My 3 year old son can identify all the alphabets and also knows the sounds that go along with it. I feel he is ready to start reading words. I don’t think he has the ability to blend sounds together yet. For example, if I showed him the letter “C”, he knows the accompanying sound is “/kuh/”, “A” is “/a/” and “T” is “/t/”. But if I were to put it together as “CAT”, he wouldn’t know how to blend the sounds to read the word. That’s using phonics to read.

So, instead of using phonics, I’m starting him off with whole words. This is sorta like the flash card method. BUT I’m not flashing cards to him. This is what I’m doing:

1. Write the word on a card
2. Show it to him, read it to him, have him read it back.
3. Put it up on the wall.
4. Print out simple stories that he is familiar with (taken from his story books) or nursery rhymes that contain the word he is learning. Have him look for that word and color it.

I just started his reading lessons 2 days ago. I started with the word “the”. Very simple and very common. He picked it up very fast. Another word I introduced to him is “is”. To reinforce his learning, I have him point out those words when we read books together. Because these words are so simple to pick out, it builds his confidence and makes him feel like he is a reader.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
0
Related Posts with Thumbnails
Be Sociable, Share!