Early Reading Programs

[CarolinaGirl]

I'd like to find a fun early reading program for my 3 year old to work on this summer while she's out of preschool. Not necessarily to push her, but just to keep her in the habit of learning and having fun at it. She already knows her upper case letters and can spell her name. I have the Leap Frog videos - Letter Factory and Word Factory, but they're a little "busy" in my opinion. Plus, I'd like something that requires more active learning (rather than sitting in front of the TV). I'm not really looking for opinions on whether or not to start teaching her to read at her age. I'd just like to know if anyone has any suggestions for good programs or methods that you may have used.

[Traciann]

I know Kuman has great workbooks. I just finished a literacy class in school, and they say the very best thing to promote literacy is to just keep reading to her.

[Renrel]

I think a lot depends on the child. Different kids learn in different ways so what works great for one can totally flop with another. My son seems to be an audio learner so we have had a lot of success with any thing that has songs and rhymes. He loved the leapfrog videos and Prof. Quiggly was his hero for awhile.

We play alot of kids cds in the car and he really likes the learning ones. There was one by twin sisters that came in a phonics workbook which has lots of great songs for learning phonics rules but I don't know the name off hand. School house rock ones are also fun for him and the We might be giant ABC and 123 cds and video are well liked.

DS is currently at age 4.5 obsessed with his hooked on 1st grade super workbook which we picked up at Costco. So I would recommended the preschool or kindergarden one based on his love for this one. I like that it does "lessons" with lots of different kind of games so that if a child is not into one game another may catch their interest. Kids get to put a sticker in the book and another on a poster for each 2 pages they complete and get a certificate at the end of a section. There are also learning games and family games making all different kinds of learning available.

Starfall.com is a good website for early reading skills. There are also good games on the Disney and PBS web sites.

There are several good kids tv shows out for reading. Word world and word girl are two I know of off hand.

We also really like the JumpStart series of computer games. There is also a good one based on busytown and Reader Rabbit is also pretty good.

Of course just sitting and reading with her is the best way to learn and encourage reading. Take time to look at the pictures and talk about the story. Ask her what she thinks is going to happen next before turning the page. Talk about the characters and what they might be thinking or feeling.

We also sometimes write stories with DS. He would dictate and we would write the story on paper or type in the computer and then we would make pictures to go with the story.

OH, there was a great set of alphabet books we got from scholastic. I think it was called Alphatales. One book for each letter of the alphabet. Each book had a very engaging story, a picture for hunting for thing that began with the letter and a letter "cheer". DS loved these books and we still read the stories occassional even though he is well passed learning his letters and sounds.

I also love the Kumin series mentioned in the pp. We got the letter tracing cards for DS to practice writing his letters and it was one of the few letter tracing activies he had any patience for. We also have their maze book and I think a tracing book. Both good "games" for learning pre-writing skills.

[mamax2]

I'm sure you already do this, but just read to her a lot. I know there are a lot of 'programs' out there, but IMO, it's counter-intuitive to teach a child to develop a love for reading (more important than actual reading to me) by watching TV or using a computer. To me, and for my child specifically, using a computer or TV = love of those things and not love of books so I pretty much steer clear of those types of programs.

Having said that... Scholastic has a series called 'Side by Side' that has a text that lends itself to taking turns reading (i.e.: smaller, more complex text on the right side of the page and larger more basic text on the left that your child could begin to recognize on sight) My DD has received one of these books from her teacher and loves it. They are only available to educators, so you may want to ask your DD's teacher if she'll order them for you.

Also, teaching sight words is a big thing too. Just use post-in notes and label everything in your house. You'll be amazed at what your DD can learn to read just by learning sight words.

