I teaching my 4 year old to read. She knows all the sounds. The word mat she will read •m•a•t• MAT!!! Where m a t are separate sounds with pause in between. I never had this with my oldest kid. How do I break the habit of sounding out each sound?
At that age I think it is great that she is sounding out words like that. I would think that as she progresses, she will naturally lose the pauses, without you having to do anything.
I wouldn't want to break the habit. It's a habit that will serve her well as she progresses through harder words. As Blizzard said, the pauses will eventually get shorter until they appear non-existent.
Oh, definately you want her to hear every separate sound! It will become more fluid as she gains confidence. She is also still very young. Yay for her!
I remember that being a stage with my dd. She just couldn't seem to blend the sounds together- so every letter sound was separate. For us, time really was the cure. I think it was a brain maturation thing, to be honest.
I do think that she with practice she will start blending those sounds. Does she pause so long between the sounds that she sometimes misses the word? DC3 was doing that. I decided to employ some of the techniques that are used in Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. He was only 2 when he started sounding out words on his own, and I felt he was too young to use the whole program, which I used with the older two when they were about 3. I just let him sound out the word, encouraged him to blend the sounds, and then "say it fast", at which point he would blurt out the word. He just turned three, and while he still sounds out some words, he does so more quickly, without pausing between sounds. Are you using a phonics program with her?
We don't use any programs for reading. I just do the same I did with my oldest son - when they learn letters ( writing) then we learn to read them. My almost 6 year old oldest reads fluently now and started when he was 4. I use the same technique with my 3 year old and a 4 year old. 3 year old is mine and a 4 year old is our neighbor who comes for preschool time 3-4 times a week. So my 3 year old has shorter stops between sounds. And the neighber girl has big pauses. And looks like she believes it's the correct way to read. She has strong knowledge of sounds. But she works hard to make the stops between sounds. What I want to do is to teach them to hold the sound till they are ready to read next sound instead of short separate sounds. So it will be a slow pronounced word rather than bits of sounds. How can I do that?
My daughter does the same thing. She is 4 1/2 and reading words like C A T, C A T, CAT. I am hoping it just gets better with time. We are reading the BOB books and she is getting better, but I am not sure if she is reading the words or just has them memorized because she has a really good memory. I am interested to see what the more experienced homeschoolers have to say. I am hoping it is a normal part of learning to read.
I thought it was just b/c my 4yo watches "Word World"! Maybe it's just developmental. I'm with all of you hoping they'll just out grow it!
Sounds fairly normal! Wow....go at her pace, don't push, and just continue to encourage her. Maybe even demonstrate how (which you probably already have). Also, have you introduced her to www.starfall.com ? Such a favorite of mine. All three of my kids learned to read using it, and are amazing readers, well above level, etc. Anyway....just some thoughts!
If she is saying, "m a t, MAT!!!", then she is already putting the words together without pausing between them. The pause the first time around is for her young brain to take in what is being read and the MAT is her putting together what she just formulated in her brain. She is already doing it and eventually she will not need to sound out each letter before putting words together. They will simply come out. Keep up the good work. You are doing fine.
