Reading with Children

How do I start teaching my toddlers to write and read?

I have a 2 and 3 year old. They know their basic colors, the alphabet, they can count to 10 in english and spanish. How would I go about teaching them to write? I thought that I would first start teaching them shapes, how to draw them and then start showing them how to write the alphabet, would that be the right order? Any suggestions?

Public Comments

1. Play "School" and have them take turns practicing drawing letters and shapes. You can get wipe-off placemats at Walmart that they can practice on, or you could actually get a little chalkboard. :) Good luck! Keep up the good parenting! :)
2. Flash cards! You can buy them at Wal-Mart or other big stores. Also, talk to them a lot, using real life shapes and colors to back up the teaching learning concept :) Read books to them starting at age 3 or so to, kids LOVE a story to be read to them AND will ask questions, of course! ;)
3. let them be kids. don't ruin their child life. stop pressuring them. they deserve to have fun.
4. read to them and show them the words...my daughter is 3 levels above her grade in reading. Sounds like you are doing a fine job as it is.
5. Why don't you teach them how to use their imagination and enjoy their lives? They will be in school soon and if they can read and write they will still have to sit through all the same classes teaching the others to reaad anad write and they will be bored. Toddlers need to play ... childhood is short enough.
6. i went to the teacher's store in my area and baught books.as i taught my child the A B Cs i told him to trace the letters as well. The book i got had a little story with the letters. FOR example It said A got AN APPLE and ate it. then it had the letter A to trace. Just get pre K reading books for you and your child tor read together and look for phonic books so your child will learn how each letter sound is you have to teach them how the letter sounds like first then you can teach them how to read and write. Also teach them how to right their name thats a good way to teach them how to write. I would go to a teacher store and ask them for some help also they will help with so much. teach them for like 15 minutes a day or how ever long they want. MAKE SURE IT IS FUN TO THEM because if it is not they will not do it. if they are not interested in it dont worry they will be my son sometimes did not do it at all and other days did the books i got for him for hours. Just get shape books that you know he knows then if he does the book like my son in less then five minutes move up to some more harder shapes. Also make art with different kinds of shape like i did with my son i got a triangle and square a circle and an oval and i told him to make something out of them and he made a sun with the circle and dog with the oval and a house with the square and the triangle. So make sure it is fun a stimulating for them. GOOD LUCK.
7. Read to them. They pick up on this and it will stay with them. While reading point to the words as say them out loud. Relax and have fun. Keep in mind that at these early ages all children are very different and one may excel while another may seem to be lagging behind. That's normal. We all have our own clocks we go by. And by the 3rd grade is when the kids are on a more even playing field.
8. reading comes first. teach them their alphabet, then simple words, then short sentences. they need to know shapes anyway, so teach that. after they get pretty good at reading, then start writing just the alphabet, then simple words, then short sentences. there might be a program at the library or at the very least, they can get books to read. there are also workbooks at Walmart to help teach writing, but just a pad of primary paper and fat pencils is enough.
9. You can start by teaching them how to draw shapes, I believe that you can also draw the letters and have them copy them for you as a game. You can give them a prize for each time they draw a letter. You can also give them a hug, praise them and also give them a prize for trying. It's never too early to teach them the fundamentals of learning.
10. There are stages to writing. All of us have muscles in our fingers and children's muscles are developing. As muscle develops writing will increase. Have your children do things such as playdough, blocks, unifex cubes, use tweezers to pick up cotton balls, string beads, cutting etc. Any thing to work those fine motor skills! A two year old should be scribbling with crayons and markers-having fun. At three teach the correct pencil grip. Teach letters and shapes that are round first, straight next, and then curves. The shape of a circle, the letter o the number 0 would be a great start. Use small crayons or pencils. Short pencils or crayons broke in half work best for those little fingers to fit around. Check out handwriting without tears.
11. It sounds like you are on the right track. As for teaching them to write, I would go to the school they will be attending and get a copy of the alphabet they use. There are several different ones now. Also, please don't teach them to print in all capital letters. As a teacher of young children, I have found this is hard for them to change, since it becomes a habit. As for teaching them to read, don't push it yet. Read to them daily. It improves their vocabulary. If you are bilingual, read to them in Spanish also. Children learn another language so easily at a young age.
12. They would benefit from any small motor activities: coloring, sorting objects, playdoh.
13. that is an intdresting question.I used hooked onphonics
14. You are heading in the right direction! So many parents wait too long and then their student does poorly in school. I would read to them each day and continue to stay in the order you gave. God Bless! {S}
15. I have a kid of 3 year old. When I observe the way she write, she doesn't seem to be able to control her finger strength. She tends to used a lots of strength when writing alphabet. In nursery class, her teacher doesn't really ask her to write alphabet as well, instead, she has homework that draw stroke. Her time is spent most on drawing. At home, I hardly ask her to write. Most of the time, I draw with her on any topics she want. I get some drawing guide book for her (those that has step by step on how to draw an object), and we draw together. Now she can draw quite a number of things. I am impressed. As for writing, her teacher has asked her to buy a rubber grip to be place around the pencil. She say that it help children to control the pencil when writing. She also mention that the pencil must be short. Hope this help.
16. teach them first the letter sound then the letter it represent and how to write each letter. and when they master the sound they can now start to read