I recently received a hand-me-down kit from a friend that includes lovely wooden toys and vibrantly colored books that are supposed to help my child learn to read. According to the firm, a young kid can begin using the phonics-based curriculum as soon as they begin to show an interest in books and telling stories, recognize letters and words around them, know how to hold a book, and comprehend that reading is done from left to right.
My younger son, who recently turned three, likes acting like he’s reading picture books with his brother, who is six years old and learned to read in kindergarten. However, the set has spent weeks collecting dust in a cabinet.
California’s poor reading results indicate that early literacy instruction has to be strengthened. However, my three-year-old son still has baby cheeks and is in diapers. Does he actually want to learn to read? How early is too young, and what is the ideal age to begin?
I made the decision to consult with some literacy specialists prior to beginning the reading classes with my little kid.
Warning: Most advised me to wait.
Can a toddler learn a letter at the age of two or three? Yes. However, is it suitable for its developmental stage? Susan Neuman, a professor of literacy and childhood education at New York University, stated unequivocally that it is not.
She claimed that around age three, play and back-and-forth with caretakers who converse, read, and sing to them are the best ways for kids to learn language. According to her, parents can use nursery rhymes as a potent weapon to teach their kids songs they will remember for the rest of their lives. They might perform tunes like Itsy Bitsy Spider and Hokey Pokey, which prepare kids to hear and identify the sounds of our language.
That is absolutely necessary. At the age of three or four, we must practice oral language since it is the cornerstone of early literacy.
According to research, these verbal abilities might even be more beneficial than early reading instruction: Early letter learning may make kindergarteners more prepared for school, but once other kids catch up, that advantage soon wanes. However, according to Neuman, a robust vocabulary in the early years predicts school preparedness in the fourth grade.
At what age should kids start learning to read?
Although we’ve all heard of precocious kids who can read independently as early as age two or three, Neuman noted that these kids only make up around 1% of all kids.
According to research, the best time to teach reading to most kids is between the ages of five and seven, according to Maryanne Wolf, director of UCLA’s Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice.
Reading words from a page is a difficult task that calls for the brain to integrate several regions that are in charge of various linguistic and cognitive functions. It necessitates a stage of physical brain development known as mylenation, which is the creation of fatty sheaths that envelop nerve cells, providing insulation and facilitating faster and more effective information transmission throughout the brain. Between the ages of 5 and 7, this procedure is properly developed, and some boys tend to acquire the skill later than girls.
“I even believe that parents should never try to force reading before the age of five because it is forcing connections that don’t need to be forced,” Wolf added. Children may get disinterested in reading if their parents attempt to teach them to decode words when they are three or four years old. The more important times of play, discovery, and language may be lost for kids who are overstimulated with flash cards and letter decoding.
According to Wolf, waiting doesn’t hurt, but pushing could.
Children in European nations like Finland and Denmark, which postpone teaching reading until the age of six or seven and instead emphasize play and exploration, are more likely to be proficient readers and experience less difficulties, according to Wolf. Wolf claimed that if she had a magic wand, she would mandate that all American schools wait until students are at least six years old.
It wouldn’t function. There is a voracious thirst for pushing children in the United States. But, she added, “I can at least make sure a child gets their sweet time in kindergarten.”
However, other experts also believe that preschoolers should be taught letter sounds. According to Theresa Roberts, a former professor of child development at Sacramento State who studies early childhood reading, children at the age of three are extremely proficient.
She added that it need not be a chore. According to her research, kindergarten readiness was higher for 3- and 4-year-olds, who were also very interested throughout 15-minute phonics courses. She also mentioned that they still had plenty of time to play and increase their vocabulary for the remainder of the day.
Roberts advised me to give my son a try with the reading set. Watch and see what occurs.
How can parents effectively prepare their young children to read?
According to Neuman, early literacy is crucial for assisting kids in learning to read, but it doesn’t look like what older people might believe.
As a baby listens to the voices they know and starts to make connections between sounds and word meanings in their native tongue, the skills that prepare a youngster to read start to develop in utero. As their caregivers sing lullabies, converse, and fawn over them, a newborn is instantly enmeshed in a sea of words and rhythm.
A baby should be read to by parents frequently and at a young age, starting with board books and soft fabric books.
According to Wolf, reading truly starts in the crook of an arm on a cherished lap. To create a linguistically rich environment, parents should establish a nightly reading routine with their infants and surround them with books and letters.
According to Linda Espinosa, a professor of education at the University of Missouri and co-chair of the committee that recently produced a report on preschool curriculum for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, when a parent reads a toddler a book like Pat the Bunny and remarks, “Oh, this is a bunny, bunnies have fur, pat the fur,” that is all early literacy.
Teaching children colors, singing the ABCs, and having them play with magnetic letters on the refrigerator all help them build their spoken language and vocabulary, which are the cornerstones of early literacy.
Allowing toddlers to play, explore, and tumble is also important.
Physical development is often overlooked when discussing early literacy, yet it’s one of the most important factors, according to Stacy Benge, author of The Whole Child Alphabet: How Young Children Actually Develop Literacy. According to her, reading and writing require crawling, reaching across the floor to pick up a block, and even learning to balance.
Benge stated, “We deprive them of those experiences in preschool in favor of giving them direct instructions.” We can make a lot of money by worrying about our kids falling behind.
The letters in their name may pique the curiosity of certain kids, who may wish to replicate them or identify words that share the same initial sound. Many will already know a few letters and sounds when they start kindergarten. However, parents don’t have to exert too much pressure.
“I would advise parents to unwind, converse with their children, read to them, take them to places like the grocery store and bank, and tell them the names of the objects around them,” Neuman added.
In addition, would you not want to simply read to him and instill a love of reading in him with the reading equipment in my cabinet? According to Neuman, it truly just depends on how you wish to spend your time. I would advise not to bother. Take part in an enjoyable activity.
