I had a two year old who wanted to learn to read. She was my first. She already knew the alphabet and such, so I started to teach her to read. I didn’t have materials (and we were overseas), so I started making up materials to teach her. She learned some. Then she got stuck. We tried something else. Then we got stuck. When she was three, we started using the method I use on this site and it worked.
Here’s the problem. Their ability to read races ahead of their ability to comprehend. There are cognitive milestones that have to be reached one by one. There are life experiences that aid our understanding that a three year old just doesn’t have. If they start to read now, they won’t be able to keep on level and keep moving up. You are going to have to break at some point and let the rest of them catch up to their reading ability.
It’s not just cognitive development. Another area is the small motor skills necessary for cutting and writing. My daughter had excellent small motor skills, holding a pencil correctly at age 1 and using college lined paper at 5, but she turned out to be an artist. My sons, however, never could have done writing at at 3, which is what will be necessary if you start at two and continue on.
Does your 4 year old really need to be in first grade learning about biotic and abiotic? This curriculum already had kids finishing kindergarten at age 5 and reading at a third grade level. It’s already advanced. You don’t need to push it any further.
Please, let your little kids play on starfall.com if they want to learn to read. Give them a head start. When they are four, you can skip over the alphabet portion if they know it well and just go to the book at the end (Day 172). Don’t let them get discouraged because it becomes too hard.
AMEN!!!! I loved Starfall when Jimmy was little and so did he. He learned how to read at 4 by himself after playing on this and the Jump Start Reader Rabbit computer game!!! He is an avid reader still at 14….
I agree if your child gets discouraged, but I disagree that teaching them more advanced information at a young age should be discouraged. Children understand much more than we will ever know!!! If your child loves to learn, do not hold back on teaching simply because they are “too young.” Even if they don’t completely understand it, it will help in the future when they do have that experience and it will just “click” on what you were teaching. Teach away parents, teach away. My daughter just turned 3, she knows how to read at a K to 1st grade level, which will help her learn and be less frustrating in the future. She is actually begging me to play starfall right now. She is learning the anatomy names to her body parts, Kindergarten math, geography and history. All of which she completely understands!
I didn’t say don’t teach them. I just don’t think they should be using a structured curriculum and trying to get through grade levels. My 3 year old read at a 1st grade level too, so I know what it’s like. But just read together, explore together, answer her questions, just please don’t pull out the flash cards!
This is exactly what I am facing with my precocious under-two year old. He’s got his letters, numbers, colors, shapes and animals and is constantly begging for more “school”. So, we are following the curriculum, but after 3 days on letter A he seems “unchallenged” though not entirely bored with it. So, I’m debating doing just 3 or 4 days on each letter, but then I’m accelerating him further when he’s already 2-3 years ahead of the game. As a “solution” I’ve been thinking of extending his time on sight words and getting him to read the simplest Dr. Seuss books in order to delay his promotion to getting ready 2. I want progress… Just slower progress so we don’t get really stuck in a rut.