what age do most children start reading?

[stardust]

i know that stages of development obviously change so much from child to child, but I am interested to hear what the average age that a child starts to read, write and recognize letters is.

Everybody on the forum always seems to have very good advice, and I would also appreciate any techniques or suggestions on how to help a child develop these skills. thanks

[enjoy]

My son has started school in September at the age of 5.

He hasn't been taught before, nor has he shown any interest in letters at all.

Now he enjoys reading and writing the letters he has learned so far. He can read and write words with the familiar letters.

The most amazing thing about it is - how much he enjoys it, how much he loves his newly gained skills, he is really keen on working on it. My boy loves it!!!

[Fuschia]

My sister was a teacher and just recommended general play and activities ... Child no 1 had a big vocabulary and liked to

Be read to

Started reception at age 4 1/2, on a jolly phonics programme at by half term he could read

However most children took

Most of the year to get to grips with it

So I would say aged 5-6 is fairly average

[Fuschia]

Twins are 3.5 and recognise some letters so far

Playing games with sound and rhyme (I spy for eg) is a good foundation

The jolly phonics system is good if you want to formalise things

[new mother]

I think expectations change between the generations. We could all read either at nursery or just after starting school and we were all expected to do "tables" up to 12 times the following year Ie aged either 5 or 6. I don't think children nowadays can do those things automatically. (it wasn't considered good but simply average for us.)We had to trace pages from a book for letter practice. Do children ever see tracing paper nowadays, I wonder?!

My observation is that most children "should" be able to read by the end of first year at school and I would be starting to think about why not if the child could not. (new baby and associated upheaval, youn for the year, eyesight, lack of parental practice at home etc).

I would certainly err on the side of gentle intro and playing etc rather than full-scale "you must enjoy the new world that is about to open up to you" sort of pressure.

[Fuschia]

Having been reading myself before I was 3 I actually felt with no 1 that he might be 'behind' but he wasn't at all

Many of the boys in his class actually took well

Over a year to learn ...

Seeing adults reading, bring read to, audio books, having suitable books available ... All these things are the foundations

ESP for boys, it's very helpful to see men reading apparently

[jollybaby]

I'm not sure I could do 12 times tables by age 6!

With miss JB being only 14 months I'm not really an expert on reading age but I asked my MIL, a teacher who specialises in dyslexia etc, the best way to help your child to start reading pre school. She said that children who come to school with some knowledge of the alphabet have a huge headstart (although Of course they could be the clever ones anyway). Not sure how this fits in with all the phonics schemes though.

[Fuschia]

Phonics is sbout recognising the sounds of the letters and linking it to the shape

Jolly phonics has an action snd an

Image for each

For instance t

You say 't' as in 'tennis' and look bath and forth as if watching a tennis match, as you do it

A is ants crawling on your arm

As well (or instead of) 26 letters you learn

Sounds like 'NG'

K is the sound for both k and a hard c

C appears twice with the soft sound and the hard

I wAs a bit doubtful about it but my son went from zero, hardly recognising his own name, to being able to read starter books, in less than 6 weeks! Amazing to see ... He just loves reading now

[cuppa tea]

It really depends how you define reading. I think writing and recognising letters is not the same as reading. Children can do this from very young, but to pick up a book they haven't read before and decode the words is an entirely different skill. Schools choose books with specific words that children know and will have repeated in class and recognise. To actually work out a new word by themselves and understanding the 'code' is what reading really is. I think the age at which children do this varies massively.

We are surrounded by text and children are exposed to it all the time. If you read to your children and read yourself then they will be motivated to learn it. Personally I think reading is pushed too early in school, which is why it can feel to children like a difficult concept, when actually they learned how to speak and the concept of language, which is far more challenging, just by being surrounded by speaking adults.

[Pickle]

Both of my kids have been able to recognise the letters of the alphabet from around 2.5/3ish - through some gentle exposure at the creche they went to and they enjoy watching the Jolly Phonics videos on YouTube.

Son is now in reception and starting to read confidently. I think a lot of it has to do with what you do at home, especially in the first couple of years at school. We play a lot of phonics games on the computer, he has phonics apps that he loves on my iphone etc. and we read books all the time. He's showing a lot of natural interest in how to spell words and will have a good attempt himself before asking for help.

It has been brilliant watching my son develop in the last few weeks, and when he recognises words when out and about the joy on his face is priceless.

[stardust]

Thank you, it is very helpful to hear this kind of feedback. Does anyone know where you can get hold of Jolly Phonics books or dvds? Is youtube the best bet? Does anybody have any thoughts on writing letters?

