How do you delay reading in a child who has taught herself?
I think that means... you don't encourage it and you don't help knowing helping would advance their reading skills considerably.
How could you know that?
If "discouraging" means not teaching, then I think discouraging is a great idea at 2. If "discouraging" means removing books or scolding, then I think it's an awful idea at any age. If "encouraging" means reading to a child, and listening to a child read when the child wants to, I think it's a great idea at any age. If "encouraging" means explicit, parent-directed teaching, I think it's a terrible idea at 2. JMHO.
To me... "encouraging" means showing her how to decode words or how to blend... either verbally or using something like a chalk board. When my DD was 2 I knew that all I had to do was show it to her and she'd have understood. I didn't. I was too worried about the whole "hothousing" issue. I read to her and would tell her what a word was if she asked but I didn't do anything else. I waited until she figured it out for herself... or in her case... watched a Leap Frog video and was shown from that. The first time she was shown how to blend from the video.. the light bulb went off and she took off from there.
What that told me was that if they're ready to learn... they're ready to learn... regardless of their age. I "discouraged" her by deliberately not showing her although I knew she would grasp it easily. If I
had shown her... then she would have been reading at a higher level much earlier. Would it have mattered in the long run? No. But it would have mattered to her and it would have put a stop to all the frustration she experienced because she wanted to be able to read everything. Once she grasped the concept of blending it's like her soul was lit up (forgive the cheesy line) and she gobbled up anything I could tell her or show her.
Is it teaching? Yes but only in the sense of everyday teaching such as "Look Honey, that's a dog. Dogs bark to say hello."
but instead its...
"That's the word CAT. You say the sound the letters make to read it.
Kuh-a-t. Now put an H in front and it says
huh-a-t HAT"
I think I was silly not to have shown her. It wouldn't have hurt her.
I have come to believe... that in some cases... teaching reading or math or any other academic subject is no different than teaching a kid about butterflies because they have an interest in it.
(As long as they are totally into it of course!)
