My 3-year-old boy reading a couple of random books

[Discussing video]

Discussing video

My 3-year-old boy reading a couple of random books

Here's my little boy, 3 years 4 months old (not eight years, as he says!), in an unedited, unscripted video reading a couple of books he randomly chose out of our bookcases. I think we read the first, "Angus and the Ducks," two times about nine months ago. We've read bits of the second, "Mighty Machines," many times, but I don't think we've ever read this particular question and answer. The video was totally unedited. He has definitely not memorized these. He's not a genius, we just taught him to read. Your baby can read, and have fun doing it, too. Search YouTube for "babies reading" and "toddlers reading" and "preschoolers reading". Also search for "Your Baby Can Read". You'll be amazed. These days, a lot of people are learning for the first time that it's possible to teach tiny kids to read. I learned that it was possible myself only about 18 months ago, by watching other YouTube videos.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/8iHU2yAIu8U&amp;rel=0&amp;fs=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/8iHU2yAIu8U&amp;rel=0&amp;fs=1</a>

Author DadDude	Rating 3.89 (9 votes)
Date September 15, 2009, 08:49:17 PM	Views 5536

[momto3boys]

Very cool!

[bev]

Hi, I thank you for the information, I will try your method to see if it will work for my 3 yr old.

[rauda]

That's great!

[Raising Ethan]

Hi Raising Ethan,

I have viewed your vedios in youtube. They are great! I can see that Ethan loves books alot. He was trying to recite them as you read to him. That's cute! I have a daughter who is about the same age as Ethan, and we even have the same book - Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. But things for me are a complete opposite to what i have been in your vedio. The momement she sees that book, she will ran away from it. This happened even the first time i showed it to her and also applies on other books as well. She used to love books. I started reading to her as young as before her 6th month. She can sit in my lap for as long as 45 mins. Things started to change a couple of months ago. She is so active now that it is hard to keep her still in my lap. She likes to play with us "run and chase", "hide and seek", "piggy back", "bouncing on bed" etc. I am a working mum and i have only a couple of hours for her evey night. I truely agree with the "feel" being loved thing. And i am missing it.    Could you please advise? Would be really keen to know what's your magic.   Please advise on how many books or how long you read to Ethan a day. What is your list of books that you have choosen to read. It would be really useful for me as my girl is about the same age as Ethan. Many thanks in advance.
     

So sorry for the delayed response, I did not even notice that there was your message until today. All I can say is that each child enjoys spending quality time with their parents in their own unique way. Perhaps she is overly excited just to get to see you for those couple hours and really wants to use the time to play and physically interact with you. Ethan is 22 months old now and he chooses whenever he wants to be read to throughout the day. He picks up a book and says the title of it and asks me to read it to him. Often times, I'm willing then there are time where I'm not in the right mindest to read yet another book. It averages about 5-10 books a day. Most rhyming and fun books because I can't ahndle reading boring ones There is no magic, I do LOVE to cuddle him and can see how much you missed that moment with your little girl. I have posted the DVD's and books that's he has been watching/reading on my wordpesss blog. Scroll down a bit when you visit the site and you'll see the photos of the items. He is on his way of reading by himself. I've been meaning to post  recent video of him...still have to capture it...so busy these days and need to make time when his daddy gets home to video tape it! Hope this helps, perhaps your circumstance has changed since you posted this last message?

[heleenaaheimala]

wow...i am really happy for you and your son. I have been reading to my daughter daily but not the same books,,often different books...but she still has not shown spoken much words.She understands what you are teaching her but she does not talk. She just turn 2. i will definately check the you tube for more tips.thank you for sharing.

[DadDude]

wow...i am really happy for you and your son. I have been reading to my daughter daily but not the same books,,often different books...but she still has not shown spoken much words.She understands what you are teaching her but she does not talk. She just turn 2. i will definately check the you tube for more tips.thank you for sharing.

My little boy was not talking very much before his second birthday.  The language explosion happened when he was 2...