[Renrel]

I just wanted to add that while I am not opposed to using electonics like tv, computers ect to compliment learning, as indicated in the suggestions I made, I do agree with Mamax2 that the best way to learn to read and to love reading is to be read to. The more books you have around the house and the more you read and encourage her to look at books herself the better. And it is good to let her explore the books in her own way. Don't insist that you read the story straight through if she wants to stop and talk about the pictures on the page, or go back a page, or has a question. Let her learn about books and reading in her own way. Talk about the story to encourage reading comprehension. Move your finger along the words sometimes to help her to match what you are saying to the word on the page. If she is interested you can talk about some of the phonics behind the letters, like how "c" likes to play tricks on you by having 2 sounds and how some letter put together make a new sound. But don't push any of this. You want her to associate books and reading with fun and pleasure and joy, not with a boring lesson play you forced her to engage in.

I personally have found that computer games and such have helped DS to learn, but I have not sought out the games to teach him but rather chosen games that happened to teach, if that makes sense. We choose to allow him some computer and tv time for entertainment but try to make that entertainment eductational. These are however, a suppliment not a replacement for books. DS room has hundreds of books in it, from board books to chapter books, ones he can read himself and ones we have to read to him. Fiction and non-fiction. I am always finding books on sale or resale and adding to the collection.

[dana b]

not sure how i feel about it since i really wanted to avoid the handheld games altogether, but i've had several moms of older kids rave about the leapster.

[Renrel]

FWIW - We recently gave DS a leapster, well actually we told him it was my toy and he is allowed to play with it on occasions that we can not play with him but there is nothing for him to do, like certain boring shopping trips or maybe a long car trip. He loves the game and I do think it is educational but it would not be my first choice for teaching reading to a 3 y/o. I think the leap pad would be better for that if you wanted some sort of a toy, though I will admit DS has never had the love affair with the leap pad that he does with the leapster. It is more of a book and less exciting. But it does "read" words to the user and have games that can teach many skills, including many pre-reading and reading skills. DS only seems to play with this toy when I pull it out and get him engaged. I think that he played more with the first leap pad that he had when he was younger, but I don't remember that clearly anymore. It was the one shaped like a school bus.

[Cjay]

have any of you heard of your baby can read! by Dr.Tizer

he teaches them to reconize word using several sense at the same time. your child will see the word,hear the words, see images representing the meaning of the words,and often perform some physical activity related words.

i am thinking about getting it the only down side is that is$$$$

[Pine Tree]

I think basically whatt the program does is teach kids to memorize, not read. They look at the word 'diaper' and the letters form a picture, and so they recognize the picture. It's like if they see a drawing of a dog and say 'doggie'. True reading is about learning to sound out letters.

I was sort of captivated by the idea (late night infomercial + feeding baby) and made some little flashcards for my daughter one day, and then I thought what the heck am I doing? She's a baby, she needs to be exploring things like textures and cause and effect, so I threw them away. I think simple picture books and making reading a daily part of life is far better than yet another video to watch and pressure to perform.

[Pine Tree]

Back to say that I finally remembered what this is called. This is the "whole word" learning approach which I know at one time was standard in schools, but was then replaced by phonics. Initially kids taught by whole word approaches score well on literacy tests, but once they move beyond basic literacy they fall behind.

I found a wikipedia link which might be of interest

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading_education#.22Whole_Word.22.2C_.22Sight_Wor d.22.2C_or_.22Look_.28and.29_Say.22

My thought is that as a 'party trick' this video set might be fun, but in terms of helping children learn to read, do well in school where they teach phonics and develop a life long love of learning there are better ways.

Someone with more experience in the field might have more to say on the topic though!

[kiki61872]

I think basically whatt the program does is teach kids to memorize, not read.


waaaay back when i was in college i took some early childhood ed classes. the whole topic of reading - i remember a student asked about this. at the time the 'thing' was to teach kids the 'whole' word and NOT phonics.
someone asked about isnt that just teaching memorization - and the teachers response was isnt that what reading is? you are memorizing words and their meanings.

