(Very) Early Reader

Autumn - posted on 06/03/2012

I just saw your post. I would love to hear how your child is doing now as my daughter started reading before 3 also, she's 3 now and reads at about a 3rd grade level but I'm wondering about supporting her in the fall at preschool so she's not bored.

Jannes - posted on 11/17/2010

Hello. Its nice to read stories of mothers here like me. I am wondering also if it is really reading by comprehension or they just read it because they have already memorize the book that you have been reading to him many times. My boy who just turned one also looks like has interest in reading. Everytime I ask him about his favorite book and start reading he would say words that I could not understand and sounds like he is trying to compete with me in reading.. and if I am slow in reading and turning the page of the book he will keep babbling and he will turn the pages himself.. He also show big big interest in computer. He can sit hours in front of the computer and his favorite is starfall.com and he keep pushing the keyboard if things he look at in monitor dont move. I guess this is just normal ?

Heather - posted on 11/16/2010

First, make sure his comprehension is good - that he cannot only read the words, but understand the story. Early reading without comprehension is associated with Asperger's, so you want to rule that out. My son started reading at age 3 (and I had held him off as long as possible.) He devoured books at the library. You can ask the librarian for suggestions for "early reader" books...these books will have words with larger print, less words on a page, etc. If you do a library catalog search, you can search by the "early reader" category. However, if your son truly is reading so early, he will quickly become bored with these books. After he "graduates" from the early reader books, you can go to books suited for grades 1-3. Again, the librarian is a great help. One thing to do to figure out if a book is a good one to use is to have your son read a random page from the book. If he finds 5 or more words difficult, the book is too hard. Try another one. My son loved the Nate the Great books - they are great early chapter books with chapters that are not too long or difficult. But then he read the Hobbit 3 times when he was 6 - they can really expand their skills that fast! Let your son lead the way with what he is interested in and how difficult he wants to get (though you can be a guide.) Sometimes, he will want to read books that you know are super-easy for him - it's OK, let him. Non-fiction books are also great because it satisfies their desire to learn about the world around them. Many non-fiction books, especially the Dorling-Kindserly and the Eyewitness books, have lots of great pictures with little paragraphs of information that are easy to digest. DK and Eyewitness also put out some great paperback chapter books - absolutely fascinating! They have the reading levels identified, too. Magic Treehouse books are also great for early readers. Amelia Bedilia books are incredibly funny and fantastic for early readers who love the play-on-words.

Candace - posted on 11/16/2010

My husband and I both started reading at a similar age. Obviously you have access to a computer and internet. Maybe check out Starfall.com? It's designed for reading. Also Jolly Phonics is commonly used to teach kids reading skills. You could use resources like that. Otherwise, I would have him read to YOU, rather than you read to him. Or take turns, you read one page, he reads the next. It's great that he's taken to reading this early and it will be to his extreme advantage as he gets older.
Good luck!

LadyBug2010 - posted on 11/12/2010

You can start helping him learn his sight words and buy the bob book series. My DD was the same way and I ended up putting her in Kinder a year early at 4. You can also look into this with your school district, it's called early entrance. If he's like my DD, he will exhaust preschool after a year.

good luck!

Laura - posted on 11/09/2010

Are these sentences from a favorite book that you read to him alot? Toddlers often learn to memorize what they hear rather than actually know how to "read" the words. My daughter was able to do this with a few of her books at that age--she knew the words by sound, not by sight. If your little boy is actually reading (he recognizes the words in other sentences and context and can phonetically sound out new words, for example) then start with your library and see what kind of resources they might have. I had my daughter in the story group at our library where afterward, we selected books for her to "read". I did most of the teaching and reading, but she caught on and would learn the book to recite by memory. These early skills, while appearing to be an imitation of actual reading, are quite important to have once the child does learn to read.

While I don't know of any organization or specific classes that work with the very young in reading, you might try looking for such groups on-line. The only thing I know about is for parents, not the child/student. I worked with my daughter on teaching her to actually read and she didn't find "peer support" until she started school. Until then she was on her own and didn't seem to mind. Reading was always a special activity for the two of us anyway! I honestly wouldn't worry about your son not having an early reading "peer" group; at that age developing social skills and playing are more important. Save the reading as a special activity you can do with him until school. There's my two cents and hope it helps! Good luck!