First Steps to Reading

As a young mom, I struggled with many unrealistic expectations, which I recently blogged about in The Myth of the Perfect Parent.  I worried whether I could teach my children to read, how to do it and when to begin. For example, my friend regularly reviewed letter flash cards with her two-year-old daughter, who was well on her way to reading by three years old.  While I had no desire to begin schooling my son that early, I worried that I was doing him a disservice.  Was simple play enough?

As my sister-in-law’s tattoo says, “Comparison is the thief of joy.”  My joy drained away when I compared my child to hers.

But what is the truth in this matter of early ready?  Was I doing him a disservice?  What does research tell us about teaching preschoolers to read?

Not surprisingly, children’s reading readiness is as individualized as their motor skill development. Some kids read practically on their own as young as three. Others, like my niece, took until she was nine years old to master the basics, after which she jumped several grade levels in a year.  Our job as parents is to pay attention to our child’s reading readiness cues and provide rich opportunity to engage in reading- friendly activities. We also need to trust our parental instincts, and avoiding joy-blasting comparison.

Does early reading predict continued accelerated reading success?  According to classic education author Ruth Beechick, one school district conducted an experiment to find out what would happen in one group of kindergarteners focused exclusively on reading and another group primarily did hands-on science activities. “By grade three, the science children were far ahead of the reading children in their reading scores.  Their vocabulary and thinking were more advanced,” Beechick wrote.

They concluded that pushing kids to do early reading activities may use up time that kids would more naturally do other developmentally appropriate activities. Preschoolers are more disposed to hands-on experiences versus cognitive processing experiences such as pre-reading activities like phonics drills and word identification.

So, if you’ve felt pressure to teach your kids to read a very young age, shift your paradigm.  The best thing you can do to prepare your child to read is to provide him or her with rich hands-on life experiences. As you teach your child about the world she lives in, she is gaining vocabulary and her thinking skills are developing. Pre-reading is actually everything you do!  And when your child’s ready to read more formally, you’ll see it, whether it is at age three, six or nine! He’ll be curious about letters.  He’ll ask about words. He’ll begin to “read” his favorite books. When you see these signs, you’ll know your child is ready to step into reading.

-posted by Donna Detweiler,  who recommends Ruth Beechick’s book, A Home Start in Reading.