Hello from South Africa, feeling a little overwhelmed

[HayleyS]

Hello all
My name is Hayley, I live in Cape Town, South Africa. My husband and I have 3 little ones, the oldest girl has just turned 4, second girl is 2 and baby boy is 2 months. I always assumed the best time to begin learning to read was about 5 or 6 years of age, but in about September last year I found an old copy of Glen Doman's 'Teach you baby to read' and I suddenly felt a strong sense of not wanting to waste this early time of learning. I painstakingly made red and white flash cards late at night and began with my girls. It was hard to find enough calm moments in a day when everyone was in a good mood, as well as getting ready for our new baby etc, so I have struggled to get into a routine. My oldest seemed to lose focus and I have struggled to get this reading thing off the ground. I was about to try teach phonics in a more traditional way, at least to my older daughter, when I came across Brillkids this week and once again feel like I must try my best to make good use of this time.. I have so many thoughts and things drawing my attention about schooling options, homeschooling, styles of learning, free downloadables, forums, YouTube,songs etc etc that it boggles my mind at times. But for now if I can teach my kids to read early and love learning and reading that will be a great start for them. Should I just start with the early reading program, or reading, maths and music all at once? How to I get my four year old to be enthusiastic and focused? Any advice for a solid, simple start that really works would be much appreciated.. Thank you!

[Mandy]

Call me  at my uncles. His name is 0837795335. I am in the US but arrive next Sunday in SA. Would love to help you!

[HayleyS]

Thank you Mandy, much appreciated! Will call you!! ☺️

[Mandy]

I leave for SA on Friday, will be there Sunday. I will have my US number but that is probably better. His name is Kit. I have an 11 yr old and 7 yr old. Done the course intensively with beautiful results. Happy to share. Ek kannie wag om huis toe te gaan nie! Ons kan daar praat.

Mands

[HayleyS]

Wonderlik! Ek sien uit om met jou te praat! ☺️ I don't know anyone personality that has taught their babies or toddlers to read here so would love to chat to someone ☺️. Safe travels Mandy!

[HayleyS]

*personally

[Mandy]

Gotcha. Happy to help.

[MamaOfWill]

Hello HayleyS,

I hear you, with everything we see other EL parents too and achieve and with all the endless learning materials there are out there for young children, it can be extremely overwhelming!  What I do to simplify things is, first set a specific goal we'll be working on, then organizing time when we'll be working on it and finally finding or creating resources to help us reach that goal.  I say this because I've many times in the past did exactly the opposite and have it end in disaster;  I'll find some awesome video series on youtube, download the lot, try to squeeze it into our already busy day and find myself realizing we don't really have time for watching the series and at retro respect I'm not too sure if it's really worth the time invested :-/

If my boy's not interested in something, there's no use trying to teach him.  I read a saying on Facebook the other day "learning happens when somebody wants to learn, not when somebody wants to teach," and I thought to myself, "oh boy, took me 4 years to figure that one out" -- but it's true.  What works for my boy to get him interested in things is to have him see it and hear it as part of his environment first.  For instance, I'll put posters or cards on the walls or doors, leave books open on a specific page on our coffee table, play audio playlists or simply read things out to him casually while he's playing, store educational toys and materials where they are in plain sight, or using educational apps myself where he can see me.  Might take months, but the very best time to start teaching is when he starts showing an interest or asking questions.  I'll admit, now that he's older I do sometimes insist on him practicing or reading things even when he doesn't want to, but I know that he learns 10x faster when he's the one initiating it.  Sometimes things aren't fun when you can't do it at all, or don't know anything about it.  A language becomes very enjoyable if you know enough words to follow stories or things that interest you, a musical instrument becomes more fun the more songs you can play on it etc.   You can get creative, be silly and fun, invent games or Taylor lessons to match your child's interest (like, if princesses is her "thing", teach her to read princess names or elements that come from specific favorite fairy tails, for example) but remember that this sort of thing tires you (the teaching mommy) out in the long run, since you have to put a lot of energy into creating special materials or coming up with new ways to make it fun.  Learning itself can be fun too, so my main goal is always to awaken a desire to learn, so that the drive comes from him and not from me.

Most people I know who taught their kids to read early used both whole word and phonics approaches simultaneously.  Personally, my boy did learn to recognize some words very early on, but lost interest and soon could not recognize those words anymore.  We started phonics when he was 2, it felt like he learned super fast (we used letterland phonics) and within a couple of days was sounding out 3 letter words, but then lost interest (again!) and didn't really read again until he was 4 years old.  But, the things I tried in the early years wasn't in vain, his reading ability grew fast and now at 5 years old, he's reading at a 5th grade level, and absolutely loves reading.  (We used LittleReader, Readeez, Letterland, Alphablocks, TweadleWink, and both my husband and I read to him lots.) 

Every journey is very unique, so it's hard to try and give advice, I can only really share my personal views and experiences, but it sounds like you're off to a fantastic start and you'll be amazed with the results!  All the best!

P.S -- I'm from Johannesburg

[HayleyS]

Hello MamaOfWill

Thank you so much for your encouragement and advice, really appreciate it! I have already started with some Letterland Phonics with my four year old, I think a combination of phonics and sight reading might work better for her at this stage, as she is grasping it quite well. I think sight reading might be a better way to go with my little ones, although my two year old knows a fair amount of her alphabet already so I could keep building on that too. It definitely is way easier when they are enjoying and initiating learning. It is really nice to find some South Africans on this forum as it somehow makes it feel a little more achievable ☺️👍🏻 thank you for your message! It sounds like your little boy is reading like a champion already  ☺️ from Hayley

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