Hellobee Boards Topic: When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?

Hellobee Boards Topic: When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)? https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 30 Apr 2026 19:23:34 +0000 looch on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2696532 Sun, 12 Feb 2017 14:33:12 +0000 looch 2696532@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @808love: Huh, who knew! I love a good thread jack, especially when the topic is kind of related but not really, lol. Reading, math, whatever, sorry OP!!!! 808love on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2696512 Sun, 12 Feb 2017 13:57:27 +0000 808love 2696512@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @looch: It is probably why Americans are such great storytellers and birthed the Hollywood movies. Sorry for the thread jack. Will stop now. looch on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2696486 Sun, 12 Feb 2017 13:15:14 +0000 looch 2696486@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @808love: That's interesting! 808love on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2696476 Sun, 12 Feb 2017 12:31:12 +0000 808love 2696476@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Americans read tons to their kids and are always asking how to help with reading or what books to read while Asian parents are asking, What kinds of extra math(s) are you doing? This was from Beyond the Tiger Mom- East West Parenting. Great book...with math problems too. (Just kidding about the math.) 2littlepumpkins on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2696473 Sun, 12 Feb 2017 12:19:51 +0000 2littlepumpkins 2696473@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @808love: that's reassuring. I would say my daughter who is not really close to reading is at about K level for math, so overall we are ok. 808love on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2696471 Sun, 12 Feb 2017 12:17:31 +0000 808love 2696471@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @ElbieKay: I read that America has a huge obsession with language in the early years and Asian countries have a similar passion but for math. Isn't it interesting? They don't even care what is happening with the other subject but in opposite ways. honeybear on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2696417 Sun, 12 Feb 2017 10:33:13 +0000 honeybear 2696417@https://boards.hellobee.com/ When: 6. He had the basic blending down at 5.5 or so, but we got more serious about practicing and he made rapid progress just after he turned 6. How: Hours a day of reading aloud to him, dabbling in letters and blends and CVC words from about 4 on, and regular short daily lessons and practice when he turned 6. @ElbieKay: I generally agree. My issue with pushing reading instruction down into preschool, pre-K and K is the opportunity cost. If you focus on literacy at 4 and 5 (and even 6), you are by default giving up quite a lot of time doing something else with that child, including substantive intellectual pursuits and free play. And what you’re doing instead is essentially teaching mechanics. (Reading instruction is highly mechanical if you’re taking a phonetic approach, and it’s just straight memorization if you focus on a lot of so-called “sight words.”) Mechanics are fine and necessary and practicing some amount of memorization is good too, but I’m not sure that putting such a big emphasis on them is a great way to introduce formal learning. Also, I suspect that the opportunity costs are much bigger the earlier you push down literacy instruction, simply because it takes more time to teach most 4 year olds to read than it does most 6 year olds. looch on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2696407 Sun, 12 Feb 2017 10:21:00 +0000 looch 2696407@https://boards.hellobee.com/ If you compare my husband and I, side by side, he didn't learn to read until he went to school (abroad) at the age of 6-7. I was an early reader. I went to K reading at a second grade level. Here we are now, 40 years later and in EXACTLY the same spot, career and education wise. We're like a case study that there isn't an age when you learn to read and have some huge long term benefits! ElbieKay on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2696374 Sun, 12 Feb 2017 08:17:22 +0000 ElbieKay 2696374@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @looch: I think my son in particular will be fine. He will be three in a month and can recognize all the letters and knows things like "c is for cat", though I'm not sure how much he has internalized about letters being the building blocks for words. He also loves being read to and will sit by himself and flip through his books too. So I think the motivation will be there. But I think it's a shame that schools are being so aggressive because I don't think there is necessarily that much long term payoff. Why can't we let kids be kids a little longer? looch on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2696357 Sun, 12 Feb 2017 07:01:37 +0000 looch 2696357@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @ElbieKay: I am in agreement. I thought it seemed like a lot to put on the shoulders of a kindergartener. Now I have a