learning to read

Personaly I think kids start "learning" to read as soon as you start reading to them. My older son started writing wear you could read it at around 4-5..Most of the time they start teaching them in pre-k which is 4 and by the time the got to kindergarten they should be able to write all their letters. Keep in mind though that all kids are different and they all learn at their own pace.. :o)

Some children are able to learn to read as early as 3 1/2.....other children really can't read until age 8.

Simple writing (forming letters, writing their name) is generally introduced around age 4, as is reading, but that doesn't mean all children will be capable of doing it at that age.

In order to learn to read a child must be able to recognize all 26 letters of the alphabet, both capital and lowercase and know the sounds made by each letter. You can introduce this as soon as your child is ready.

It doesn't matter one iota when other people's children started doing these things. Everyone is different. Focus on your child. Reading and writing is not a competition.

i am a teacher and i have seen children who come to us in K not knowing many letters. it is a real shame. but the curriculum is set up to teach letter sounds ... kids who are behind are tutored but it isnt what most of the class does... so i have worked with kids who cant tell you the name of the letter but are certain of the sounds and can apply it to reading words. not all kids learn the same way. i have a student who seems to be a complete whole language learner. i have a four year old, in my district he cannot attend K next fall because he doesnt turn 5 by july 30th. he knows most of the upper case letters, some (maybe 10-15) lower case letters. he can tell you the letter sounds for maybe 4 letters. he hates to write. he really struggles with his fine motor control and he has always had access to writing materials. his understanding of numbers is great, the value, sequence, numerals, etc . cont.

all kids learn differently. all kids have natural strengths and weaknesses. very few are gifted and about the same amount struggle. at this age you just want to offer a literacy rich environment and make an effort to talk about preschool standars (you can google them for your state, tells you what the gov says a prek should teach, and you can also look up your states kindergarten readiness tests to see what you want to work on.)

I'm teaching my son to read now. He turned 4 in October, I started him probably around 3 1/2 with the book "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" I did ok with that but I wasn't very consitant with it so we didn't get very far. In September I started him with Abeka Kindergarten and he's doing great, reading 3 and 4 letter words that have short vowel sounds. He already knows his letters and learned the concept of sounding out words from the teach your child to read book. He has no interest at all in writing though and I've decided not to push it, I'll ask him if he wants to try to write a letter and almost always he will say no. I think his fine motor skills are behind and writing is very difficult for him.

And by the way, not that it matters, although I'm starting my son early, I really didn't learn to read until I was 7. I learned because my stepdad took the time and taught me, and if he hadn't taught me I'm not sure when I would have learned to read. I was in a good school district too.

depends on the child and how the parents are helping and how muh involved they are

One son started writing his name at 2 1/2. Nothing more than his name for about a year, then he started sounding out words but not blending. He's almost 4 now and has been blending the sounds and trying to read books for a couple of months now.

Another son didn't have an interest in reading or writing until he was in preschool, even though he recognized his letters and the sounds they make. He's now in Kindergarten and is reading pretty well...even recognizing when to use the "silent e".

Kindergarten. As a teacher, I recommend NOT pushing a child to read before then. If they want to or are trying to read, then help them by teaching them the beginning sounds of all the letters. Help them to find words that start with those beginning sounds. Name objects they see. Then move on to ending sounds of easy words. The best and most important way to teach a child to read, to help with speech and language development is to READ to them, READ from the time they are infants and until they won't let you anymore (even after they are fluent readers). You can google Sight words for preschoolers and you will get the 40 words that preschoolers can learn to recognize. Also, teach colors and color names, numbers and number names and shapes and shape names. It will all come together in Kindergarten though. The majority of Kindergarten teachers I know, do NOT want kids reading when they come into Kindergarten. That is what K is for

reading by four, printing by five, never learned cursive.