Mr Gumby
Australia
Taree
NSW
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Hi
I have a 3 year old and I want to help her learn to read. Just wondering if anyone knows of or has experience with games that are tailored to help with reading.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Many thanks.
Shane
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Randy Cox
United States
Clemson
South Carolina
1024x768 works just fine - Don't Wide the Site!
The Back Alley gets no respect.
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Does your child want to read or do you want her to read? That's might important.
Our kids liked the Fridge Phonics contraption. But just reading to them to instill the love of books seemed to be the key.
Set is a good one for teaching patterns and a little logical processing. But that's not specific to reading.
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Mr Gumby
Australia
Taree
NSW
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Thanks for the ideas.
We read to her regularly and she sits and pretends to read books all the time. She knows her alphabet too. I just want her to start recognising words and sentences. I wondered if there was a game that does that.
I'll look into the Fridge Phonics. Thanks.
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Hunga Dunga
United States
Portland
Oregon
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Of course, you could simply enjoy reading to her.
Those days don't last very long.
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Keith Todd
United States
Oregon
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Hungadunga wrote: Of course, you could simply enjoy reading to her.
Those days don't last very long.
The best suggestion yet, IMOH
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Kristine Peartree
United States
Washington
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My first attempt to reply got eaten by cyberspace, so here we go again . . .
Other than Boggle Jr. and Scrabble Junior I don't remember any games that claimed to help with reading skills. If you are looking for a proper, boxed game, I would check at a teaching supply store. They won't have anything deep for sure, but you should be able to find something colorful and sturdy.
There are a lot of online resources and many things you can make yourself to help with early reading skills. First, does she know her letters and their sounds? You should be able to find worksheets where you, for example, have to circle all the objects that start with the 'M' sound. Once she knows all the sounds, the next step I would try would be to make multiple tiles of the same letters (use Scrabble or Bananagrams?) so that she can mix and match to make her own words. (Nothing beats being able to change 'mom' into 'mop'.) Again, there should be tons of phonics worksheets available online to help with matching pictures to words, rhyming, etc.
I don't know how computer savvy your daughter is, but one website we used a lot was www.starfall.com.
Also, I second the recommendation to read to her as much as you can, while you can. I read to my son every night until he was in 4th grade, but my daughter dismissed me by the time she was six 
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Mr Gumby
Australia
Taree
NSW
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Thanks again for some great suggestions. I'll get to work. Great Website too, Thanks.
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Randy Cox
United States
Clemson
South Carolina
1024x768 works just fine - Don't Wide the Site!
The Back Alley gets no respect.
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coquetbell wrote: If you are looking for a proper, boxed game, I would check at a teaching supply store. They won't have anything deep for sure, but you should be able to find something colorful and sturdy. I wouldn't go that route.
The games which are created as "educational games" usually are atrocious. In fact, I firmly believe that such a game will not foster a love of reading but will, instead, foster a hatred for the "drudgery" of both reading and gaming.
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Jacob Cassens
United States
Las Vegas
Nevada
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The thing that worked very well with my son was teaching him to pick out one or two words at a time from lists of words too. We started with "The" and "My" in my instance (this goes back a couple of years, he's reading on his own now) and then when I would read him books at night he would help me find the words we were working on at that particular moment. Kind of like a "word find" with a practical application setting.
We'd usually pick out new words once per week, out of words that I found commonly in his favorite books to read to him at night before bed (we used to read 3 every night, now that he's reading them to me we only read 1 or 2 because he's pretty beat after that hehe).
However, if you're intent on using a game, I recommend Word Pirates! Quick Play edition, but with this variant: you are on a team, and instead of rolling the dice and forming words, you pick out the dice and then make the words (again this works better if incorporated to a larger plan like above) he knows and when he gets the word right he moves the appropriate number of spaces.
It's important that he gets confidence so be very liberal with your assistance, especially at first, and let him enjoy his victory! A lot of times kids know more than they'll show you, but are afraid of failing. The best part of this Word Pirates variant is he will always win the game, so it helps build that confidence.
Good luck, and enjoy the time you spend reading together. It's my son's favorite part of the day when we read together, and was always mine and my father's as well!
Cheers!
Jacovis
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mrgumby98 wrote: Hi
I have a 3 year old and I want to help her learn to read. Just wondering if anyone knows of or has experience with games that are tailored to help with reading.
Shane
"Reading", is a little ambiguous when refering to game. Because when playing game like Go, Chess and many others, reading refers to the ability to read several moves ahead.
BTW regular practicing of simple Go reading problems give really spectaluar results, including for kids. The nice thing is that it is not only helpful for the specific game you're practicing, but more generally as a mental education.
Yet I suppose your are talking of reading books.
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bgg.cc/thing/22235
United States
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As I'm sure you know, reading isn't a part of "Go Fish", but my kids enjoyed playing with this deck, so early reading skills (letter recognition, sound associations) became part of play.
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Helen Holzgrafe
United States
San Jose
California
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She's probably not pretending to read her books. In a way she is reading them. Even though she's memorized the words since you have spoken them aloud so often, she is very likely saying them in her head as she turns the page and looks at the words.
If you really want her to figure out reading, start tracing your finger along the familiar words of favorite books as you read them. She will begin more and more to associate the words she sees with what you say.
My kids started asking to trace their fingers for us (and often played start and stop with us). This promoted many giggles and it was clear they could really read.
Street signs, garbage cans, etc. all have great words on them they can learn. I remember at the mall one day with our 3 year old, we were looking around for the nearest garbage can to ditch our lunch trash. As my husband looked around for the can my son excitedly pointed behind him and said: "How about "Thank You" over there?" Of course the garbage can actually did say "Thank you" on it. We didn't know he could read that. So, now forever afterward we always say those famous words when we point out the nearest trash can in honor of that day.
