How old were you when you learned how to read?

Philippines
October 5, 2008 4:38am CST
I mean not just knowing the alphabets but really read. And who taught you how to read? I was five when i learned how to read. My mother who was an English teacher taught me how. First i learned all the alphabets of the English language, then their sounds, then slowly connected those sounds when trying to read a word. The first words were so simple such as "cat", "dog" - mostly one syllable and three letter words. I have one funny story about a friend who was trying to learn how to read. He told me that when he was only four he already knew all the alphabets, and so one day he read something and loudly named the letters of that word written on a milk can: "N-I-D-O" then he proudly said "Milk!"
7 people like this
19 responses
@NonaSaile (924)
• Philippines
5 Oct 08
I was six years old already when I learned to read. I went straight to Grade 1, no kinder, no pre-school. When a baby niece came to live with me, I immediately exposed her to the wonder of books. She learned the alphabet at two - she would spell out anything she laid her eyes on, like once she read out the letters on a bottle of coke: E-K-O-C, and gleefully shouted "coca-cola". She learned to read words at three years old.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
8 Oct 08
Your son's interest in shapes and numbers is a very good sign! He will be great with math and abstract thinking, wow!!!
• Philippines
8 Oct 08
You were accelerated? Wow, that's great. I am now trying to teach my two year old the alphabet but i guess he's not yet ready for it because he'd rather play and learn different shapes and numbers. My two year old niece though knows the alphabet well.
1 person likes this
• Australia
6 Oct 08
Between 3 & 4 by my paternal grandmother. When I spent a year (1951) in an English school (in London as opposed to Australia) I was reading Enid Blyton and Biggles books while the rest of them were still learning alphabets just about. I think children taught as young as that always have a reading age far ahead of their contemporaries. It's just like foreign languages, which are far easier learnt by the very young. Musicians taught to play very young are aways ahead of the field, and so on. Talent and intelligence, of course, always help. Lash
1 person likes this
• Philippines
8 Oct 08
Yes, talent and intelligence are big factors in one's ability to learn. But i should add eagerness, willingness and readiness to learn. It is different though when it comes to language learning because once a child is exposed to certain languages, learning it seems to be an automatic thing. Thanks for sharing grandpa.
@Mitraa (3184)
• India
5 Oct 08
I was only four years then! I started to learn alphabets and counting with the help of my parents and a home tutor, even without going to a school! Books with small pictorial stories and poems in my mother-tongue (Oriya) were very much charming and pleasant! A particular book named 'Chaatasaalee Paatha' (Lessons for Nursery Class) was very much popular and beneficial among kids then! Some kids were very much proud of reading and reciting that pictorial book and some others were even proud of just possessing that nice book! Anyway, that book had helped millions to promote literacy in our state! Thanks for this nice discussion!
• Philippines
8 Oct 08
I think in our country some are still using picture books. What i know now is that some pre-school are adopting a style of teaching the different sounds of the alphabets first instead of teaching just the alphabets. And unlike before, a student cannot move up to first grade unless he/she knows how to read. That means it is now a requirement to know how to read before one turns seven. Thanks for sharing your experience.
@derek_a (10873)
5 Oct 08
Having two sisters who are much older than me, they taught me to read before I went to school. I think I was about 3 years old. I haven't stopped reading since.. I love it!
1 person likes this
• Philippines
8 Oct 08
Two older sisters are equal to one really good reading teacher. That's great! You learned to read at a very early age.
@klaudine (3650)
• Indonesia
5 Oct 08
I don't really remember when is the first time I learned to read. My mother is a busy parents, she worked. Sometimes she felt asleep when she was reading me stories from the storybook, I was 3-4 year old that moment. So that I learned to read myself because I was curious about the story. I asked the nanny to teach me reading and I guess I didn't need my mom to read the night stories before I slept. LOL. That's the time I really read I guess. I read the Ugly Duckling the first time when I was about 4-5 year old I guess. LOL. That's why I like reading so much, until now.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
8 Oct 08
I think one big factor for children to learn how to read is their own eagerness to learn, just like when you were small. A children's story is one good way to entice a child to learn reading.
@cgobble (171)
• United States
5 Oct 08
I had to have been in kindergarten when I started to learn the one or two words, and I can remember having a difficult time with it. But now I kind of speed read through everything.
• Philippines
8 Oct 08
Hi there. Thanks for your response. BTW, when one says "speed read" how fast would that mean? I may have learned to read early but i am not sure if i can speed read.
@reinydawn (11643)
• United States
6 Oct 08
Oh, that is so funny! I was (am) dyslexic and my mother's aunt (who was a nun) finally tought me to read when I was probably 5 or 6. My father would be uspet sometimes because I could crochet but I couldn't read. I love to read now!
