 Well, here we go (smile) ...Alternative Mom and I decided to try a blogging experiment--blog collaboration. We thought a blog collaboration on a specific idea using both our voices in the post could bring greater insight to a subject. We’re also experimenting with how the posts are presented. So the subject will start as a post here and continue as a post on AM’s blog. Let us know what you think! -------------------------------------------------------------------------Have you ever wondered when is the right time to teach our children to read? A lot of skills I teach my child, TNP, are based on my personal observations. I usually like to wait till the Angel is ready before embarking on certain skills. From experience, a parent can greatly guide a child in terms of some skills, but when it comes to skills that require physical maturity, I feel we have to wait till the child is ready. What I’ve found, AM, is that kids can begin many skills at a much earlier point then parents have generally thought. Something like reading does require, as you said, physical readiness. A child’s language capability needs to be at a certain point (different for each child) where they can produce word sounds. So, which has more truth? Waiting for a child to be ready or conditioning, even if it means conditioning the physical aspect? Could there be some truth that once we miss that crucial period where we can condition, we might then have to wait till the physical or mental ability is ready before the child can learn? I’ve observed that when a child is presented with the written word in a comprehensible fashion (just like the spoken word) at an age they can pronounce words, they can begin the reading process. At that point, their ability to begin seeing and saying words comes more “easily” because they have no preconceptions about what they are doing. I have been tussling with the idea of reading readiness with the Angel, for many reasons. Actually, the idea started half-a-year ago. Having started reading to her from early on, I observed how she has picked up the ability to “dissect” a book – title, author (written by, illustrated by), contents. Half a year ago, she started pointing out individual words, wanting them to be read individually. Recently, she has vented a lot of frustrated about not reading. She has shown her frustration by not wanting to be with her books alone because “I can’t read!” and wants to be read to all the time. I figure that she is ready for reading.From my perspective, AM, she’s been ready for a while. Many parents I know wait till their kids are in some sort of school situation to have them begin reading. I decided—based on the research I was doing and on my little one’s capacity—to start sight words at the same time she was learning her first word groups. Later I started to integrate phonics into the mix. Then what’s holding me back, or any parent, from starting our kids very young?all content The New Parent © 2007
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