[ashutosh]

  hallo daddude u are great !!!!
let u congrajuelate again ... i sow ur downloded ppt shows also and i show this to my baby .. tej .. he is 18 months old n elder one is 8 year old .. meet, who saw ur space / golden rule / maxico tour ppt !!!!
 daddude, how u creat ppt shows? where u get great ideas? ur ppt presentations have quality and script is also vey very good thanks again
daddude, ur my inspritation because ur ppt show, show's that u take long efforts for ur baby
 are u teacher or lecturare let me know plze
thank u
regards
ashutosh
meet and tej's papa

[NBailey]

Dadude,
Your efforts and sharing of your experiences are very much appreciated. Your son is making fantastic progress and seems to be a real delight with a wonderful imagination. You have provided me with many ideas in relation to teaching my son (21 months). He loves his OPD book, especialy the car pages and he frequently brings the Flesch cards to me to look at. I have loosly applied the Doman methods with him and he watched YBCR when he was younger. Before 12 months he could identify many sight words. He doesn't really demnstrate as much reading ability now. I am not sure if he has forgotten or just doesn't want to read the words. I don't bother him about or test him as take comfort in that I show him a lot of information and I am sure it will be of benefit in the long run. It is a gift to him and I don't expect anything in return. We read many books which he rally enjoys ( I may go bankrupt though as I am a little addicted to buying them. We enjoy your presentations. Did you update your software for ppt? We can't seem to open the newer files downloaded. I think my son knows mist of the alphabet letters and sounds. He will not really tell me if I ask him, but sometimes he stands at the fridge, playing with the letters, naming them correctly and making the correct phonic sound. You mentioned your son started making real progress at 22 months. Did his progress happen rather quickly? I just can't see my son trying to sound out words any time soon. He loves books, but it is an effort to draw his attention to the words. He is more interested in the pictures and talking about them. Any suggestions? He does know some of the flesch card words so we will continue with mire of those. Although, he seems to have gone a bit backward with reading, he demnstrates that he remembers ha encyclopedic knowledge bits very well. The more he sees, the quicker he retains the information. He will often just do things like look up at a light bulb and say "light bulb Edison" or say "Sally Ride astronaut". He also often says the planets in order and loves the planetarium in his room. He enjoys pointing out many car logos in car parks. We listen to classical magic and he can identify the composor for a number of pieces. I have tried the Doman math program with him, but he really dislikes it at the moment so
I am giving it he rest. We just do things like counting objects when we are out and about which he enjoys. He can count to ten. I try not to worry about his reading and math progress, but I thought he would have progresed a little more by now. He can talk in sentences of three to four words. Sometimes he is still a bit unclear though. Not sure how much he should be talking at is age as he is our only child. Anyway, thanks again for your efforts. Very inspiring and I always look out for your posts. Oh, and I recently posted about a book I am reading called the word spy. I really think you would enjoy it. The us version is called the word snoop.  

[DadDude]

hallo daddude u are great !!!!
let u congrajuelate again ... i sow ur downloded ppt shows also and i show this to my baby .. tej .. he is 18 months old n elder one is 8 year old .. meet, who saw ur space / golden rule / maxico tour ppt !!!!
 daddude, how u creat ppt shows? where u get great ideas? ur ppt presentations have quality and script is also vey very good thanks again
daddude, ur my inspritation because ur ppt show, show's that u take long efforts for ur baby
 are u teacher or lecturare let me know plze
thank u
regards
ashutosh
meet and tej's papa

I made a little tutorial on making ppt presentations in my style over a year ago...I could dig it out.  I am not a teacher or lecturer (at least, not at present), but I do work in the area.  Sorry to be mysterious.  My secret identity will be revealed pretty soon.   

[DadDude]

Dadude,
Your efforts and sharing of your experiences are very much appreciated. Your son is making fantastic progress and seems to be a real delight with a wonderful imagination. You have provided me with many ideas in relation to teaching my son (21 months). He loves his OPD book, especialy the car pages and he frequently brings the Flesch cards to me to look at. I have loosly applied the Doman methods with him and he watched YBCR when he was younger. Before 12 months he could identify many sight words. He doesn't really demnstrate as much reading ability now. I am not sure if he has forgotten or just doesn't want to read the words. I don't bother him about or test him as take comfort in that I show him a lot of information and I am sure it will be of benefit in the long run. It is a gift to him and I don't expect anything in return.

Thanks, NBailey!

I agree--even if your son doesn't demonstrate his knowledge, he's learning a lot if he's paying attention.  I rarely do anything like testing with my own little guy (apart from BrainQuest, which he loves, and a few other tools).

We read many books which he rally enjoys ( I may go bankrupt though as I am a little addicted to buying them. We enjoy your presentations. Did you update your software for ppt? We can't seem to open the newer files downloaded. I think my son knows mist of the alphabet letters and sounds.