1 person likes this
@bugbaby (1787)
• Indonesia
6 Oct 08
my grandfather was a teacher, my father is teacher and they always teach me how to learn to remember the alphabets and how to read from 2 years old, and now my sister is a teacher's too, we are teacher's family
• Philippines
8 Oct 08
That's the advantage of being in a family of teachers. You get to learn too many things as early as the time you're born. You cannot seem to get away from learning, living with teachers and having them around almost 24 hours a day. I can imagine your home before looking or feeling like a classroom.
@mjhicks (317)
• United States
7 Oct 08
I learned my alphabet and some small words before I went to kindergarten. I remember learning to site read, recognize words on flash cards, in kindergarten. The teacher made a set of flash cards with the names of eight basic colors for each student. My mom would hold them up for me to read. She didn't realize she had the cards upside down but I still recognized the words. The school also used the (D)ick And Jane books that also use the site reading method of word recognition. In first grade they began teaching language rules and silent letters. I still remember the saying "When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking and the second just does the walking." Due to repeated colds and ear infections I was absent so much I ended up repeating first grade so I excelled in reading the second time around. I had older brothers who told me once I learned the spelling and sound rules I could read ANYTHING I wanted just by sounding out the words. I remember reading the newspaper at an early age, and many of their Jr High and High School text books. I hated reading class in school as many of the stories were boring and the school was trying to teach speed reading by having us read the story projected on a screen at the front of the class. It would flash a single line at a time or would run through the lines at a certain speed. Because of my reading comprehension level was always 2-4 grades higher I was expected to read faster. I remember one year we had three reading groups. I would read the story while it was shown at the slower speeds as well as at the higher speed for my group so I could get enough of it to answer the test questions. No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't read faster then my slow steady speed. I had a lazy eye problem that was diagnosed in 4th grade because I was having headaches while trying to read from a book during reading class. The Dr prescribed some exercises that only made my eyes ache more. It wasn't until I was in college that I found out why I couldn't follow the speed reading was my eyes didn't track together. I've always loved reading for enjoyment. In one of my college classes I was taught a few skim reading tecniques like reading only the first three letters of a word. Our brains will fill in what is missing based on the following word(s). It was great fun to be able to finally get through large blocks of text quickly when I needed to. But to this day I still read slow when I an reading for fun. I often finish books quickly only because I will read straight through with no breaks for meals or even sleep. The few speed reading techniques do sometimes give me a laugh when I try to catch a line from a billboard while driving. You's be surprised at what crazy saying I thought they were till I gave them a real read.:-)
@mjhicks (317)
• United States
7 Oct 08
Boy some of the rules here.. I had to type (D)ick as this name violates rules. It is a name for goodness sake.
• Philippines
8 Oct 08
It is quite interesting and fun the way your teacher explained on how to read a word. But it sure did help you a lot. What techniques do you use for speed reading?
• United States
6 Oct 08
Many Jewish children are brought up as I was. We must be potty-trained and able to read in order to attend Hebrew School, and that's expected to be before the third birthday. That way, we're fairly well-rooted in our religious education before we go off to the secular school and on a schedule that puts us in Hebrew School every day after school, except on the Sabbath. My father made us sit on his lap at breakfast and read the newspaper to him. It sounds like some sort of unrealistic torture, but it wasn't, at all. We knew we were expected to do that reading, and we were excited to do it. If we did really well, our prizwas to have a book of our own that we could read for ourselves. THAT was really exciting, and I've cherished books ever since.
• Philippines
8 Oct 08
You were taught in the best way, with discipline and in a fun way as well. I also remember being rewarded with a picture book before. That experience also contributed much to my love for books now.
1 person likes this
@bellis716 (4799)
• United States
8 Oct 08
It has been so long ago that I can't say for certain how old I was when I learned to read. I was probably 5 or 6. In those days, there was no such thing as kindergarten. We started to first grade on or about age 6. I was still 5 when I began first grade but turned 6 before the semester was over. I had to be reading well by then, as my mother told me that my teacher had me ready for 2nd grade by Christmas. Whether I learned to read at school or my mother (an ex school teacher) taught me at home, I cannot remember, and both are now deceased. I'm grateful to whoever taught me, though.
• Philippines
8 Oct 08
We are forever grateful to the people who taught us how to read. We would have never enjoyed the world of books and the written word without them. Thanks for sharing your story.
@amlegend (945)
• Pakistan
6 Oct 08
i believe that i was 4 or 5 years when i started to read and my grandma taught me and i used to spend most of the time with her and she used to say "if you want to be a big man,you will need to learn and work hard" and she used to give me chocolates for each successive alphabet i learned and that was the way i became familiar with the alphabets and then i was familiarized with the reading of newspaper and she used to listen to the news that i would read from the paper and she was my teacher and i love and miss her.
