How did you teach your kids to read and write?

THanks pamdish

 

With my 3, like just about everyone else here, I read to them from 'day one'. We had magnetic letters on the fridge and I'd send them off on little missions in the supermarket to get '3 blue ones' or '2 yellow ones' or whatever.

When it came to reading and writing, each of them had a cupboard, toy box (well a big cardboard box for toys!), drawer, plate and indeed anything I could think of, with their name on it (in l/c letters) so that they got to recognise the shape of the word, rather than actually reading it; we also had things labelled 'Mummy' or 'Daddy' so that when they recognised the shape of these words, they knew they were off-limits things.

The point is, no matter what we do, children will learn when they're ready and not before. My eldest daughter didn't give a hoot about learning to read or write, either at home or at nursery school and although she knew the alphabet - thanks largely to Sesame Street - could (just about) write her name when she started school at 4 1/2 - as the only one in her class not able to read there's nothing like a bit of peer-pressure, and within the first term she'd caught up and even overtaken some of the others. She went on to gain a first class degree and is now a Clincial Psychologist.

Daughter No. 2 was the exact opposite and could read very simple books from an early age (I used The Red Fox - purely because it was what No.1 had been given at school). By the time No. 2 went to school she was quite a competent reader and then - finding everyone else was slightly behind her - just sat around waiting for the rest of her class to catch up (lazy little so-and-so!). Eventually she too went to Uni and is a Financial Analyst.

No. 3 learnt to read (a bit) and write (a bit) aided by us as her parents and by her two older sisters who were made to feel very grown-up by following our suggestion that they 'teach' their little sister! After Uni, this one is now working for the FCO.

As the saying goes - 'it's not where you start, it's where you finish'