Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school Sparking interest in reading

Have you tried any of the "We both read" series? There is a page that parents read and then the child reads the next page, which is written in simpler language. It's kind of a transition from being "read to" to "actually reading" and the kids like that they can do it with you. There are a few different levels, too.

Ditto on the suggestion to just keep reading to her. Sometimes the time snuggling together with a book is more important than the actual skill of reading. My youngest pretended she couldn't read all the way through K because she was afraid that once she could read for herself, I wouldn't snuggle with her and read together.

I would really just let this go and continue to read to her and to keep interesting books around that are at her level, unless she is actively asking to learn, in which case the computer stuff might be good. If she is a perfectionist, you don't want to turn this into a stressful activity. I don't think rewards are a great idea, either. Reading is, or should be, intrinsically rewarding.

She was asking to learn to read months ago, but I was busy having dd#2. Now she gets really irritated when she doesn't know certain words. (Not when I ask her to read them, since I tend to only ask her to read words I am 100% sure she knows to avoid frustration.)

I am all about intrinsic rewards, but I want to know how she is progressing. I think if she had a decent school teacher last year...and this year...she would be fluently reading everything in sight. I think if she would let me (and I won't push it) I could teach her a year's worth of reading in about 2 weeks. That's how ready ability-wise I think she is.

Maybe she balks at reading by herself because she has been just thrust into the world of siblinghood. She also has regressed to asking for help dressing and brushing teeth and whatnot.

Kids at this age tend to struggle emotionally with the transition from toddler to big kid. It's easy to be wistful about all the extra attention and closeness that results from being "babied." With your DD seeing it first-hand with her sibling, I would expect it to be worse.

My DD7 still loves it when DW and I suddenly pretend she's a helpless little baby... just as long as it's not in public. We go way over the top with it.

Gently, I would say that expecting her 2yo teacher to have taught her reading (she's just 4, right?) would be a bit much.

I would stop even asking her to read at all. Sometimes they get worked up and anxious when they deduce we are attached to their progress. This has happened with me and my daughter before. FWIW, my DD seemed riiiiight on the cusp of really reading, like SO close, with every possible readiness indicator, for actually years. Then she burst into fluency at almost-5 and was fluent in no time. DS is doing it really differently.

I remember when my kids were that age, especially my first (who is also my EG kiddo). I could see how high his ability was and sometimes got frustrated when I didn't see it in what he was actually interested in and doing at the time. I got frustrated with his preschool sometimes and wondered if I'd made the right choice; we had him in a Montessori totally-student-led type learning environment and he didn't ever show the slightest interest in learning how to read etc. I felt like he was sooo so ready, I hated that I couldn't get him into regular K already (our district just doesn't do early entrance no matter what), I felt like he could do and be so much more! But really, really, the best thing ever was just to read to him. Read your dd the "big" books she's interested in, but don't make it about learning to read on her own unless she is showing you she wants to and she's doing the leading. My ds didn't learn how to read before K, but by the end of K, on his own, without any help from school really (and definitely not from us leading him at home)... he was reading soooo so far above grade level. It happens when it happens, when the child is ready for it to happen.

Another person mentioned their child hiding their reading ability because they were afraid their parents might stop reading to them - that happened with our ds too - we only found out he knew how to read because he accidentally read to his aunt when we visited during the winter holiday.

The years when they are young and really love to be read to pass by so quickly. The years where you'll be navigating how to get your child the advancement they need etc will come quickly enough. Having a high ability child is a blessing and it's a ton of fun, but it doesn't have to be a race to see who reads first and fastest, or who does anything academic first and fastest. When our kids are racing, we need to be there to support them, but we don't need to push them. They'll develop their own inner "push".

Best wishes,

polarbear

My experience with DS8 was that reading more complex books TO him was more significant than getting him to read simple (and boring!) books himself. Those books are about the mechanics of reading. The books I read to him challenged his comprehension, showed him story form etc. I think in the long run focusing on those skills really benefitted him. From infancy that kid LOVED to be read to, but balked on the reading skills until end of first grade really. Then he made this huge jump and reads way above grade level now. He also often chooses books that are challenging for him mechanically but meet his needs for content. I would argue that exposure to more complex reading materials helped that along because once he got the mechanics down he just flew. When he was interested we worked on the mechanics, but I never replaced my reading to him with those activities.

I have been very clear with teachers (preschool and elementary) that I want my kids to enjoy and love reading, not feel like it is a chore. I know lots of people have different opinions on this and probably different kids need different things, but I feel really strongly about protecting that love of reading. And to be honest, it was really hard to wait DS out, but I knew that because of perfectionism etc., he wasn't going to do it until he was ready and then when he did do it, it would be way above expectations. He has been like that with most skills.

So, I really agree not to push her if she's not interested. Even though you observe that she is capable of more, she's telling you that she isn't ready yet by resisting the books. And fwiw, ds never really did read those phonics type books. I read to him until he was ready and he pretty much went straight to chapter books. Because those books ARE boring! lol

Ultra,
I agree that it is ridiculous to expect a 2yo teacher to teach a child to read. I have a Masters degree in Early Childhood Education and have realistic (mostly) expectations. Last year's teacher was just oblivious to dd4's abilities. In November, 4 months into the year, she sent a note about how excited she was that dd4 knew what letter her name started with. I was beyond angry, not that they weren't teaching her anything, but that they hadn't even noticed. She could write her full name by that point, knew all letters and sounds, and was questioning concepts like digraphs. Had the teacher ever even had a conversation with my kid? I tried to give her some ideas for differentiation, but they fell on deaf ears. Also, it was in an expensive private school. So much for getting what you pay for. Guess I took that as a sign of things to come i future years.

As for reading, I will continue to let her lead. Bless her heart, at least dolphins are interesting. It could be worse. LOL

 I have enjoyed pre schooling my kid.  I think it would be boring to just teach reading.  We do reading, writing, and 'rithmatic.  We don't do much in a day.  We don't schedule lessons for the week.  We go out of order when learning things.  We don't wait for one thing to finish before we learn another.  
Mine's not a fluent reader, but he is a reader.  He has read 3 books out loud.. Mr. Brown can moo, can you?  Fly high fly guy.. And I forgot the other one.  Lol.  I'm not counting the "I am Sam" books.   He's not reading for pleasure, he's reading for phonics.   He sounds out words.  He's not fluid.  I think it sounds beautiful.  
We're simultaneously working on comprehension questions with this textbook a neighbor gave me called Up and Over focus book.  I just googled it and the book's from 1985, hmm.. So are my childhood educational theories-...which i formed, of course, in my childhood.  I'm no professional.  I'm just a mom.
I'm reading to him from "the boxcar children" purely for pleasure.  
I want him to enjoy learning the way the schools like to teach things, if I can help that happen.
That readingeggs site shows you a lot of ways to improve reading and writing, speed, fluency, typing, composition, comprehension (the elementary schoolbook type comprension questions, not the literature discussions type).  

I guess this post doesn't help foster the love of reading but the love of learning in the way that the school's most likely to offer it.  There are better ways of teaching -constructivism or unschooling, child-led, or self-taught.  Really depends on what you want.  If you're going to send your kid to school it's better not to teach them much of anything so they have more left to learn there.  Me, I'm trying to give my kid enough of an education that "the fire's lit", that he will go on learning insatiably no matter what.  Then I think I'll send him to school anyway, if they'll have him.

Can you take her to the book store and let her choose a new book every now and then? I find that this is a great motivator. Then we snuggle up and read it together while it's still "my new book"