[dragonfly_71]

have any of you heard of your baby can read! by Dr.Tizer

he teaches them to reconize word using several sense at the same time. your child will see the word,hear the words, see images representing the meaning of the words,and often perform some physical activity related words.

i am thinking about getting it the only down side is that is$$$$

I don't know the particulars of this program but I am not a fan of the whole word approach at all. Reading is not memorizing because letters do not sound the same every time, it depends on the context. Also, you need to be able to read words that you have never seen before and how can you do that when all you have learned is to recognize whole words and not how to piece the sounds together? We don't work with DS on reading, yet he has been able to recognize words and sentences since he was about 2. We noticed that when we made copies of several DVDs on identical generic DVDs and then labeled each with black marker, so the only thing that was differen about the DVD was the actual title. We had Cars, Chicken Little, Over the Hedge, George of the Jungle, and some others. DS knew exactly which DVD was which even though we never taught him that or pointed it out. He would ask to watch a particular movie like Cars and we would ask him to go get it and he would actually bring the right one. He had somehow taken it upon himself to memorize what each title looked like. However, he is not able to actually read anything. If I were to show him a word he hasn't seen and ask him what that means, or even take one of the words he has seen in the titles out of context (like Little, without the Chicken in front of it) he would not be able to tell me what that means.

So I would not spend the money for this program.

[Grenouille]

I have no idea what this baby reading program is, but as a former first grade teacher with a Masters Degree in Language and Literacy, I have to step in.

It is Whole Language, not Whole Word, and it is a whole lot more than memorizing. And, done correctly (IE not by a parent who sat up late watching an infomercial) it is just as effective as Phonics. Phonics alone does not effectively teach children to read. Sure, they can read sounds, but do they have any understanding of what they are reading? Not necessarily. I worked with a 5th grade Russian girl who could not speak English at all, yet she could read it almost fluently. If I asked her about what she had read, she had no idea. She read me a story about a horse on a farm. I asked her, at the end of the story, why the horse had gone into the barn. She had no idea. I asked her what the horse might eat, she had no idea. I asked her to point to the picture of the horse and she had no idea what a horse was. Now, of course your child will know what a horse is, but the point is that even though she could read the words, she didn't understand what they meant. And I have seen this myself in kids who are taught solely by Phonics. They can read sentences, and even stories. But ask them a question about what happened in the story, and they often draw a blank. This is the problem educators see when they are forced to use a Phonics program with no Whole Language components. Whole Language seeks to correct that little problem and teach students to read for meaning and understanding, not just for accurate pronunciation.

I also want to clarify that Phonics and Whole Language have been around for ages, and (as is the trend with most things) the education pendulum keeps swinging back and forth between which is most effective approach. Phonics gains popularity and Whole Language is dismissed as "memorization" and "not teaching students to read new words", so teachers abandon it, and test scores and higher grade level teachers notice that comprehension levels and critical thinking decrease, so teachers trash the Phonics program and go back to Whole Language. It has been happening for at least a century in this country, if not longer. So it always makes me laugh when people talk about this "new thing" called Whole Language, since it has been around so long.

When I taught my DD (and my students) to read I used both methods equally. DD is 4.5 years old and currently reads at a 2nd grade level (I haven't tested her, but she reads books that are labeled 2.0 and above, so I am guesstimating). Most importantly, though, she understands the story and can answer questions about the plot and give a basic summary after reading it. Most of my reading "instruction" was disguised as play. We had foam letters in the bathtub and I would make words, show DD how to sound them out, then take away the first letter and make a new word. When we were out at a restaurant waiting for our food to arrive, I took out crayons and paper and played a similar game, making lists of rhyming words. We read a lot of Hop on Pop and Go Dog Go. And we read a lot of books with predictable text.

Bottom line: 1) Don't choose between Phonics and Whole Language. The two work best when used together. 2) Whatever you do, make it fun. If your child protests or resists, back off.

[BTB]

There are many book sets in which each book focuses on a different letter sound, and this is the only "program" we've started for DD - she loves it. Also key to continuing her interest in reading and writing is supplying her with a steady stream of new books and new desk supplies. My MIL also gave the tip - meant for toys, but now we have so many books it works with them too - to pack things away for a couple months. When you bring things out again, they're fresher and kids can re-enjoy them.

[Traciann]

grenouille I am in school right now getting my education degree we are being taught exactly what you just said that its phonics plus using reading strategies to help determine meaning or what would make sense. I didn't realize that education has been going back and forth between the two.Thank you for sharing that!