Your Baby Can Read and Other Methods...

So anytime someone posts something like this, the majority of responses are usually, "Keep reading to them. Don't do anything to try to teach them to read." While I can certainly understand that logic and don't think you can go wrong with that, I found myself in your situation and did encourage my son. He was a lot like yours. He is now 3 1/2 and starting to read - and loves it! Obviously - never ever push. If he isn't interested that day, do not push. My son goes through phases for days or weeks at a time where he wants to "study" (I say that for a lack of better word), and then goes back to cars and trains, etc. I absolutely follow his desires! But yes, we got him "Your Baby Can Read" DVDs. I didn't use the flashcards though, again because I didn't want to push. He just watched the DVDs on their schedule. Then we got him the Preschool Prep Company series, which he also loves. And we got him the Leap Frog Letter Factory and Leap Frog Words DVDs. He also had the Leap Frog Fridge Magnets and the Leap Frog Word Builder toys. I started making him a few flashcards after he turned 3, and he often begs to go over them. We take them to restaurants to keep him occupied! Up until now, I completely admit he was learning the shape of words rather than actually "reading", but I am starting to see him sound out new words now. It is really fun watching him truly enjoy figuring out reading! If you want any more details or have questions, feel free to PM me. I guess my philosophy is that learning is fun. The times he says "No", that has to be respected!

My son was very similar. I have many pictures of him sitting with a pile of books that he would "read" at a very young age. He could also sit for what seemed like hours with books as his entertainment.

I highly recommend the DVDs by Leap Frog. The first one covers the letters and the sounds they make- The Letter Factory. Then, there are two more- the next ones have to do with putting the letters together to make words- The Words Factory. We loved them (still watch them just for fun).

We also did "sight words" (and, I, the, me, my, etc...) on flash cards as a game.

And finally, while the reading part is awesome to work on, don't forget the math and writing skills, as well. We started with just the basic straight lines and circular shapes (no actual letters yet) for writing (don't forget to teach them how to hold a crayon correctly). And for math, we just counted EVERYTHING and anything. I also had a TON of numbers puzzles.

Enjoy! I truly believe that children can learn a lot more than we give them credit for. :)

A., When you read the baby magazines and books they say that you will know and reconize when you baby is ready for something such as reading potty trainning and things in that nature. And its easy to see that your baby is ready to start reading and learning things around him. I would say teach him how to read and identify things around him. And when he walks away or says he can do on his own let him do it you really do not have to push them til they get ready to go to school. And sometimes not even then if they are really into it. As far as I am conserened you can start to teach him it will not do any harm than it will good.
H. a.

There is a book called, "Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons." A friend of ours (mother of 9 kids) recommended it to me; she has used it to teach most of her kids to read. We are on lesson 30 and doing great! My son is almost 4 and we've been doing the lessons for about 3 months. We don't do a lesson every day; if he is feeling worn out with it or bored we skip a few D. & just sound things out together when we read other books. You can check it out at the library before getting one to see if it is something that will work for you. We got ours for 12.00 at half price books which beats spending a small fortune on a program that has more materialwhich in our case would just end up lost! Have fun teaching your kiddo to read; it opens up a world of posibilities to them!