Hello,
Twinergy daughter begins reading new worlds (http://forum.brillkids.com/teaching-your-child-to-read/she-is-reading!!!/).
My daughter should be able to read between some % of 100 words now. I wondering after how many known words are the kids able to read new words on their own? Or after how many time (let say by 5 new words a day)?
What is your experience?
when they know how to use the vowels!!
You must understand that every child is much different. Some children will read earlier than others. There is no way to predict any of it. You just have to keep teaching, and one day you will see results.
I see, each child is different. Anyway, I would still like to know what your experiences with your child are?
My four-yr-old is not reading yet but I got her the LeapFrog video “The letter factory” and she LOVES it! She has really learned her alphabet and the sounds associated with each letter.
Next I’ll get her “The talking words factory.”
Hi Aguh,
I understand how you are feeling. As you probably know, reading is a receptive skill and so it’s hard to know exactly what our children are “receiving” from the input and how they are processing the information. Even as a classroom teacher I don’t always “know” what the child is taking from the reading process. I’m not able to fully answer your question but I’ll try.
I started working with my son at 14 months of age. He is now 21 months old. I can’t be sure that he’s actually reading “new” words. It seems that he is reading new words but I can’t be sure. Let me explain: on LR I have category lists but I those aren’t necessarily on the slides. For example one says “Yellow Things”. I know my son can read “yellow” but I don’t think I have ever taught him the word “Things”. One day we were using LR and he kept telling me “Yellow Things” “Yellow Things” and he kept pointing to the screen where the categories are listed. So I was surprised. Now I don’t know if he heard me say that before and he just remembered or that he actually read it. Also we have a DVR with lots of programs recorded on it. The list keeps changing so they are sort of in random order. Somehow he got the remote, pressed all the right buttons and highlighted “Blue’s Clues” but didn’t know how to choose it to play. He kept saying, “Blue’s Clues” “Blues Clues”. I know he knows the word Blue but can he read clues? How did he know how to get to there?
Even if he can’t read “things” or “clues” because he has heard me say it together with a word he does know how to read, he is able to figure out that the word next to it is the word. So in a way he is learning how to read words he doesn’t know. That is partly how children do learn how to read anyhow. Oral language development is essential for learning how to read. So the more a child knows orally the more easily it will be for him to read words he doesn’t know by figuring it out. If he/she has never heard of the word before and has never seen it written, it will be much harder to figure out. You and I can do it because we have a background in phonics but we still might not know how to read the word - say if it is written in a foreign language that uses the Roman Alphabet. (Example Yupik Eskimo)
Some more thoughts that I have on this… Since I am an elementary teacher one of the things I need to do to assess student reading is error analysis. Error Analysis tells me a lot about how a child is processing reading. When working on flash cards with my son I have informally done some error analysis and I think you can too. I have never taught my son phonics, But when he reads a YBCR card and reads it incorrectly, for example: “hat” instead of “cat” and I say, “No try again honey” and then he says “Bat” I can see that he understands the ending “at” and how it is pronounced. So if I were to introduce the word “Mat” he might be able to figure that it ends in “at” but not be sure of the word. He might remember that his name starts with a “M” and which sound it makes. At some point I wouldn’t be surprised when he can put these 2 together to make the new word. Again if he doesn’t have the word “mat” in his oral vocabulary and doesn’t know what it means then he might not be able to remember it and use it again.
So I’ve been working with my son for 5 months. I’ve seen from some of his errors that he understands several endings and also some initial letters. For example for “Hippo” he read “horse” and then when I said, “try again” he changed it to “Hello”.
I think that very soon he’ll start figuring out new words on his own if he isn’t already.
Now I understand that Doman doesn’t agree with testing and I fully understand that. For some reason my son doesn’t mind if I hold up a card and ask him what it says. If he’s in the mood he’ll read them. Quite often he asks me to show him the cards and he’ll read them aloud. I also use LR without the sound. I pause and give him a chance to read it and if he doesn’t then I’ll read it. I also do some of the problem solving activities - laying cards down and asking him to pick up the word that says “baby”, etc.
So bottom line - you won’t know exactly when your child can read new words but you can take sneak peeks as to what is happening through error analysis. When you least expect it is when you will be pleasantly surprised by your child. So keep on plugging away and enjoy the time with your child without any expectations. One day you will be surprised.
Louisiana Mommie, when did you start teaching him?
Jaluitgirl, thanks for taking time writing your experience with your son. I am new here and don’t know how to give a karma to you? I understand that reading skills is a gradual process. That give me some idea: The kids probably learn new words quicklier the more words they know. Maybe we should add new words and retire old words more often after a while of teaching.
Speaking about test, I would be a bit disappointed when she answers wrong in a test (and that would be not good for the learing atmosphere), that’s why I do not test my daughter often. Thus, I do not really know if she got word when it get retired. But I like the idea that it doesn’t matter if they forget some words because they learned so quickly and so much. Moreover, when they are able to read new words they will able to read the forgotten words, too. Well, that is a long way to go. But I hope in 1/2 year I will also see some hint that she is able to “guess” words like your child :biggrin: .
HI Aguh,
I don’t know how to give Karma either.
Yes, I think our babies can learn a tremendous amount in a very short time. According to the Tweedlewink program you only need to show a word 3-5 times before retiring it. For me the problem is that my son can go much faster than I can. I download alot from LR but still… So yes, give as much input as you can.
Also, I agree don’t test. My son likes to play those kinds of games but I make sure I NEVER show a disappointed look or frown if he doesn’t get it right.
I can’t describe how much fun we are having teaching him. 
please make sure it is alot of fun and in no time your child will learn to read
remember we as adults like fun things but we also understand the importance
if somethoing is not fun. :yes: :yes: :yes: :yes: :yes: :yes: