it to and encouraged activities that worked on pre-writing skills (if you google pre-writing+skills you can find lots of ideas).
[Another daughter was simply very hesitant about saying anything aloud. She'd be willing to match a letter card with a sound and later words with picture cards but she was very unwilling to *say* the answer at first.]
If your son enjoyed the lesson up to the writing portion, I'd consider substituting the Montessori finger tracing of sandpaper letters or something similar for that portion.
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kristacecilia
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| Posted: March 06 2010 at 8:39pm | IP Logged
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I have another early reader/not interested in writing learner right now. My little guy just turned four and is just plowing his way through the BOB books and CHC's Little Stories for Little Folks. The kid is just DYING to read.
No interest in writing, though. I offer the handwriting lessons from the CHC kindergarten handwriting book that go along with the LSLF books we are reading but he rarely wants to do them. I offer once, then put it away. He does enjoy spelling out words from his books with a magnetic alphabet or little letter tiles, though.
I am becoming a big believer in better late than early. I would just follow his cues and not push him.
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: March 08 2010 at 8:55am | IP Logged
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I think I'm just jumping in to agree with everyone here.
If you have all the components for both reading and writing and they are available for his use and you're using them as well - it will happen naturally.
I would highly recommend the sandpaper letters or an easy, inexpensive alternative - that can be considered "handwriting" has he would be tracing the shapes of the letters, while learning their sounds.
Many children need to learn to hold/use a writing utensil, separate from learning the shape of the letters - then when they sit down to actually write letters/words, they just do it - with that instant success comes a great sense of satisfaction and a desire to keep going (and avoids some of the major potential bad handwriting habits from the get-go).
Enjoy this time while he's learning - while I enjoyed my time with my son and with all my tutoring children, I wish it had been even less of a "chore" and more a time of discovery....
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: reading readiness question