So, point out the words on the sign at her favorite park, show her the sign that says library, show her where it says milk and bread on food packages. She'll get it really fast.
Skip the "educational" games. Blech, boring, curiosity killers they are in general. A good test is if you don't like it, she won't either.
-Helen
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Kevin Postlewaite
United States
Emerald Hills
California
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I haven't really found any purchased games that would be helpful but play with your daughter and get her to break down the sounds for words and identify what sounds particular letters make. I do recommend looking at LeapFrog products (Fridge Phonics, e.g.) and the Bob Books were wonderful and were the final step for reading to crystallize for our daughter:
http://www.amazon.com/Bob-Books-Set-Beginning-Readers/dp/043...
Probably this is obvious but keep in mind that different kids read at different ages. Don't spend more time on practicing reading than the kid wants to spend and every kid is different: my daughter was into practicing letter sounds at a young age, but my son wasn't interested until he was at least a year older.
Edit: I completely forgot about Zingo!. To be honest, I don't think it actually helped my kids learn reading, but they do enjoy playing it at least.
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Mr Gumby
Australia
Taree
NSW
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Thanks everyone, sounds like we need to invent a really cool reading game.
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Joe Norris
United States
Dublin
Ohio
Flight of the seabirds, scattered like lost words, wheel to the storm and fly. Fare thee well now, let your life proceed by it's own design. Nothing to tell now, let the words be yours, I'm done with mine.
To seek the sacred river Alph, to walk the caves of ice, to break my fast on honey dew and drink the milk of paradise... I had heard the whispered tales of immortality, the deepest mystery from an ancient book I took a clue.
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Though rated for 4-7 year old children, Pinky Li: The Bad Mushroom, is a very cute combination of reading book and board game packaged in a box that looks like a book. The box forms part of the 3-D board (pop-up style) and includes a story book and games & coloring book. It is a very adorable game and worked well with my girl when she was 4. I think you might find it worth a look.
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James Megee
United States
Edgewater Park
New Jersey
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My daughter always liked this game when she was young.
Mfg Suggested Ages 4 and up
I can't recall how old my daughter was though...
Silly Sentences
Jim
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Mr Gumby
Australia
Taree
NSW
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Thanks all for your suggestions. I'm slowly working through them.
Regards,
Shane
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Lyn Bonaparte
United States
Fulton
New York
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I homeschool my children and for their reading instruction I use explicit phonics. Teaching via sight words imo isn't a good idea. I won't get on my soapbox, I promise
Anyway, aside from the phonics curricula that I use, there is a great game that I use to practice phonograms with my kids that came from http://www.beallslearninggames.com/Phonics_Spelling_Games.ht... . Its really a few games built into one package. The game play for BGG standards probably isn't terribly high but my children have loved it and it has been fantastic for reinforcing the phonograms and their associated sounds.
This is from their website (where I purchased the game):
Phonogram FUN Packet
$29.95
Nationwide Best Seller since 1991
Designed for Spell to Write and Read
Works great with ANY phonics program
70 Phonograms & 29 Spelling Rules
Colorful gameboard & variety of card games
Minimal expense for years of enjoyment
Also, as several people have pointed out, reading a LOT to your child really does help in getting THEM to read and to love reading.
3 years old can be quite young to begin reading instruction, it is possible however, depending on the child and their ability/readiness. My younger son was 4 and my daughter is currently 3 and beginning to read. My older children however were a bit more typical in the age at which they began to read.
I hope that helps!
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Mr Gumby
Australia
Taree
NSW
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Hi Lyn, thanks for the advice. I really appreciate it. I'll look into the website. It looks good. My just turned 4 year old sits and "reads" and moves her finger under the words. She is writing her name and some other words too, so I think I should capitalise on the interest.
Thanks again.
Regards,
Shane
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Joe Thompson
England
Winchester
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This is probably just reiterating the good advice that other people have already given.
I have two children, my daughter has just turned 4 and can read, she always loved having books read to her, and has a good attention span. My son is nearly 2 and doesn't have nearly the interest in reading. He'll potter off and build something rather than sit through a story. So I'd say it very much depends on the child.
- All methods work (personally I prefer the phonics approach). Opinion on the 'best' method seems to change every 10 years or so; which suggests to me that the methods have similar results. Anything you do with your child will help them learn.
- Read to them a lot.
- Join a library so you can be constantly giving your child new books to read. My daughter's school gives her a different book from this series every day, http://www.oup.com/oxed/primary/oxfordreadingtree/. This caused the jump from memorising books to actually reading them.
While word based games are fun (we play a childs scrabble game), I don't think they contribute that much to learning to read.
Edit: I forgot to mention fridge magnets! Get lots of these, they love playing with them (even my nearly 2 year old). The best way to teach them their letters.
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Mr Gumby
Australia
Taree
NSW
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G'day Joe.
I guess it is finding the right match for the right child. Thanks for your suggestions. I have the magnets. So far it has taught them colours as much as letters
Regards,
Shane
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Laurence Gillespie
Sarles
North Dakota
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mrgumby98 wrote: Hi
I have a 3 year old and I want to help her learn to read. Just wondering if anyone knows of or has experience with games that are tailored to help with reading.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Many thanks.
Shane
I had lots of fun with the game Probe with children in the 5-year-old range. It's pretty simple, you each construct a word out of face-down letter cards and take turns guessing what the other person's letters are, until the word is revealed. Non-readers can simply put down random letters, whereas the adult should stick with the first big word most children learn how to spell, for the first few years. The letter cards, holders, and playing racks are also fun to play with for small children. There is also another card you draw at the beginning of the turn, of which there are about 6 variations, so in time the children will learn how to read those words as well. There is also simple scoring which gives them math practice.
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