Learning to Reading Myth

Very Young Children Cannot Learn to Read

Have your ever seen very young children read? Have your ever seen a three year old child read children's books easily and fluently with little to no adult help? I have, many times, and I have seen it with many different children as well. In fact, we taught our children to read before they turned three years old. By the time they were three, our children were easily reading children's books on their own. They would sit by themselves, read, comprehend, and giggle once awhile at what they are reading. The aptitude for learning of small children is nothing short of astonishing. Below are some short clips of our 3 year old daughter reading.

Because children have a short attention span, many believe that very young children are unable to learn to read. While it is true that young kids have a short attention span, nothing is further from the truth when saying that a young child can't learn to read. We have proven this many times over, that children as young as two can learn to read. The short attention span of young children can be effectively dealt with simply by structuring your reading lessons to be extremely short - somewhere around 3 to 5 minutes per session is plenty of time.

Young children are extremely fast learners, and they are curious and eager to learn about anything and everything. When you put a young child in a new environment, you'll see that they walk around, inspect, handle, and touch new objects. When adults see this sort of behavior from very young children, we often fail to appreciate the fact that the child is simply exploring and experimenting with things within and around their immediate environment. Things that we take for granted as adults, are new, interesting, and enticing for young children. The same goes for learning to reading. Children are naturals when it comes to learning languages. With simple, repeated exposure, they are able to learn new languages without much instruction - something almost impossible for adults.

When it comes to learning to read, children will always be eager to learn new things. When you begin to teach young children that there are sounds associated with words and letters, they will develop a real keen interest in learning to read. You will be surprised at what a tiny child is capable of if you would just give them enough credit for being capable of learning to read, and spend the time and effort to teach them.

In my own journey of teaching my children to read, I have, on countless occasions, been humbled by seeing what my 2 and 3 year old children have been capable of learning and accomplishing. I have gained a valuable understanding at how little credit we adults give small children when it comes to learning new things such as reading and writing. I think part of the issue lies within the fact that it is commonly accepted that children learn to read when they are in kindergarten or grade 1, and the thinking goes that if the education system has it setup that way - to teach children to read when they're at a certain age - then we must simply accept the fact that very young children cannot learn to read.

But then again, if our education system was so great, then there wouldn't be 38% grade four students that are illiterate, and nor would there be over 14% of the adult population that are functionally illiterate.

Give your child the credit they deserve. With how advanced our society and technology has become, there's still so much mystery and little understanding of how the brain truly functions and works; however, one things that's for sure is that young children are exceptionally capable of learning to reading, and teaching children to read at a young age helps enhance their intellectual development.

Click here to find out how you can easily and effectively teach your child to read today.