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How I Taught My 3-year-old to Confidently Read
To give her the best head start... but not before I made this critical mistake!
Many years ago, when my first child was 2-years-old, I kept seeing an infomercial on TV about a reading program that promised to teach babies to read. We jumped onto this bandwagon and spent a lot of money to buy the program. I have 4 kids, BTW. At that time, it just seemed like a no-brainer if I could somehow teach my kiddo to read.
At first, I was surprised that my daughter seemed to be able to “read” a few words that appeared on the TV screen! Words such as "elephant', 'toes', 'point', 'ball', etc... But I quickly realized that she wasn't really learning to read!
After several instances where I noticed she couldn't read any word she has not seen before, it quickly dawned on me that she had only learned to call out a few words through memorizing the words she saw on TV, because she she couldn't read anything else.
The few words she could read were simply "read" through memorization.
My child could not read, after all...
Now looking back at that experience, especially after having worked with so many struggling readers over the years, I often get a cold sweat wondering what might have happened to my little girl, had I continued down the path of teaching her to read by memorizing words and word shapes...
…luckily, my instincts did not guide me wrong, and through countless late nights of research and learning, I re-discovered and perfected the proven “old way” of teaching reading that goes completely contrary to how the school system teaches children to read today.
The education system prefers to teach children to read through whole language learning, using...
...Sight Words! Endless Lists of Sight Words!
This is all too common nowadays, where children bring home lists of sight words that they must "learn" by a certain date, and then be assessed on their progress. If you're a parent, then you probably know what I'm talking about!
Do any of these look familiar?
I remember when I my first child started kindergarten, she would bring home a list of 5 sight words to "learn" through memorization for the following week! Luckily, when she started kindergarten, she was already reading at a 4th grade level. So I didn't have to worry about her reading at all, and I could focus my time and energy on other things!
The reality is that so many children struggle with reading today because of whole language learning and sight words memorization. Difficulty with reading leads to a negative experience with reading, and sets up the child to feel discouraged at school.
Many struggling readers believe early on that they aren't as smart as other kids. They feel ashamed; they blame themselves for their reading failure (not their fault!); they suffer from the feelings of guilt and defeat that comes along with it; and THEY STOP TRYING...
But it doesn't have to be this way, because there is a simple, effective way to teach all children to confidently read!
This is How I Taught My 3-year-old to Read
(in 3 simple steps)
Step #1
I introduce letter-sound recognition, while emphasizing letter sounds.
This is basic phonics fundamentals! Teaching letter-sound relationships.
But this is not enough! The next step is equally important!
Step #2
I also make a real effort to help my child develop Phonemic Awareness (PA). There are decades of scientific research that proves the teaching of phonics and PA are most effective to teach children to read.
I won't bore your with the details, but to help my child develop PA skills, we practiced and engaged in a lot of decoding, blending, segmenting, and sounding-out exercises.
Step #3
Beyond teaching phonics and PA, I also had to provide level appropriate reading materials for my child to practice reading.
We work on reading fluency, build reading stamina, and strive to develop enhanced reading comprehension skills too!
I found that the optimal way to accomplish this was to provide my child with level appropriate practice materials that does not stress her out, but provide her with consistent small wins over time that builds amazing confidence in her that turns all this into a gigantic victory! In this case, she was able to read and comprehend years ahead of her expected level.
When my daughter was in Grade 4, she was placed in the city's program for the gifted, all because of her incredible reading, spelling, and writing skills. Here's a video showing her reading progress over a 3 year period.
What I Learned From Grad School Didn't Teach Any of This!
You would think that having a Masters degree in Education with emphasis on literacy skills development for K-6, figuring out all of this would have been a piece of cake for me. But this couldn't be further from the reality of the situation.
While grad school taught me a lot about theoritical frameworks for literacy instructions, the truth is that much of it did not meet the practical needs of teaching young kids to effectively read!
Practical application of the 3 simple steps I listed above were developed through trial and error and iterated many time over the last 15 years through working with my students. Boy, do I wish I knew then, what I know now...
All Parents Can Teach Their Children to Read Confidently and Fluently in Just 10 Minutes a Day!
Parents can easily achieve the same kind of success with their children, like I did with mine, following the 3-simple steps I mentioned above: 1) teach letter-sound recognition, 2) teach PA skills development, and 3) provide level appropriate materials for reading practice.
As parents, we all want the BEST for our children. I taught my 4 children to read by age 3, and I have taught children of all ages to read. I have even helped illiterate adults to learn to read.
Because this Phonics & PA method works for ALL AGES!
To enable parents to easily teach their children to read to give their children the best head start, I put all this together in a step-by-step reading program so simple, that any parent can pick it up right now and spend just 10mins/day to work on the reading lessons to teach their child to read (and oh yes, a few courses I took on curriculum design while in grad school did come in handy!).
I am proud that my program has already helped over 238,000 parents to enable their children to become incredible readers!
We've received hundreds of glowing reviews from proud and happy parents, grandparents, and teachers! Take a look:
Achieve Reading Success With Your Child Today!
Imagine your child having reading and literacy skills years ahead their peers...
Imagine the teacher raving about your child's incredible reading skills improvement (and even asking what you're doing outside of class)...
And imagine your child beaming with pride, confidence, and happiness at their newfound love of reading, setting them up for lifelong success!
So, go ahead and tap the button below to learn more about giving your child the joy of reading and the very best tools to succeed!