Teaching Reading from Birth On

By Jessie Wise

Many parents feel they don’t need to worry about reading instruction until their child is school-age.  But teaching reading, and certainly laying the groundwork for this instruction can and should begin much earlier.

Perhaps you have heard about programs that teach babies to “read” by placing labels on objects in the home.  This is not teaching to read; it is teaching to memorize.  The baby memorizes whole word pictures.  This whole word method is not the kind of early reading instruction I am talking about. But you can begin laying the foundation for phonics – learning the sounds the individual letters represent -- at an early age.

Talk -- Don’t “Baby Talk” -- to Your Baby
Yes, I do believe that preparing your child to read (reading readiness) begins at birth.  I am not saying that you start drilling your three-month-old infant with letter files and flashcards. Rather, you talk to your baby as much as possible.  Skip the baby talk; you want him to learn to use adult language. Talk to your baby about what you are doing: “Now I am rubbing your back with the soapy washcloth,” or “Let’s put this red sock on your foot.  Isn’t it soft?” or “We need to spread some peanut butter on this slice of bread” . . . you get the idea.

Read to your baby from the very beginning.  Read rhymes to him, especially traditional nursery rhymes and simple poetry.  This helps the child listen for the individual sounds in words. Read other books as well -- simple stories, Bible verses, catechisms.  The more a child hears the same words and phrases repeated over and over, the sooner he will learn language.

Listen to Audio Books

As your child progresses into toddlerhood, she can listen to books on tape or CD.  Don’t use the 15-minute children’s tapes with all the bells and whistles.  Most of the time, these versions of stories are designed to sell products, and they often massacre the original version (Disney’s Pinocchio is far different from the classic story by Carlo Collodi).

Get classic books read in their entirety, like Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White or The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit. Children can listen to and enjoy books that are far, far above their reading level. If your library doesn’t have a good selection of audio books, you can make your own.  At times, record your reading to your child along with her comments.  Later, she can listen to you reading the same books over and over.  These tapes can be played in her crib or at other quite times when you are busy.

The quiet time is essential.  Always keep the afternoon nap. Even if the child doesn’t sleep, it establishes the habit of quiet rest, which will lead to the habit of quiet afternoon reading. (The double advantage is that it gives you some uninterrupted time to relax or finish tasks).

Say “Cookie” and Learn Your Letters

As I mentioned earlier, play books on tape during this rest time.  Also, give the child books in the crib.  Start with plastic and cloth books, then board books, then paper books.  You may lose a few pages to the toddler who thinks he’s a hungry puppy, but he is learning to associate books with pleasure.

So when do you start teaching the alphabet?  Earlier than you think!  When you hold up a round, sweet treat and the child can say “cookie,” he is ready for you to hold up a three-dimensional wooden or plastic “a” and begin to learn its name.  Since sentences printed in books consist mainly of lowercase letters, teach the lowercase alphabet first.

Let the child play with letters, because he will learn them more easily if he can feel them as well as see them.  Use wooden alphabet puzzles, magnet letters, and alphabet blocks.

Sing the alphabet song.  It is important that the child be able to say (or sing) the alphabet in order. When your child snuggles in your lap to read a book, make him aware that letters represent sounds.  Run your finger under the print as you read. Since every syllable in every word contains a vowel sound, it is important that the child knows the names of the vowels --

“a,” “e,” “i,” “o,” “u.”  You can sing “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” with the names of the vowels substituted for e-i-e-i-o.  You should also teach the short-vowel sounds: the sounds at the beginning of the words apple, egg, igloo, octopus, and umbrella.  Chanting these sounds or saying the sounds in front of a mirror makes learning fun.  And Old MacDonald doesn’t have to have just animals on his farm -- he can have vowels on his farm too. “And on his farm he had an ‘a’ . . .  With an ‘a’, ‘a’ …” (Note: use the short vowel sound of “a,” as in apple.)

Get Dressed.  Brush Your Teeth.  Learn to Read.

Up until this point, you have been preparing the child to begin reading.  So when do you begin a formal reading program?  A few children begin to learn to read at age 3 or 4.  Almost all children are ready to start by age 5. Not every 5-year-old will ask to do a reading lesson. Although a young child will be excited to learn new grown-up skills, she needs the structure that you (the mature adult) will provide.
Schedule the daily reading lesson matter-of-factly.  There are certain things the child does every day: get dressed, brush her teeth, and do a reading lesson.

Choose a Program

Not all reading programs are designed to be used with the 3-, 4-, or 5-year-old.  Any program that teaches reading, writing and spelling together will hinder the child’s progress in reading. Most children can learn to read before they have the fine motor coordination necessary to learn to write.  Reading, writing, and spelling are three separate skills and should be taught as such.

Find a program that teaches explicit phonics.  The child is taught to read a word by sounding out letters and blending those into words.  The only words that are memorized are those that cannot be phonetically sounded out, like what, said, and two.

Don’t choose a program that uses the whole-word method -- the child looks at the shape of the word, the beginning and ending letter, and then makes a guess based on context and any surrounding pictures.  These whole-word programs aren’t effective in the long run. Many children who learn to read by memorizing whole words start having reading problems in about the fourth grade when reading vocabulary expands so fast that the child can’t memorize enough words to keep up.  This problem is so common it has a name: “the fourth-grade slump.” Teaching phonics eliminates this problem.

A host of reading programs are available, with price tags that can easily stretch to the hundreds of dollars.  These expensive programs often have features such as color graphics and video games.  You don’t need all these extras!  In fact, they often distract the child from the actual process of reading black print on a white page.

Once you have chosen a good explicit phonics program, begin with short reading lessons: start with 5 minutes a day for the young child, and slowly work up to 10- to 15-minute sessions. Do a reading lesson four or five days a week.

If you follow the steps I have outlined here, you will soon find yourself with a child who not only reads at an early age but loves it!

Jessie Wise is the author of numerous books, including The Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading and the bestseller The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home, co-authored with her daughter, Susan Wise Bauer.  She has taught in the classroom, as well as teaching her three children at home.  She and her husband, Jay, live in historic Charles City, Virginia.  You can visit Jessie’s reading website at www.ordinaryparents.com and email her at info@peacehillpress.com. This article first appeared in the Spring 2007 issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine which is published by Paul and Gena Suarez in White Pine, TN. The Old Schoolhouse Magazine is a quarterly, full-color magazine published for home schooling families or those considering home schooling. To learn more about The Old Schoolhouse Magazine visit their website at www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com or call toll free 1-888-718-4663.