How my children learnt to read, Part 2
Child 2
The story of how my son learnt to read is shorter, and less detailed, because he was a confident reader at 4 years old and I don’t really know how it happened.
He’s just under two years younger than his big sister, and he was aware of the phonics she was being taught at school. We would talk about them at home, on the rare occasions I tried to get my daughter to read things herself. And we had some Finger Phonics books which he liked to look at. Like his sister he loved to be read to and would listen to me reading for hours. He listened to the whole of Farthing Wood aged three.
Also like his sister he enjoyed Biff and Chip. And they were both thrilled when I brought home some Paw Patrol reading books from our local phone box library. These books are atrocious—they are so bad that they have typos, which is pretty awful for a reading book. The paper is cheap and the pictures don’t even match the storyline. But the children were obsessed with Paw Patrol so these shortcomings were irrelevant. (The set I’ve linked to looks newer, so hopefully the typos have gone!)
Then one day we noticed that he was reading Who Was Ernest Shackleton?, to himself. He had apparently memorised it from hearing it read aloud, but he wasn’t just reciting, he could match the words he said to the words on the page. The book he chose from the British Museum, aged four, was Timelines of Everything, an encyclopaedic sweep through history (highly recommended, and there are others in the same series. It’s aimed at 9-12 year olds but of course it depends on the child). Now five, he sits and looks at this by himself for long stretches. Last night he had me read from it about the Battle of Crecy in 1346 to him (and what a battle it was!).
I’m sure his sister’s learning gave him a head start, and I sat with him while he read the early reading books, but it is not much of a stretch to say that he largely taught himself to read. His love of history certainly helped—he is obsessed with war and it wouldn’t be surprising if the first words he read himself were ‘Normandy Landings’. Just like I couldn’t rush his sister to learn to read sooner, I couldn’t have stopped my son from reading if I had tried. To balance his precocity in reading, he is still completely incapable of putting his socks on, and every time he breaks into a run I instantly brace myself for him to fall over. Hopefully that part of his brain will catch up soon!
What does this mean for your own child?
I am only an expert in my own two children. But here are what I consider the essential ingredients for teaching a child to read:
Read to them, as much as you can, whatever they want. Go to a local library and borrow as much as you’re allowed. Keep the books visible or they get forgotten.
Personally I’m not convinced you need a reading programme. I suppose it depends how you like to work. I think a book or books that show the letters and sounds is enough to get going.
When they are learning their letters, they need to hear the sound the letter makes. ‘c’ is not ‘see’ but ‘ck’ like it sounds in ‘cat’. ‘m’ is not ‘emm’ and not ‘muh’, but ‘mm’. This makes it much easier when they start putting sounds together to make words. Not everyone of my own generation was taught like this.
When your child finds a series of reading books they love, get hold of everything you can. Secondhand bookshops, eBay, and Bookfinder have all been a source of some great bargains for us. If your library doesn’t stock the series, see if another one nearby does. This is especially useful for the easiest reading books, which your child probably won’t be interested in for long. My children seemed to have hot streaks where they would quickly progress through several reading levels, and it was good to have the next level on standby to fuel the fire.
Just like children learn to walk and talk at different ages, they are not all ready or willing to learn to read at the same age. Be patient. If there’s a lot of resistance or frustration consider stepping back for a few months to see if they will come to it willingly in their own time.
Decide what is most important to you. Is it that your child reads early? That they fall in love with reading? When you’re having a challenging phase I think this helps to guide you through.
What are your own experiences of teaching a child to read? Was it a battle or a joy or a bit of both? Please do share in the comments.
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I’m 66 and now a grandparent of 2 girls (4 & 3.5 months) who both love being read to. I joined the eldest to their library @ 2 but the baby @ a couple of months. Both will sit and listen for quite long spells obviously enjoying it.
My own children are 20 months apart and also loved to be read to. The younger learned to read fluently before school as she HAD to do whatever her brother did. Very determined girl! As I helped in their school I was able to borrow reading books - esp Biff & Chip - which helped. I only ever encouraged, never pushed it but Alice was determined to excel. I have found that following a child’s interests and encouraging that interest can be far more rewarding all round than forcing a subject and be met with tears or a refusal. Looking back perhaps I should have homeschooled though I’m a dud at maths!
Keep it up - I enjoy your writing. Lydia
My children are too young to learn to read (3 and 0) but being obsessively bookish, I have always enjoyed reading to my oldest (and he enjoys it too) and similarly rarely went a day without reading to him. However, I've been struggling to find the time and energy to do it recently with constantly chasing our baby. This post has encouraged me to take it up with vigour again.