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3-year-old reading

  1. #1
    mommyboy is offline Registered User
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    3-year-old reading

    Hi all moms and dad

    Could you please recommend any good books or websites about reading and learning for 3-year-old child? My son,Ray, is attending pre-nursery 5 days per week and going to K1 this August.

    I would like to know what should children at this age be able to do or learn, for example, they should know all the alphabets or count 1-50 bla bla bla. I, of course, would like my little boy to maximize the absorbability of his little 'sponge'. However, I want to ensure that we keep it at the right pace and will not be to pushy..

    I have a friend with a son,Ken, who is fews months younger that my ones. Ken could 'read/recognize' some simple words like, mummy, car, red and so on. Is he a genuis or Ray and other kids are supposed to know too?

    Thanks for you help.


  2. #2
    carang's Avatar
    carang is offline Registered User
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    it is ABNORMAL for a child of three to be able to read. there is nothing to say that a child who learns to read at three is any more clever than one who learns at 5. when you look at people in the workplace, you don't think... oh, he's very clever, he must have read at a very early age!

    start with the alphabet. but don't sit down and say, 'now we are going to learn the alphabet'

    my son could recognise about 3/4 of the letters by two and a half. how did we do it? we sat at mcdonald's and i showed him the "m"...for the next few days if we were out, and i could see an "m" somewhere, i would point it out to him. after a few times, he'd start pointing them to me. it was a game. it still is...

    we often play, "what's this letter?" sometimes he gets them right, but sometimes not. not a big deal.

    i have a student's mother that insisted her son should read by 3 years of age. this is a local child with a fantastic oral ability bordering on native speaker fluency. i have tried in vain to change this mother's opinion.

    the child takes, in addition to full day school:

    two english lessons(with me, i try to keep them fun and interesting)
    mandarin
    phonics
    music
    swimming
    sports
    ice-skating
    and now...
    mathematics

    this is over-kill and the poor child just wants to be a kid!

    the best thing you can do is read with your child. also, make sure that your child sees you reading your own books. this will ingrain a love of reading. and this will see you much further than making him read before he's ready.

    good luck!
    ps> i didn't learn to read until i was in grade 1. that was the norm in canada in the 1970s. i remember learning phonics! i turned out ok!


  3. #3
    mommyboy is offline Registered User
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    Hi Carang

    Thank you for you reply. I married to a hongkie who typically wants to make his child excel in all aspects. I know it is quite normal that he can't help to compare his child with other kids and he always prouds if Ray knows something more than other kids at the same age.


    I could see Ray's future would be the same as the most over-scheduled children's in Hong Kong, busy with piano, violin, teakwando, tutorial classes............

    I know that my first mission is to convince his daddy that Ray is doing alright at his age but it seems to be a little hard!!!!

    Please wish Ray and me good luck. Thanks


  4. #4
    carang's Avatar
    carang is offline Registered User
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    i wish you all the best!

    (keep in mind that the ONLY classes my son has ever attended ~he's 3yr3m~ are the ones that i have taught. he doesn't go to school, he doesn't do anything except my classes and playing. the parents that attend classes with their children always ask what other classes he takes as he seems rather bright for his age~knows the vocabulary, can always follow directions, usually shares the toys, tries to take care of the younger children etc~. they are all shocked when i tell them... none, not even kindergarten.)


  5. #5
    cwbmum is offline Registered User
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    Hi Mommyboy
    I have sent you a private message.
    Good luck with whatever you choose to do with your son.
    Don't push him into learning too much too young, he is at the age where is fine motor skills are still developing and he needs to learn through play. He probably won't have the fine motor skills to hold a pencil correctly yet. Play games like Eye Spy to hear the sounds in words and enjoy playing games with him.


  6. #6
    aussiegal is offline Registered User
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    Carang, I think you are spot on and I applaud you for your decision to not send your 3 yr old to school. It is considered the norm here so when i tell people my 2 year old doesn't go they look at me like i'm a bit strange. I don't understand the rush to have these babies grow up so fast and to teach them what it is to feel pressured, unhappy, not up to scratch. It's really sad. Of course, if you just send your little one to school a couple of days a week for a few hours it's no big deal but when the rest of their time is scheduled to death and they have no time to play I wonder about what will happen to the child, what sort of person they will become.

    What still really confuses me though is that is has been proven time and time again that play is the best way to learn for babies, toddlers and young children. It is not through forcing them to learn to read at the age of 3. I think when people want their children to excel scholastically before they need to it is simply a question of parental ego. The child's well being and happiness should be the number one concern.


  7. #7
    carang's Avatar
    carang is offline Registered User
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    i have a confession.... my boy will likely go to chinese kindie next sept. BUT ONLY so that his spoken Cantonese improves. he understands cantonese as that is what his dad speaks to him, but he chooses to answer in english.

    the other reason we are sending him, we think, is that we live miles from anywhere and the only opportunity he has to play with other kids is when he comes to "school" with me. i want him to learn how to interact without mummy there supervising.


  8. #8
    syuan is offline Registered User
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    both of my children started going to school 5-days a week when they turned 2. my main purpose is not for them to "learn", but to interact with other children in a supervised environment, and to experience that school is "fun". i think a lot of parents feel the same -- that the kids have a lot of fun at school and that they can develop through play. i don't think it's a bad thing for them to experience independence, routine, and being in a structured environment. of course, if either of my children had really resisted school and not found it fun, i probably would have reconsidered. and i'm sure that there are parents who think that these things can surely wait until their kids are 5 years old -- i agree too because i didn't start school until i was 5, and i don't remember feeling at a disadvantage.

    but back to the original question: what is the reading level for a 3-year-old? i'm not sure if there is a standard, i can only speak from my experience. my 3-year-old daughter can now recognize some chinese characters (she goes to a chinese school), all the letters of the alphabet, and can count up to 100. my son who is 4-1/2 now can recognize simple words like "one, two, car, dog" etc. but he certainly cannot pick up a book and "read" (as in figuring out the words by using phonics). and as far as i can tell, he seems to be at an average level. hope that helps.


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