child in kindergarten and he has to learn and I have found the process not too painful at all. Charm54 on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2696355 Sun, 12 Feb 2017 06:34:35 +0000 Charm54 2696355@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Reading predictable early readers by end of K would be my goal 2littlepumpkins on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2696350 Sun, 12 Feb 2017 03:56:42 +0000 2littlepumpkins 2696350@https://boards.hellobee.com/ My 4 year old dd is not reading. She has suddenly been more interested in writing and she can pick out the beginning sounds of a good amount of words which I think is impressive, but until recently I haven't worried about it at all... ChiCalGoBee on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2696345 Sun, 12 Feb 2017 02:33:14 +0000 ChiCalGoBee 2696345@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Former kindergarten teacher here! Sounds like your son is spot-on where he needs to be to enter kindergarten in the fall. I am sure he will grow by leaps and bounds and, by this time next year, you'll have an emergent reader on your hands! Let me know if you want some recommendations for materials. I have some I love and some (BOB books😬) I don't think are that great. Happy reading! Mrs. Pen on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2696330 Sat, 11 Feb 2017 23:40:56 +0000 Mrs. Pen 2696330@https://boards.hellobee.com/ My son turns 5 this month, and he's not reading yet. But I don't expect him to. He will start K this fall, and I'm sure that's when he'll start to pick it up! He does know all the letters of the alphabet and their sounds (thank you endless alphabet app for that!). He has a few words he can recognize and spell if you ask him (his name, mama, go, train, no, yes, on...), and if coached, he can sound out letters of a word and try to put them together. So I think that's a great start for going into kindergarten! daniellemybelle on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2696320 Sat, 11 Feb 2017 22:48:45 +0000 daniellemybelle 2696320@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Honestly, my expectation is for LO to start learning to read in PreK. She is an October birthday so she will be 5 two months into her PreK school year. The preschool she'll be at does work on phonics in PreK. youboots on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2696232 Sat, 11 Feb 2017 17:43:50 +0000 youboots 2696232@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I nannied for a boy in kinder who could not read yet. But I hope to get T reading by the time she starts school if she has the aptitude. I did not learn to read till mid elementary. magnolia on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2696230 Sat, 11 Feb 2017 17:42:11 +0000 magnolia 2696230@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Sight words are a great start! Also develop phonemic awareness - letter sounds and rhyming! I work in a big elementary school and most kids are not reading basic sentences til the end of K ElbieKay on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2696097 Sat, 11 Feb 2017 10:50:32 +0000 ElbieKay 2696097@https://boards.hellobee.com/ My son is almost three so we have not been concerned about reading yet. But when I was in school back in the dark ages when we had to walk uphill both ways barefoot in the snow, they didn't expect anyone to learn to read until first grade. My peers all turned out fine. I think it is crazy that reading is now pushed in K. Boogs on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2695997 Fri, 10 Feb 2017 22:13:36 +0000 Boogs 2695997@https://boards.hellobee.com/ At four he could read a few works. At 5.5 he's able to read simple sentences. He loves reading, so I think it helps. It's so fun to see how quickly they progress. sooz on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2695904 Fri, 10 Feb 2017 18:37:10 +0000 sooz 2695904@https://boards.hellobee.com/ My son is 4.5yo and he's been reading BOB books since he was 3.5yo. He's pretty good with reading and sounding out words and comprehending what he's reading. But, as someone else mentioned, learning how to read early isn't a good determiner of whether a child we be academically successful. JoyfulKiwi on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2695643 Fri, 10 Feb 2017 13:30:03 +0000 JoyfulKiwi 2695643@https://boards.hellobee.com/ My son is 4.5 and is just now getting into learning the sounds of letters (which he's so-so on remembering). If he his a groove, I could see him learning to read/blend words before Kindergarten in the fall, but I'm not really emphasizing it for him. From teaching preschool/kinder, I feel like most kids figure out blending sounds and reading phonetic books around 5.5 years old (generally, late winter/springtime of their Kinder year), but I've seen 3.5 year olds who had figured it out! Maysprout on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2695419 Fri, 10 Feb 2017 09:30:05 +0000 Maysprout 2695419@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Our oldest really just started at 5.5 where she makes an effort to sound out words and can can get through an easy book with little help. She loves stories and gets read to all the