There has been a lot of debate about whether to start teaching pre-schoolers to read. Young children take in a huge amount of new information all the time. If done in the right way, why shouldn't the basics of reading (and writing) be introduced as well?
There is no great fuss if a child is taught to count to 10, or taught colours. In a way, letters are so much easier than colours. When trying to teach colours you point to a variety of objects - Wellington boots, tractor, teddy, the sky and say 'blue' for all of them. The shade of blue will vary from pale blue through to navy, but it is all blue, you assure them. Letters on the other hand, are almost always the same shape and are usually black.
'Follow the child'
Young children are learning and playing with sounds all the time as they learn to speak and learn new words. They learn from their surroundings and by imitation. So why not extend that into listening for sounds in words, and blending sounds together to make words. The Montessori philosophy of 'follow the child' is wholly appropriate.
If they are involved in books from an early age, learning to read, to imitate and give them the skill of reading in a fun and involving way can only be good.
I must stress that the phrase 'in the right way' is very important. Learning anything should be fun and a pleasure to the child. It should also be at a pace that is appropriate to that child. Some will learn quickly, others will take more time. But even those who do not seem to be learning anything are usually taking something in, and will suddenly one day surprise you by what they do know.
Jolly Phonics
The Jolly Phonics programme uses a multi-sensory approach, which means you see a letter, hear the sound it makes, and do an action to go with each sound. By linking all these things together it makes it easier to remember what has been taught.
I started my two children with 'Finger Phonics' books when they were about two years old. My son loved looking at the pictures and finding all the little things, the eyes, ladybirds and spiders in the pictures. To start with, I would say 'Where is the dog?' and he would point to it. This is also a great way to increase their vocabulary.
Letter sounds
As well as asking him to point to various objects, I started asking him to point to 'the s' or 'the d'. It was just another object on the page as far as he was concerned. When you do this, make sure you use the sound the letter makes, for example, 'sssss'. This is because it is the sounds letters make that are used in words, not their names. Children do need to know the names of letters eventually, but to begin with it is the letter sounds that are important and should be taught.
Writing the letter
Letter formation can be introduced; my children loved 'writing' the letter and we would say the sound together as their finger traced the letter. Make sure you use a book that shows you the starting point of the letter!
I wouldn't get them to write the letter with a pencil at that age, but it is good way of getting them to feel how the different letters are formed. When they are older and better coordinated they start to write the letters automatically. After a while introduce the idea of putting sounds together and asking 'can you see the d-o-g?', or 'where is the s-u-n?' At first, run the sounds together and almost say the word for them and gradually they will get the idea of blending the sounds for themselves. This is the starting point for reading.
Playing with letters
We also had a game where I would ask 'Can you r-u-n?' They would then run as fast as they could across the room and back. I would then ask if they could h-o-p, s-i-t, s-i-ng, s-k-i-p, cl-a-p etc, and they would do the appropriate action.
Turning the game round, then ask 'what sounds can you hear in the word sun?' Again, to begin with I would help them and almost tell them the sounds. My children picked it up very quickly and were able to tell me without help.
We would also play 'I Spy' with picture books, for example, 'I spy with my little eye something beginning with T'. We would do this cuddled up on the settee or before going to bed. It was a real treat and a lovely way to spend some quality time together. It was a very low-key and enjoyable way of introducing very young children to reading.
If your child is older, say four or five, you can move faster and do it in a more structured way before school, perhaps with work books. These teach the sounds but there are also pictures to colour and space for your child to try writing the letters. Make sure your child holds their pen or pencil correctly from the beginning. It is so much easier to get it right initially than it is to try and correct, or 'unlearn', a bad pencil hold later.
The 42 sounds of English
Jolly Phonics introduces the 42 sounds of English, in seven sets of six sounds. As there are 42 sounds and only 26 letters in the alphabet there is an obvious problem: we are16 letters short! Those 16 sounds are represented by digraphs. Digraphs are where two or more letters come together and make a different sound to when the letters are on their own.
So 's' and 'h' make a 'shhh' sound when they are together, as in 'ship'. They are a little more difficult than the single letters. But with practice they will become just as familiar. After all, we do not think it's too difficult to learn the number 10, where a one and a zero come together!
The long vowel sounds (ai, ee, ie, oa, ue) are introduced using one spelling to begin with. As the children progress they learn about the alternative spellings for them. For example, for the 'ai' sound they first learn the 'ai' spelling (as in rain) before going on to cover the 'ay' (as in say), and the 'a-e' (as in made). Everything should be introduced in small, achievable steps.
As your child learns the sounds they should also learn how to blend them together to read small words. Start with words such as hat, leg, pin, hop and sun. Move on to words with digraphs, such as fish, chin and rain. As they get better you can introduce longer words, such as cobweb, and magpie.
To begin with, only use 'regular' words with your child. They are words that are formed when the sounds in them are said. And only use words which have the sounds in them that your child knows.
Tricky words
Unfortunately, most sentences contain some words that are not regular. These words have to be learned. However, most of them have some regular bits in them. Introduce them gradually, one or two at a time, and learn one set at a time before moving on. They will usually know them to read some time before they are able to spell them.
Once they can blend regular words and have started learning the tricky words they should be ready to start reading books. Do be careful that the books you give them to read contain simple, phonically regular words, that they are able to read themselves.
Lovely picture books and stories with long or difficult words in can, and should, still be read together as this increases vocabulary. Reading is a skill that has to be practiced.
Sara Wernham is a teacher in Norfolk, a mother of two children and the joint author of Jolly Phonics. For more information and to get a free Parent/Teacher Guide, visit www.jollylearning.co.uk