Hello everyone! :happy:
We have just recently added a new article in our BrillBaby site entitled “Why Teach Reading Early?” and we would like to encourage everyone to read it and give their opinions on the subject.
:rolleyes: This topic is a widely debated issue, and we would like to know how you as parents personally feel about teaching your children to read at a very early age.
We do hope to hear from all of you! :yes:
Thanks Lappy for helping get the discussion started. 
I think the most interesting part for me while researching this article was the point about reading’s place in history. We think reading is necessarily a difficult skill because it’s a skill that - until recently - was reserved for the elite of society.
I really don’t think it’s that far-fetched to imagine most children being able to read books before they start school… Few have been given the chance, but plenty have shown the ability.
Little Readers users, you are ahead of your time! :biggrin:
Maddy
Glenn Doman actually says to NOT teach reading, maths and encyclopaedic knowledge is CHILD NEGLECT. I agree that if we know we should do something but we dont do it when we could do it, that is neglect.
I think the earlier kids learn to read, the better their spelling, grammar etc. One of my kids was recently given an award at school assembly. The award was for DILLIGENCE. Note the spelling!! I mentioned to the teacher diligence had one “L”, and he just said he never was a good speller.
Yeah, but he’s the teacher!! What hope have the kids got if we leave it to teachers???
Infact, in another teacher’s classroom there were spelling errors on the blackboard. If the kids see something spelled a certain way, they will believe that is how the word is spelled. This happens alot with newspapers and some novels!! (incorrect spelling)
Oh, yes! I know exactly what you are saying about spelling! I am the spelling police when it comes to our download area! If you have a misspelled word and I catch it, I will let you know! This is a reading program for kids. They absolutely must see the correct spelling!
I agree with you on that, Nikita. I remember when I was still in Grade School, I noticed a sign in our campus which said “NO LITERRING”. I told my mom that the spelling wasn’t correct. When she saw it for herself, she then reported it to the Principal. I told her there’s no big deal and that there wasn’t a need to report for it because they might have just mistakenly written it. She then replied, “That’s the whole point. They are the teachers, the school administrators, they should be cautious of everything that the students might see around them. They might answer it’s just a little sign with a little error in spelling, the students might not notice it anymore, but see, you noticed!”.
And now that I’m a mom myself, I can now understand why she reacted that way. :biggrin:
I will be afraid to post from now on! So many of you checking my spelling! English is my second language and I am terrible at typing!
Ha Ha. The forums don’t bother me. I’m concerned with the downloads since they are what our children see.
Oh no! Don’t get us wrong, chispa. That’s not what we meant with our posts! :ohmy:
What we meant was that kids have a “what-they-see-is-what-they’ll-perceive-as-true and correct” kind of thinking that we, as adults (not only their teachers), should be wary of the things that we expose them to.
And another thing, English is also my second language, so don’t think that we note and check the spelling of every post that you make here in the forums. We are here because we all believe in Early-Learning and not to judge and point out the mistakes of our fellow members.
Come back, Chispa! :laugh:
Seriously, as Nikki said, it’s only spellings in the File Downloads area that we bother about. For the Forum, so long as people can understand what you are saying, who cares?
Exactly. I know there are a lot of people here who use English as their second language, and I applaud you for doing so! English is the only language I know.
Thanks for being kind! I must admit…I have been thinking about this all day. I have found myself very intimidated by the people in the forums. You are all very well educated in reading and parenting as a whole. I am more laid back. My children watch TV, probably too much, they eat junk food and do many of the things that are probably “bad” for them. But I love them very much and I want them to succeed in life; most of all, I want them to be happy!
I want to provide the best experiences and that is why I am here in Brillkids. So, I will try to pick your brains and take advantage of all your knowledge. Thanks for the opportunity!
I have dificulties typing words correctly as I often have azaria on my lap and she tries to type too, and has a tantrum when I try to stop her. Does any one know what product it is I’ve heard about, where there’s a toy keyboard that sits on top of my keyboard… kids can actually type things on screen but it is easy for little hands to use?
I have the same problem! Gabriel is always on my lap and he wants to bang on the keyboard and pull all the cords out of the computer. So I sometime make mistakes, but there is a wonderful thing we can do–edit! I have realized many typos that I have gone back and edited.
We certainly don’t want you to feel intimidated. There are many different parents here from every walk of life and with different parenting styles. I don’t think anyone is judging anyone. We just want to hear what you have to say, good spelling or not! You sound like a wonderful parent. Love is the most important thing in your children’s lives, so don’t stress!
I have read that for some children with speech difficulties, learning to read can actually help them with their spoken language. I think it is most helpful for those that are visual learners. Perhaps it helps our typical children too.
oh don’t be intimidated :wub:
We are actually learning from each other!! Just wait a few weeks and you’ll be an expert yourself from the topics on this forum only 
I was already reading books on my own at 3 years old, and hope to help my son do the same.
how did you learn to read that early if you dont mind me asking? what method did your parents use?
can you speed read now
I’d have to ask my mother for more specific details, but she taught me the alphabet (phonetically) by the time I was a year old, and started me on sight-reading, using flash cards of simple words. She made her own little readers for me with the words I had learned, and I remember having a collection of “Peter and Jane” ladybird readers, where you learn from 5 to 15 words for each new book. She also had a set of flash cards with consonant blends (starting with simple two-letter blends like bl, br, etc.) I’m currently using A-Beka’s consonant blends flashcards for my 3 year old niece. I think two things that were key in my learning to read early were my mother’s consistency, and my curiosity.