Yes, sorry, but I did upgrade and my most recent presentations were saved in the apparently new (and not backwards-compatible) .pptx format.  Sorry about that.  One of these days I'll make things really easy and put all of the files in one big zip file (or a few big ones...one might really be too big!), resaved in ppt format.

He will not really tell me if I ask him, but sometimes he stands at the fridge, playing with the letters, naming them correctly and making the correct phonic sound. You mentioned your son started making real progress at 22 months. Did his progress happen rather quickly? I just can't see my son trying to sound out words any time soon.

It seemed gradual, until the time we started YBCR and my "Fleschcards" which was when he was 22 months.  There's nothing magical about that age, it just happens to be the age when I decided to buy and start making the materials (and shortly after I learned about the whole phenomenon of very early reading).  We also started the finger-under-the-words-being-read trick around then (I think), and also regular use of Starfall. 

We did not start the flashcards until he was familiar with (could pick out) all the letters of the alphabet, and could sound out a few simple CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words like "dog" and "cat" with refrigerator magnets.  And the first time through the flashcards, I didn't ask him to say the word until *after* I had said it.

I don't know if this will work, but here is an idea.  (1) Put the flash cards away for a couple weeks or a month, and also YBCR.  In the meantime, work on the alphabet sounds and helping him sound out the simplest words (ones from my first five sets) with refrigerator magnets.  (2) THEN, get the cards back out and say, "This time, we will go back through all the cards, but this time we'll make a game out of it.  I am going to help you say the words yourself!"  (3) The first time through the cards this time, don't ask him to sound out the words, but carefully and exaggeratedly sound them out yourself.  ("What's this?  It's ccccc-aaaaaa-tt.  Ccc-aa-t. c-a-t.  Cat!  Can you say cat?")  If incentives of some sort (stickers?) help, and he needs them, this might be the time to pull them out.  (4) Next time, you sound out the word slowly, and then ask him what it is.  If he doesn't get it, sound it out a little faster, then ask again.  If he still doesn't get it, just tell him.  (5) With practice, I hope, he'll start offering his own answers.  Then you'll be able to...very gradually...start giving him fewer prompts.

All the above makes it sound as if your son can't already read these simple words, when he might be able to.  But if he's like mine, he is nervous because he doesn't know them perfectly...he's a bit of a perfectionist. 

He loves books, but it is an effort to draw his attention to the words.

Does it help to simply run your finger under the words as you read them?  It doesn't matter if he isn't always watching the words or your finger.  If he knows he can follow along by finding your finger, he will be more likely to do so.

He is more interested in the pictures and talking about them. Any suggestions? He does know some of the flesch card words so we will continue with mire of those. Although, he seems to have gone a bit backward with reading, he demnstrates that he remembers ha encyclopedic knowledge bits very well. The more he sees, the quicker he retains the information. He will often just do things like look up at a light bulb and say "light bulb Edison" or say "Sally Ride astronaut". He also often says the planets in order and loves the planetarium in his room. He enjoys pointing out many car logos in car parks. We listen to classical magic and he can identify the composor for a number of pieces. I have tried the Doman math program with him, but he really dislikes it at the moment so
I am giving it he rest. We just do things like counting objects when we are out and about which he enjoys. He can count to ten. I try not to worry about his reading and math progress, but I thought he would have progresed a little more by now. He can talk in sentences of three to four words. Sometimes he is still a bit unclear though. Not sure how much he should be talking at is age as he is our only child.

I think mine was talking at about the same level yours is when he was that age.  He wasn't very advanced in speaking ability, pretty average.  Going through the cards systematically *really* helped.  I think it helped a lot with enunciation, because he was taught to "analyze" the sounds that make up words.  I think this is why he speaks pretty clearly now.

Anyway, thanks again for your efforts. Very inspiring and I always look out for your posts. Oh, and I recently posted about a book I am reading called the word spy. I really think you would enjoy it. The us version is called the word snoop.  

Thanks, it does look good.  I looked at it on Amazon and I thought it looked too advanced for Henry, but we might come back to it in a year or two.