[Pickle]

YouTube is good (and free!) for the phonics songs, and the kids love them - be warned though, you'll find yourself singing them walking along the street and waking in the middle of the night with "a a ants on my arm..." running through your head!

We also use:

http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/

There are free elements, but I've signed up (cheap annual fee) to be able to access all the resources. I find my son (and daughter) love playing the "games", which means they're learning without really feeling like there's any pressure.

There are lots of iphone apps, search "phonics" and pick and choose the ones that suit you (if you have an iphone!). These keep my kids entertained for ages when we're in waiting rooms/restaurants etc. I have some basic flash card ones, as well as a spelling one which my son really enjoys.

In terms of writing, I've found this comes after reading - certainly for boys. I've always encouraged it, and both can write their names, but I haven't worried too much about how they go about forming the letters. In reception they start teaching them the correct pencil positioning etc. to form them properly and the kids seem to pick it up quickly. There seem to be songs/rhymes associated with this too, I must ask the teacher what they are to see if I can find resources online.

Hope that helps. I'm no expert, but it's what seems to be working for us!

[catgirl]

Which apps are good? There are so many? Just downloaded a free one but seems pretty rubbish so far, can you recommend any? What's the spelling one? Thanks

[pebbles]

Another good game is to choose a letter and then all week get your little one to find objects around the home, park, nursery/school that begin with the letter. Once they've got the hang of it it's great to play ISpy - keeps it fun as well :)

[Otta]

My wife love books, and is a qualified primary teacher. She said she wouldn't ever try to "teach" a young child how to read, but she has always read A LOT of books to our daughter. In turn, our daughter would always bring you books, wanting to be read to.

This seems to have taken a bit of a back seat since she developed her obsession with Peppa bloody Pig, but she still loves books, and will memorise the words to them, so she'll recite them as you go along. Obviously this isn't reading, but it has to be a good start.

Daughter is now 2.5, so obviously not reading yet, but I do hope her interest in books continues. Not because I care at all about her acheivement in the first few years of school*, but because I love the fact she enjoys stories so much.

*Obviously I don't want her to find it really hard, and struggle, but I can put my hand on my heart and say I couldn't care less if shes not one of the top of the class.

[new mother]

Otta, loving the reference to the damned pig!

[stardust]

Thank you - the suggestions for activities are fantastic and will definitely give them a go. Will also check out youtube

[damzel]

This is useful (I didn't write it!):

POINTS TO REMEMBER WHEN READING WITH YOUR CHILD

Attitude/Approach

? Primary object is interest and enjoyment

? Focus on meaning of reading

? No pressure, parental anxiety filters through to your child

? Regular pauses to laugh, enjoy repetition, talk about the story

? Constant praise and encouragement even for the smallest achievement

? Boost confidence, e.g. ?I like the way you worked out what that says?

? Focus on what they can do rather than what they can?t

? Show that you are enjoying yourself

? Stop if you are losing patience

? Don?t make comparisons with other children

? Respond to your child?s mood

? If your child is not enjoying a book, change it

Time

? Set aside the same time daily when your child is most responsive

? Young children like routine - reassuring

? 15 minutes is usually long enough

? Bite-size sessions rather than blitz!

? If tired, miss a day out

? Be aware when a child has had enough

? Give undivided attention

Place

? Away from any other distractions

? Try not to read in front of siblings who can already read

? Make books accessible to the children

? Categorize books in the home, e.g.

?Ones I can read on my own?

?Need some help?

?Favourites?

? Sit comfortably and close to each other

Before Reading a Book

? Look at front cover and title and predict what book might be about

? Flick through the text, looking at pictures to generate vocabulary

? Discuss setting, characters, unusual language

? Identify new words with significance

? Ask questions prior to reading to direct attention

When Your Child Gets Stuck

? Give child a chance to work out the word, don?t jump in as soon as he/she pauses

? Try not to make comments like ?You should know that?, or ?You had it on the last page?

? Offer a range of strategies they might use to read an unknown word, e.g. phonic, picture clue, context, syntax

? If you read a word, explain how it was worked out

Correcting Mistakes

? Mistakes tell you a lot about a child?s difficulties

? If mistake retains the sense of the passage, don?t correct

? Give child an opportunity to self-correct

? Wait until a natural break or the end of a sentence

? Try not to use negative language

? Use language like ?Are you sure that?s what it says?? ?Did that make sense??

After Reading a Book

? Discuss the book, invite a personal response, e.g.

?Which bit did you like best??

?How do you think...felt when...happened??

? Encourage child to be critical and reflect on reading

? Assess child?s understanding of what they read

? Follow up activities, e.g. illustrate part of the story

retell story

act out

? Retell the sequence of events

? Discuss ideas ?between the lines?, such as why things happened as they did