3 Year Old Wants to Learn to Read

Talk to the children's librarian at your local library, they are a good source of help and info, and may reccomend books to check out.

I second the recommendation for Starfall.com, they have cute games that help with letter sounds. (so does sesame street.org)

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My son wanted to read early also. We made games of it. His favorite went as follows: I used 3x5 cards to write 2 of each of the letters of the alphabet, we would sometimes build a path to walk on out of them, and sometimes we would just scatter them on the floor, then I would play music and we would follow our path, or jump from card to card, when I would stop the music, I'd call out a letter, and we would both find that card (thats why 2 of each) Then once that was mastered, I would call a letter sound, then I added cluster sounds to the game (ch, st, str, tr and so on) then we moved on to calling out short words and trying to put the cards together to make the words. He was reading at age 3. He is 7 now and reads 3rd and 4th grade level books. My now 3 1/2 year old daughter is not interested at all yet, but I will play the game with her when she is ready. We did a few other home made games, if you need anymore ideas :) It's great that she wants to learn, you'll do great teaching her :)

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You can do the starfall learning, they have a lot of ideas and games you can do with her and it's free, then follow up with flashcards and memory games.

I'm also getting the LeapFrog Letter Factory DVDS for Christmas gifts< I have read tons of reviews and they are awesome.

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How is she with her alphabet and sounds of letters? I would work on that, and then point to the words as you read to her. Have her sound out some of the words as you read. Get some "See Jan Run" books.

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Point to words as you read them. Post labels using 3x5 cards on objects around the house (example "SOFA").

My Mom did this. I learned to read at 3 also. Didn't work for my sister or my oldest and almost all the cards have been yanked down now because his next youngest brother just outgrew chewing on everything, but... it can work...

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Your local library may have books on tape that she can read along to with you? Or they may have educational material that teaches kids to read. I think that is really young, so I think a lot of the gimmics out there are for older kids and cost $30+ i think?

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Starfall is great, as is hooked on phonics. Yes it costs money, but it is such a great learning tool!! Maybe go online to try to find a used set?
That is so great that she is excited aout reading!

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Phonics.
There are many websites, free, that has Phonics based reading help.
Just research it.
Phonics is about sounding out words...

Schools, also use what is called "sight words" to teach reading.
It is called "Dolch Sight Words."
http://www.dolchsightwords.org/
At my Daughter's school, they use this with Kindergarten and 1st grade kids.

www.starfall.com

www.starfall.com
free and useful website for beginning readers.
S.

I purchased a toy from LeapFrog for my two year old son that helps kids learn to read. There are special books that go along with the "pen" but are on sale periodically.

Google: LeapFrog TAG Junior Book Pal Reading System - Green

There is a toddler version and an older kid version. Given my son will receive this gift at Christmas I cannot say how it works but have read good reviews.

My mom made flashcards for my sisters and me using common words and household items. We were all reading to some degree by 3-4 yrs old. For my older two children I used the book "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" by Engelmann. Yes, it does cost money, but it is only $15 on Amazon and is a very easy and effective program that you can do together. By the time I am done using it to teach my youngest to read it will be well worth the small investment. You could check if your library has it, but it takes a few months to complete, so you would need to keep renewing it for awhile. My older kids learned to read at about 3 1/2 years old and were reading chapter books in kindergarten. They both still LOVE reading to this day.
My kids did also enjoy starfall.com. Lots of good reading and phonics on that website.

Use repetition... for example, use books that she is familiar with that has minimal text and lots of context-embedded illustrations. For my son, we use the Laura Numeroff "If you give a (animal) a (item)" books and Good NIght Moon. We read the text and when we get to a word that is also in the illustration, we let him "read" it by pointing to the picture. We read the same books over and over again and let him "read" the words he knows. He loves it and will yell "I"m reaing the words". Keep in mind though, at this age they are recognizing sight words as shapes, so keep it light and fun!

Use Dr. Seuss books.

My daughter was reading at three and I did nothing formal to teach her how. I read to her every day, and as I read, I would follow the text with my finger. One day, out of the blue, she pointed to a word on the page and exclaimed, "That says So Wipe (Snow White)!" Actually, it said "Sneezy" but she had made the connection between letters and sounds. From then on, every time I read to her, she would pick out more and more words on her own.

You have so many good contributions. Once she knows her letters and sounds and is trying to read words, tell her to say the starting sound and the ending sound of the word. Simple, but it helps them say the whole word.

when I taught my oldest to read about that age I would break down words if possible. like blackout is black out. find words inside of words teach her to break them down. mine could read before he started kindergarten within reason. he couldnt read words like kindergarten or december or some real long words but could most words. when he was in first the teacher used him to help other kids get set up on the computer and if he didnt know a word he sould ask and she would tell him.

Another thought - check out read-along books from the library. Could be she is just craving the independence of being able to navigate a book on her own. You can get them with CDs or cassette tapes. I taught my 3-year-old how to use his CD player properly, and he loved sitting in his room during "quiet time" and going through all his read alongs. Just a thought!

Go to the dollar store and buy some flashcards. Cost: $1

Continue to read, read, read to her!

Also, work on reading street signs, stop signs, yield, etc when you're out and about!

(Beware: the first sight word they usually know is "McDonald's" if you're not careful!)

My four year old is very interested in read and spelling also. You can make flashcards with sightwords on them and go through them every night- words like "the", "red", "cat", "dog", "house". My son has an excellent memory, so this is working well. We also use phonics to sound out a word- it's a little more challenging, but it helps reinforce the flashcards. We sound out words that stump him. Good luck!

