Originally Posted by DAD22
Originally Posted by Mana
for the 2 to 3 year olds who are beginning to read, I would feel more comfortable going whole language and focusing on the the love of literature rather than doing the little decodable books.

Do you mean to imply that parents can't do both?

Originally Posted by Mana
If we were to work on skills, I'd be working on their phonemic awareness using rhyming books and games.

From what I've seen, reading builds confidence in reading in a way that listening and playing games cannot. YMMV.

I agree.

We, like Ultramarina, used some basic exposure to phonemic awareness (Between the Lions, Bob-style books, Leap-pad/Reader Rabbit, but nothing more, really.) When they are ready, they are ready... and once they start reading, they tend to figure out a lot on their own. Once they have a strategy of attack, I mean-- whether that is a whole language, hybrid, or phonemic strategy. DD is purely phonemic, or at least was.

Schrödinger's cat walks into a bar. And doesn't.