Fanofphysics- I agree with you! And, I also think this, from Ultramarina, could bear repeating:

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--Be careful not to give this activity more value and excitement than any other exploration you'd do with your kid, from chalk to ctaching bugs. Let the kid lead. Then you'll not have to worry about hothousing, if that nags at you.

I have already given my experience upthread, but I wanted to add my opinion, reiterate, and offer some advice.

Personally, I would not stress. I would not do anything more than read to her and sing songs and play language-y games. This is really important stuff. I don't think you could go wrong there.

I do think you can do a disservice to a 1.5 year old by overtly trying to teach them to read. Honestly, if it is going to take a lot more more than what I wrote above they are probably not ready. And so you are wasting time that could have been devoted to age-appropriate activities that are just as important. Maybe more-so. Not that it is an either-or, playing or learning to read. But, you only get so much time to be a kid. It goes really fast, and then poof, blowing bubbles is just not as ecstatic anymore.

This is just my opinion, and I lean way toward a more hands-off approach, but I sincerely believe that these bright one, two, three-year-olds, if they are to learn to read, it should be their doing. They should figure it out with very little help from us. All we need to do is provide that "print rich environment" and read to them. Use real live books to explore literacy. Just read. Point out words. Take a moment to discuss a weird phonics rules. Trace your finger under the text. And, leave the formal instruction for when they are school-aged.

Yes, there was a point where DD obsessed over sounding out a word. We discussed some phonics rules and helped her sounds out some words. But, she was still not ready to read. She just wanted to figure it out. I am glad we did not misinterpret this and push her too hard, because she was clearly not ready. Instead, we spelled out words aurally. We wrote out some simple sentences on a restaurant place mat. That passed. And, then there was a point where she began to read books, which came almost 2 years after she knew letter sounds. All we did was point to words and read them together, and within weeks she was reading. really reading. Six months later she is reading consistently at 2.5 grade level, a very happy reader at almost four.

Now, I have no doubt that I could have taught her a bunch of sight words when she was still one. Really, I have no doubt. But, we waited and it was a pleasant experience. I always try to focus on how she is learning and experiencing the world, not what she is actually learning. But, I believe preschoolers benefit from experiential learning, not teaching.

So, I really am not the person to talk to about teaching anything. I understand all kids are different, and I have only the one. But, because this worked so well for us, I really wanted to make sure you heard this. FTR, I do feel like we had a huge hand in are DD learning to read. I do like to say that we taught her. Anyway, I just want to share how we did it. Have fun.