Go back to basics. Teach her the alphabet and the letter sounds. Then teach how they go together. For instance "cat" c sounds like ca a sounds like a t sounds like tee put it together caattt cat. It takes time but soon she will be able to sound out words on her own.

The library may have some books to help you get started.

My son is doing the same thing. See if your local library has the LeapFrog dvd's-Letter Factory and the ones that follow that help kids put words together.
They also make a fridge phonics magnet that helps kids learn to spell that goes on the fridge for like $20 at Target/Walmart).

Flashcards....or when you are reading point out a word...CAT..see honey that is a cat and cat is spelled CAT..kinda thing. also-Richard Scarry books are GREAT cuz they show all sorts of pictures and pair it with the word.

Dr. Seuss books, definitely. My daughter was reading sentences at age 3 just by reading Dr. Seuss books to her daily, nothing else. She was reading chapter books in kindergarten (Junie B. Jones) when some of the other kids were still learning the alphabet. Her teacher didn't know what to do with her!

I did the same thing, pointing to the words as I read them and we'd take time on each page and talk about the picture (and how it was related to the words). Pretty soon, she was reading the words. I thought she just had them memorized, so I took out a book we had never read before and I asked her to read it. Amazingly, she did. I was shocked!

That Dr. Seuss was on to something way back then! My favorite to start with is Hop on Pop. It's easy and fun. Before she could barely talk, when I'd ask her what book she wanted, she's always say...up pup pup pup. :)

My daughter did this too. She really enjoyed the website starfall.com - it's specifically to help you children learn to read. She's now a first grader reading at a 6th grade level. She got frustrated trying to learn from me.

Just start using letter recongnition. I point to all the letters on the title of a book we are reading and ask what they are. I mix it up, too. Then, start asking what sounds they make once she has the letters down. Of course, you teach her a couple at a time. I highly recommend Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons. It makes learning to read very easy. We don't do the handwriting part of that book when we are learning to read. We just concentrate on the reading. You can probably find this in your library (or request it if they don't have it). Bob books are cute, too. Enjoy these exciting days! Oh, and if she is in a sensitive period for reading now, jump on it. It often fades for a time before it comes back again.

My daughter read early also. I think it was the influence of her older sister being able to read that gave her the desire. We started with a set of flashcards on a ring (they sell them at Target, etc.). The cards had typed words that my older daughter used in kindergarten. They were what our school called popcorn words or sight words, the words that come up often. I can't remember all of them, but these are some examples: the, it, at, is, so, if do...you get it. Learning those basics is the first step. Teaching about words that rhyme is great too. There are great starting reader books out there. The libraries are full of them. I didn't buy a lot because they have so few words and the kids are beyond them quickly. Check out the early reader section of your library.

Reading is a key component to the other things they learn in school. If they can be ahead in reading, it will be an advantage by 3rd or 4th grade! Enjoy your reader!!

Does she know her ABC and know what they look like and sound like? Start with that. You can also point to the words as you read them and that helps too.

Use your finger as you are reading to her to help her learn the words. Sound them out. Make it a game. I think that this is fantastic that she wants to do this! This is the best gift you can give your child! Instead of buying books go to the library. Check out books that are for her age level. Even if you have read that book 10 million times let her do it too. Ask what's going on in the picture and let her tell you.. Good luck and have fun!

Our libraries have a free reading hour where they will read a story to the chidren or you can take out books for free.

Well, my just turned 4 year old basically taught herself to read this fall, we are still learning and progressing, but she can read and sound out/spell many words.

Some things that have helped along the way, we have placemats at dinner with all the upper and lower case letters on them, we have a Leap Frog fridge magnet thing with the letters that tells the name of the letter and the sound(s) it makes, and we ready every nap and every bed time, pointing at the words as we go along. We have Boggle Junior, with the picture cards and letter blocks to spell the 3 or 4 letter words on the card picture.

The first book he read all on her own was a BOB book, http://astore.amazon.com/bobboo-20 They aren't very expensive, the first set of 10 was only $7 and I got them from a used book store, and got more fomr a Library book sale...they may even have them at your library! They are great, since the words in each book rhyme or have similar sounds, and they are only one sentence on each page, and about 8 pages long, so they get immdiate gratification of "I read the whole Book!"

But it soulnd like you are doing all the right things! You could ask for some of these tools/toys for Christmas gifts for her, or you could make similar games/booklets yourself.

Good Luck!

Jessie

We also really liked the Leapfrog DVD's The Letter Factory and the Talking Words factory. Also, fridge magnets that are letters were really helpful because your child can play with them, and learn to recognize them as you work with her to learn them, too.

Write the alphabet on recipe cards or get the letters that are magnets for you fridge start with sounds, then make words just like you teach an older kid the magnets are probably the easiest.

J.,
You can do as one other mom said and use recipe/3x5 cards to write the alphabet on ,teach her the sounds for each, and then make a game out of putting some cards together to make words and later sentences. There are also workbooks you can buy for a few dollars @ Walmart,Target ,etc. You can also work on a different sound each week and do corresponding activites, cutting out or coloring pictures with words that have that sound . You can also make flash cards yourself with words on them . It's a wonderful thing that she is interested so young. Boy, the advantages she'll have in school aznd life in general. People who have great reading skills usually have great communication skills ! Praise and Patience ! C. S.

There is a website that I use with my daughter called Ducks alphabet that teaches children the sounds of letters. Also Starfall.com teaches letters and reading. I bought my daughter some Alphabet flash cards from the dollar store and had them laminated for her to be able to hold and play with. She loves them. My daughter is 3 also. Good luck.