• Philippines
8 Oct 08
My maternal grandmother was a teacher too. Your grandmother have instilled the value of education/learning in you and that is one priceless lesson in life, especially that it comes from her. And my, she sure had rewards for you that were as sweet as she was.
@swerdna (117)
• United States
6 Oct 08
I was 2 years old, back in 1971, my mom was pushing me thru the grocery store and I had Electric Company Magazine in front of me, reading the jokes out loud to my mom. Another woman came up & said "Isn't that cute, he's pretending to read" and my mom said "look at the page lady, he IS reading."
• Philippines
8 Oct 08
Your experience is both funny and cute. And your mom seemed to be so really proud of you. And boy, you can read well at two! How did you learn so early? You probably must be a gifted child.
@swerdna (117)
• United States
9 Oct 08
I don't know about gifted, but by the time I was in 5th grade I was reading at a college senior level. Unfortunately now when I start reading, I just get sleepy...
@Masmasika (1921)
• Philippines
8 Oct 08
Wow, you were so young then but it's no wonder because your mom is a teacher. I was six when I learned how to read. I have a very good elder sister who always taught us so many things and told us so many stories. I love what she did to us when we were young. She was our teacher who was very patient teaching us how to read. I didn't start with the sounds. My sister just taught us to read the books that were available at home. We did have plenty of imported books, donations from UK that time. Which up to now are in our house. Thanks to my sister for teaching me how to read. When I grew up, I loved reading and up to now, reading and writing are my number one hobbies in life.
• Philippines
8 Oct 08
Thanks. I think 5 is the average age of children being able to read. But i also think it was quite an early age then because i remember reading aloud each word written on the blackboard while pointing at them with a stick as the entire class followed after me. The teacher let me did her job. I was the only one in kindergarten class who already knew how to read. It was also sort of an encouragement to me to continue reading.
@oriental (1050)
• Uruguay
6 Oct 08
I and also a cousin of mine learned how to read when we were five years old, thanks to our grandmother, who taught us using her magazines. When we went to school, we began at Kindergarten. Our teacher realized that we already knew how to read few days later the beginning of the classes. He took us by the hand and delivered us at First Grade room. That way we shortened one year our education. I must confess that I didn´t like the idea initially, as I kept crying the whole day. :( ---» :)
• Philippines
8 Oct 08
When it comes to early child education, it is not all about knowing how to read. You may have learned reading at a very young age but perhaps you wanted to learn with kids your age, or just have fun and play. That's probably the reason why you kept crying that time. It is good in these times that the basis for a child's readiness is not just based on his/her ability to read. Thanks for sharing your experience.
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
5 Oct 08
hi pinkytabor I learned to read about five years as my mom taught me by reading to me, and sounding out the letters. I also knew my alphabet and my number up to one hundred. when I got to the first grade Iwas so bored Iwouldnt do the wo rk, they kept me back then in the fifth grade my english teacher found out I was three grades ahead in reading and in science and two in math so I was skipped from fifth to the seventh grade. we had no gifted kids classes and also no nursery schools or kindergarten either in my small home town.
• Philippines
8 Oct 08
You sure were a gifted child. Children nowadays are lucky considering the vast amount of learning resources and opportunities. But i think the luckiest of all are those, like us, who had mothers as our real first teachers in life.
@nlcapricorn (1114)
• Philippines
6 Oct 08
I learned to read when i was in Grade one. Some of my classmates know how to read the abcd because they were able to be in Kindergarten. I did not have to chance to be like them because of financially problem. My mother did enroll me in grade one and it was really kinda hard to me at first. So what our teacher did she let those who know how to read to teach those who do not. THe one who tutored me is Chona..I still remember her name of course. She teach me reading the abcd and in the filipino the A BA CA DA. SHe had all the time to teach me for me to learn. I never had her effort wasted because i learned so fast..Just imagine i was the second honor when i was in grade one and the one who teach me has no ribbon haha..that was funny..I had able to maintain it till i graduated in elementary grade as second honor.
• Philippines
8 Oct 08
You were a fast learner then for you have become more able than your "teacher." I still remember as well Filipino reading. It was way much different from English, but learning the sounds helped a lot.
• Philippines
6 Oct 08
i learned the alphabet at the age of 5, but i started reading a word when I became 6 years old.My teacher in Kinder taught me how.
• Malaysia
6 Oct 08
When I was 6 I think. Still remember the first book I read is the Humpty Dumpty poem. Took me a week just to finished it. lol
• Philippines
8 Oct 08
Can you still recite that nursery rhyme now? I loved nursery rhymes when i was small. Those books helped speed up my learning how to read (fast) process.