[imamumto3]

ds was never interested in reading, writing etc until he started school. dd (4) on the other hand loves writing, maths and work in general. she really would like to read and looks at her books and makes up stories from the pictures, so I thought I might encourage her to learn to read properly. what is the best way to start her off? she can recognise common words like the or in, so I was thinking of teaching her the sight words, but would that help at all? she likes to do reading eggs on the computer, but she can't get regular access to it as dh uses it for work. has anyone tried the reading eggs books, is it worth buying them?

[Kay1]

Starfall on the computer is also great. You can get the app for your phone if she can't access the computer.

[libbylu]

You can get lots of early readers at the local library. They usually have a whole section of them. We did Reading Eggs too, and borrowed library books.
You could also make cards with the first 100 sight words on them if she is really keen. I did this for DS but he doesn't like them.
Won't your kids need a computer for school work fairly soon? Maybe look at buying a cheap laptop for them - I was astonished the other day that you can buy Compaq laptops for around $300. It's good for them to know how to use a word processor for making stories etc. by grade one or two I reckon and then she could do Reading Eggs more often.

[imamumto3]

I can't get early readers at either of our local libraries, silly really as they are quite big libraries.

we have a 2nd computer for the kids, but the internet is too slow. I would love to get a new one, but there are other priorities at the moment.

I might look and see if it works on the iPad

[Heather11]

The reading eggs program won't work on the Ipad as it requires flash. They have brought out a couple of apps specifically for the Ipad though.

Reading Egg apps

[SqueakyBee]

In my experience the most important thing when learning to read is repetition, repetition. Read the stories she loves (preferably find some shorter, simpler ones) over and over with her. You can run your finger under the words while reading if you'd like, and speak slowly and clearly but with expression.

Through that she will be able to learn what the words look like.
As far as I know, the education department is moving towards this style of learning (learning whole words and sounds rather than learning the letters first and then putting them into words), but I'm not a teacher so anyone in the know feel free to correct me!

[pinkpineapple]

My 3.5yr old is showing a keen interest in reading and writing so I'm just starting with some phonics in names of people and items. I will then try her on dictated texts and see how she goes. I will do with her what I have done with 100s of kids of the past years in my classroom. I always said I wouldn't teach her to read before school but she is just so interested and can't go to school til 2015 thanks to being a May baby.

I will continue to ask LOTS of question so she continues to build her comprehension. Also use lower case and capital letters when writing. Habits are hard to break.

This post has been edited by pinkpineapple: 27/12/2012, 10:40 PM

[trishalishous]

In my experience the most important thing when learning to read is repetition, repetition. Read the stories she loves (preferably find some shorter, simpler ones) over and over with her. You can run your finger under the words while reading if you'd like, and speak slowly and clearly but with expression.

Through that she will be able to learn what the words look like.
As far as I know, the education department is moving towards this style of learning (learning whole words and sounds rather than learning the letters first and then putting them into words), but I'm not a teacher so anyone in the know feel free to correct me!

Agreed. DD is sight reading, and its through pure repetition. We have had days where we have read the 'cat in the hat' 20 times.
Some kids ebooks are interactive, so the child can touch the words to hear the sound, which DD loves

[0zeKid]

Congratulations on recognizing the signs that DD is on her way to loving reading!

My DD1 was about the same age as yours when I we did the same thing. I was introduced to Get Reading Right for parents which uses phonics. They have easy to understand material for you as a parent, and books that progress from teaching each of the 44 sounds to pre-readers and early readers. We found these much much better than others on the market, because they didn't have the obvious pictures telling the reader what each of the words were (so she needed to actually look at the sounds and blend them)! DD2 is now learning to read and when school sends home readers; many with obvious pictures, I can tell when she is guessing.

In addition, I used to take her to the supermarket and work on her vocab too. Help me find lemons, apples etc etc. Making a game out of every day activities (it also kept her busy and me from going bonkers trying to do the supermarket shopping

We also used other everyday activities to reinforce stories or play games (like sticking post-its on items around the house and having her find them. But this was done when she was about 5 and a half.

And, if you want to get tips, downloadables and free reading 'lesson' plan ideas (such as the supermarket and postit ideas). Sign up for this newsletter:
http://www.phonicshero.com

Phonics Hero also has an online program which many schools use and Apps that supplement the Get Reading Right program (but you mentioned you don't have computer access).

Good luck with it!

[Brattacino]

We did the reading eggs program for my little bookworm. She flew threw it and loved most of it- is still upset when the astronaut falls in the crater (she worries they have died- did so at 3 and still hates this bit at 5 (doesn't matter as she is well beyond the program now). On the whole the program was great and she enjoyed it though so I would recommend it though ( wouldn't recommend it for kids who are good readers though - DS hated the repetition and placement test is woefully inadequate for kids who can read well). I never tried the books however... we just borrowed readers from DS's classroom (benefit of helping out with home readers in class). Personally I would never buy readers unless your child really loves the content (do recommend the Rascal books however... lots of repetition, great illustrations and stories).