--Larry

[NBailey]

Thanks DadDude for your quick response. I will definately try your suggestions. I might start with trying some cvc words on the fridge that he hasn't seen before. It is hard to know what he knows from the words he has seen. We have not watched ybcr for some time now as he previously demonstrated knowledge of all these words. He would read them all without fail by about 14 months. It's just now he acts like he has never seen them before if put in front of him (but like you I don't push it). It's the same with little reader, he knows the words when we are going through a period which focuses on particular words, but when we go back to them at a later date he doesn't
 seem to remember (just has a blank look or says something completely different). It has also been a similar experience with colours. He could identify them perfectly well before the age of 12 months. Now if you ask him what colour something is he will usually just say blue or purple. What confuses me most with the reading is sometimes when we are out and about, he will read words correctly out of the blue. As you have said I think it is probably time to put away the cards for a while and concentrate on
the letter sounds. At the moment he is very fond of the alphabet song from his phonics bus.

Thank-you again and oh, I didn't realize that you had a secret identity to reveal. What is that all about? I just thought thought like many of us that you just were not revealing too many personal details on a forum.

[DadDude]

Thank-you again and oh, I didn't realize that you had a secret identity to reveal. What is that all about? I just thought thought like many of us that you just were not revealing too many personal details on a forum.

Yeah, it's mostly just that! 

[heleenaaheimala]

Hi Daddude,

Your doing a great job...i am so proud of you and your kid!
I need your advise how to help my kid to read. She is 2 years old. i have been showing her flash cards of A, B , C and occasionally and flash cards of words like star and followed by the image, i also read to her occasionally at night after work. She can say about 10 words like car, cat, papa, mama, tree, one and etc and she will point to the object as she sees them. She recognises the objects, for example when i teach her about 12 words and then when i question her, she will point at the object but she can't PRONOUNCE the words However  she talks a lots of baby languages and at times she goes and on and on but we don't understand what she says. We don't follow her baby words but we always encourage her by praising her and asking her to tell us more. I want her to speak proper whole sentence. Can u help me  how do i do this?  Thank you so much

[DadDude]

Hi Daddude,

Your doing a great job...i am so proud of you and your kid!
I need your advise how to help my kid to read. She is 2 years old. i have been showing her flash cards of A, B , C and occasionally and flash cards of words like star and followed by the image, i also read to her occasionally at night after work. She can say about 10 words like car, cat, papa, mama, tree, one and etc and she will point to the object as she sees them. She recognises the objects, for example when i teach her about 12 words and then when i question her, she will point at the object but she can't PRONOUNCE the words However  she talks a lots of baby languages and at times she goes and on and on but we don't understand what she says. We don't follow her baby words but we always encourage her by praising her and asking her to tell us more. I want her to speak proper whole sentence. Can u help me  how do i do this?  Thank you so much

Is English your first language?  No offense I hope, but I wonder if you mean proper whole sentences in English?  And is English the only or main language spoken at home?  If not, I don't think I can advise you--there are special challenges with kids learning more than one language.  All I know is that kids in bilingual households are often slower to speak in both languages, but they eventually catch up.  Beyond that I can't advise you anyway, I know nothing about helping kids with pronunciation.

I guess I can tell you is our experience.  After we started going slowly, carefully, and systematically through the phonics flashcards I've uploaded, he started pronouncing words much better, and he started speaking in longer sentences.  Could you get her to say "dog" and other CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words?  If so, then you could try going slowly and carefully through the cards as we did, but I don't know...

I'm sure many would say it's wrong, but I've also gently corrected his pronunciation from time to time.  (I try to avoid saying, "That's wrong," but simply repeating the correct pronunciation in a sentence that adds something to the conversation.  That's usually enough.)  Frequently I hear him trying to say some word, such as "paleontologist," and I will say, slowly, "Now listen...say 'paleontologist.'"  Then he'll usually just repeat after me, cheerfully enough, as well as he can.  Then I'll praise him regardless of how well he did.  I wouldn't do this if he seemed discouraged or criticized.  I guess this has made him rather precise in his pronunciation and has improved his ability to speak generally, but I really have no way to know that...  I think quite honestly that it helps that I am fairly precise in how I speak; he imitates me.

Your situation may be entirely different.  If you're really concerned about your child being a late speaker in her native language, you should probably consult some expert-written books about what the benchmarks are for your child's age, and in your situation, if my child were significantly below those benchmarks, I'd see a specialist (a speech pathologist, I think).

I'm very sure it also helped that we read and spoke to our boy a lot.  Being exposed to a great deal of language is hugely helpful for all sorts of reasons.

Please again just bear in mind that I am not an expert in this stuff and you should take what I say with a grain of salt.  I don't want you to blame me later if it turns out your child has a serious problem you need to see a professional about!

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