time and she knew letters and sounds and worked on sight words but it didn't come together till this winter. Now my three year old loves words a lot more than my oldest so I think some of it has to personality. sunnyday on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2695418 Fri, 10 Feb 2017 09:29:54 +0000 sunnyday 2695418@https://boards.hellobee.com/ They start in K here while some are still three (fall babies!) my DD was 4 in October, but reading by the end of Sept. I didn't expect anything this soon and she's already reading at the expected level for Grade 1. The progress is insane, it's really neat to see. SAHM0811 on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2695392 Fri, 10 Feb 2017 09:03:16 +0000 SAHM0811 2695392@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Both my girls started to really read halfway into kindergarten, at 5.5 and 5.25. Mama Bird on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2695374 Fri, 10 Feb 2017 08:35:44 +0000 Mama Bird 2695374@https://boards.hellobee.com/ DS is 4.5 and I think he can read a little, he's definitely good with sight words and I'm noticing more and more that he can read new words too. But they started really working on letters in school at three, which seems way way too early but most kids do seem to keep up. It's so weird to me, my mom and I both taught ourselves to read around five and people thought we were some kind of geniuses :silly: Now it's an expectation. The poor kid even has homework every weekend. looch on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2695325 Fri, 10 Feb 2017 07:22:10 +0000 looch 2695325@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I was in a similar position last year at this time (with the exception that my son was already 5). He knew all the letters, knew the single sounds they made, could write them reasonably well, but had no interest in putting them together, sounding out, any of it. I tried to introduce sight words over the summer and he said "I can't read, I don't know how to read, I don't want to learn how to read" and I decided at that point to back off and send him to school and see what happened. Imagine my surprise when the first list of 25 sight words came home about 2 weeks into the school year and he happily pointed out every single one? Then, the first readers came home and he was able to read them front to back and I nearly fell off my chair because I thought FOR SURE this kid has a learning disability (not to make light of it at all). I talked to my son's reading teacher (different from his main teacher) and she said that he really just took off right before Christmas. They do leveled reading groups and the group my son is in is reading at a first grade level. I think part of it is the assessment that they do, right in the beginning, to know what they are dealing with. They also have a full time reading specialist at the school to help both the kids and teachers with materials and activities. It's nothing short of amazing. Now, all this to say I was an early reader, my mom says I taught myself and was reading at the age of 3. I am of normal intelligence, lol, but had an interest in the written word from early on, so to send my kid to K not being able to read, you can kind of see why I was in panic mode. Mrs Green Grass on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2695256 Thu, 09 Feb 2017 22:46:54 +0000 Mrs Green Grass 2695256@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I was totally thinking of doing a poll for this! My DS is an early reader. He had sight words at 3 and can read two syllable words now at 4. He can read early readers. He can sound out words but doesn't always get them right. It's pretty cool to watch! MamaG on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2695235 Thu, 09 Feb 2017 22:08:13 +0000 MamaG 2695235@https://boards.hellobee.com/ At about 4.5. She had a variety of words she could recognize and was starting to phonetically sound words out and it took off very fast after that time. She's been reading for a year now and I'm amazed every day when she gets a word that I wouldn't expect her to get yet. I'll never forget, the first sentence she read "I can do it" in the book Flip and Flop a story about two penguins that was gifted to her from her Pre-K teacher. yin on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2695192 Thu, 09 Feb 2017 21:36:33 +0000 yin 2695192@https://boards.hellobee.com/ LO stared reading Bob books when he was 4. He was mainly able to identify sight words and knew the sounds each letter makes. I wasn't concerned, and he didn't show interest in learning beyond that. They pick it up so quickly in Kindergarten, and now he is reading at a 1st grade level. bhbee on "When did your child learn to read (or when do you expect him/her to)?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-child-learn-to-read-or-when-do-you-expect-himher-to#post-2695182 Thu, 09 Feb 2017 21:25:50 +0000 bhbee 2695182@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Just turned 5 and not reading, same as you sight words and good with writing but doesn't seem interested in piecing it together yet. I'll be interested to see if she picks it up on her own before kinder in the fall but I know she will get it then.