Zoey Can Read!

My mom swore that I was reading before age three. While there is no real proof of that, I'm pretty sure she has never told a lie. :) I guess she sort of set this standard that I thought I'd attempt with my own children.  A couple of months before Zach's birthday, I thought I'd give teaching him to read a try. He had known his alphabet and sounds for quite awhile, so this was the obvious next step. I tried to follow the same timing for Zoey as much as possible. Letters starting around 16 months, mastered by 18-20 months, then accompanying sounds by 22-24 months. I mainly used flashcards and alphabet books, including LMNO Peas and Dr. Seuss's ABC book, and the Leap Frog ABC Factory DVD.

A few weeks ago in church, I realized Zoey was only a few months from turning three, and I hadn't really taken much time to teach her to read yet, and that it was time to get crackin'! Zach has been obviously brilliant from a very young age, and I always worried and wondered if Zoey was given the same intellectual gifts as him, how to keep from comparing the two, how their gender differences played into what I stressed in teaching them, etc. I also am aware that it is different with one child than with two. I had much more time and attention to give when Zach was my only child. Anyways, I sat there in church with Zoey and started almost exactly the way I had with Zach. I wrote down a few simple words on a notebook. MOM, DAD, LOVE, ZACH, AND, ZOEY, STOP, GO, YES, NO. These are easy words that allow for sentence building. I just sounded out the letters and words with her, and she picked them up right away. I was happy and relieved that she caught on so quickly!

I don't know all the methods and philosophy behind teaching reading, and don't really know how my mom taught me, but this one seems to work for my children. I know right at this point it is more memorization than actually understanding and sounding things out, which will be the next step, probably using the BOB Books series I used with Zachary. But Zach's teachers, just before he turned 5, told us he was reading at a second grade level, so it must work and give an adequate foundation for good reading skills. Zach is just recently at the point where he realizes there are other things to read than books, like labels, signs, and the like. We are going to have to watch him! He really has advanced reading skills, especially for his age.

So I know this sounds a bit braggy, but really I just want it in here as proof of when my kids started reading, so they don't doubt me when I tell them in the future. I honestly believe that if you start teaching them young, and give them the requisite time and attention, that most children are capable of learning to read at much earlier ages than we think. Is it vitally important to start so early? Well, I don't think it hurts at all. My reading and writing skills, while not perfect, were always very advanced for my age, which made school much easier all the way through. I remember going through all the books in the Nancy Drew series in first grade. I was so annoyed that there weren't more titles!

The same concept is true for most subjects. I haven't worked much with Zach in math, maybe because it isn't so much my forte as English, but his preschool teachers have him stacking numbers to add, carrying the one, etc., and they say he is about ready for multiplication tables. I asked if this was normal material for preschool, and they said no, but that he is ready for it, which made me happy that we chose this particular school and less annoyed at how much it costs to send him there! He also knows quite a bit of geography, the location of all the states, all the continents and oceans, and is learning the capitals. It can be difficult for me to teach him, because it becomes a little bit of a power struggle. Also with me working more, I have not made the time to do it, which I need to change. The other day, he grabbed my Anatomy textbook and asked me to read it to him. We went though some of the body systems and structures, and he was loving it. I downloaded some Anatomy apps for the iPad, which he also loves. When Natalie came, she just sat there reading to him about the PCO2 in the respiratory system, and he was enthralled. It made me wonder why I had pushed geography so hard. He likes it alright, but loves learning about the human body, just like his parents do! Cute boy!

I feel very blessed for these two gifted children of mine. I am thankful they are healthy, happy, babes capable of so very much. I am glad I have minimal hours to work, and that Corey and I have provided the vast majority of their childcare.