EV has loved to read since before she could talk. She always wanted us to read the same book over and over and over and over and over and over again. When she learned to talk, she would take a book and make up stories and pretend to read to her stuffed animals. Now she just memorizes the books we read to her, some of them word for word, and will "read" us back the stories exactly how she memorized it. So, obviously, it seems the natural next step would be to actually learn how to read.
At first, I just jumped right into it. I would say, "EV, what word is this?" EV would look at what letter it starts with, find a picture on the page that starts with that letter, and make up a word. Then I would say, "No, EV, sound it out." Then she would proceed to do the same thing. What was I doing wrong? Why couldn't she read? So then I thought maybe we can start with spelling. I would ask her, "EV how do you spell CAT?" EV would then say, "I don't know, mommy, I don't want to play this game!" I would respond, "EV, it's so simple just sound it out." EV would then start, "C--EKJPT" Then I would say, "You're not taking this seriously!"
After feeling frustrated, I had a take a step back and realize that first of all she didn't understand what I meant by "sound it out." Second, I haven't taught her anything, I just expected her to start reading. Last, I wasn't making it fun. I was taking all the fun out of her excitment for books and pretend reading. So, I started reading some articles and I re-approached the situation.
I first asked her if she wanted to learn to read. When she responded yes, we took out a piece of paper and pen and I started with words that started with A-T. For the first week we worked on CAT, FAT, HAT, SAT, MAT, PAT. Then I found an app that reinforced exactly the same thing starting with words that ended in "AT." I rewarded her with kiddy tattoos. Then the next week we were reading words that ended in A-N and worked on words like TAN, VAN, RAN, PAN, CAN. And she picked it up even faster. Now when I say, "sound it out." You hear her say, "Pppppppp--ahhhhhhh-nnnnnnnn...PAN!!!" When I come home from work, she runs to me with her notebook and pen and asks if we can learn more words. What a world of a difference.
I honestly don't care if she's reading or not. I know she will learn how to read eventually, but I also don't like it when she tells us she's bored and doesn't feel challenged. It was also obvious that she was ready to read. So, this was the natural next step in her learning. It was the sweetest thing when she said to me, "Mommy, I love learning how to read, even though its a little hard sometimes!" So, never stop challenging your kid but always remember to make it fun!
