reading for 4 yr old

[LieslMet]

Our son didn't read well and reliably until 1st and 2nd grade, when he wanted to help me cook. He did a lot of speak-to-text on the ipad for all kinds of things. (It also helped for "Mom- how do you spell x-word?/What does x-word mean?" They could all touch the microphone and speak out the word.) He'd google for recipes and write shopping lists for me. This is also what helped all of our children take math more seriously. Adding and multiplying fractions of 2 1/4 cups flour but we were needing to triple the recipe. (No family of 5 on this earth needs a triple recipe of crepes. :P )

[athena53]

Originally Posted by LieslMet

I would read, in an animated way, and answer questions when they asked. They seemed to read without learning the letters alone. The pictures were great and the stories move right along. I'll sometimes borrow my mother's books from then, just to read the stories. When they wanted to repeat a story or book, we would. It would be dozens of stories in a paperback. Faith & Freedom Reader Series (19 Book Set) - Seton Educational Media I'm sure you can get them cheaper online, used. They're just good stories of the 40s and 50s, with satisfying endings. Easy reading, to a graduated reading level. Even if you keep reading through, beyond THEIR level, it makes them want to re-read on their own. Look at me... a 35 yo, agnostic mother of teenagers, wanting to borrow these stories to re-read them as a comfort.

Wow- what a blast from the past!!! Those were used in my grade school. I do remember they were VERY traditional. I saw a copy of "These are Our People" in a used bookstore once and the cover featured a priest, a farmer and a business type- all male, of course. OTOH, I'm fine with exposing things to kids that aren't exactly in line with my thinking and talking about it. If the books are still filled with stay-at-home mothers (except for nurses, nuns and teachers) we can talk about other things women do now. They were pretty limited in the 1950s.

Anyway, to get back to the OT- the other thought I had, especially after reading others' posts, is that some kids don't read for the sake of reading- they seem to get motivated when it becomes a tool to learn about something that interests them. DS was not the avid reader his father and I were, but he got deeply into Bible study as a young adult and now plows through scholarly commentaries. He also just completed his CPCU (Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter) exams, which takes a tremendous amount of reading.
You never know.