Should a child of two learn to read, 1933: Ursual Wise shows us that the debate about how to learn to read is not new!

December 27, 1933 in The Nursery World

Should a child of two learn to read?

“K.L.K." writes: - “I should be most grateful for your advice about my small son aged 2 years and 6 months. Bill is a healthy, happy child, and has so far shown no signs of ‘nerves’ in any direction; he is forward for his age and quick to pick things up, but is nothing exceptional either mentally or physically. My problem is this: Does it matter his learning and frequently playing with a set of large, painted wooden letters, which were given him a month ago. He has never been taught the letters as a lesson, but by continually playing with the set during his ‘after-tea’ romp and asking which their names are , he now knows the entire alphabet, with three exceptions – but not , of course, in their correct order, and is starting to want to know how to make them into words. Do you consider that it would be ‘pushing’ him to encourage the word making – I do not mean exactly teaching him, but rather continuing the letter game a stage further. I do not know at what age it is usual for a child to know his letters. 

During July I took Bill and his sister, aged 1 year, to the sea with two older children, and during the time we were there – he was 2 years and 2 months then – he picked up, and took enormous pleasure in repeating ten nursery rhymes, usually without any hesitations or mistakes; but quite suddenly about a month after we came home gave this up completely, and I have no idea if they are forgotten or only tired of, and do not want to press the point. If you consider it a good thing for him to continue the letters and word making, I should be so glad of your advice as to how to prevent a repetition of the nursery rhyme ‘forgetfulness.’ He has picked the letters up without the smallest effort, and I do feel it would be such a pity to have to start really learning them in a year or so’s time. This problem has actually arisen with a friend’s child, aged four, who now has no idea of the letters with which he was familiar a year ago. I should be so interested to know what the normal 2 ½ year old is expected to know – letters, numbers and general knowledge. Bill has a small pedal car and when out with me in the real car, said, “My car goes with pedals, how do you make your car go, and why does it stop?” Which looks as if he is at the least beginning to do something in the way of thinking out problems for himself. He can ‘say’ numbers up to nine – I have no idea where he picked them up, but has no idea of really counting accurately, further than three. Also, a short time ago he bombarded me with questions about eggs – ‘Where do they come from?’ – and, ‘You say the chick-chick lays them, but does she make them?’ I replied ‘Yes, of course, she does,’ which satisfied him, and he has never mentioned it again; but I cannot help wondering how to cope with that problem too, as I feel he is far too young to understand any real explanations and I am so very much against the ‘gooseberry–bush’ method with such questions.”

The normally intelligent child of two and a half is not, as a rule, actively interested in letters, and very few children, indeed, at this age, have begun to learn letters. It does occasionally happen that a highly intelligent child begins to recognise words and to read simply at this age, but it is very rare. Where a child really wants to learn words he meets in the ordinary course of life, for example, names of shops, posters and advertisements, there is no reason why he should be stopped. But that is quite different from expecting children of two and a-half to know anything about letters. A great many educationalists would like to postpone any formal learning of reading until seven years of age, and it has been found that children who do not begin until then catch up perfectly well on others who have learnt very much earlier. One cannot lay down a general law. The view of the Consultative Committee of the Board of Education, as just stated in its Report on Infants’ and Nursery Schools, is that a child should be allowed to read whenever he wants to, whether that be three years of age or six years of age. We do not, however, need to feel that there is anything wrong with his not being able to read, at any rate until he is seven. 

It sounds as if your boy were highly intelligent - not so much from his interest in letters, but in the sort of questions he asks you, such as the one you quote about the way his car goes. His play with the wooden letters might mean nothing very much, since they are amusing things to handle and pretty to look at if they are painted in bright colours. In giving him this set of letters, a very strong stimulus has been provided to his interest in written symbols, and thus the case is different from that of a child who spontaneously becomes interested in the words and letters from what he sees about him in the ordinary way. It is therefore not possible to say whether this is a genuine interest that will be sustained, or whether it is just a response to this special stimulus, one which may lose its hold after a time. I do not see any reason, however, why you should not answer his questions and play a word game with him. It does not matter in the least about his not knowing the names of letters in their alphabetical order. This is quite unimportant. But it would be worthwhile to help him make real words with the letters, since he is interested in doing this. The trouble about starting from the separate letters in this way is that it takes longer for the child to get a real sense of the use of written symbols as a means of expression and communication. They tend to remain just a sort of amusing, but meaningless game for him. The general trend of opinion about the best method of teaching reading is in favour of starting not even the form the word as a whole, but from actual sentences of a simple kind, and only later on coming to break the words up into their individual letters. However, since your little boy has now learnt the letters and their names, you could very usefully follow out the course of reading, provided in such a series of reading books as “Th Kingsway Readers,” getting the “Teacher’s Manual” for yourself in the first instance, and reading the chapter on the pre-book stage. This would show you how to make use of the wooden letters in building up the words. I would, however, go very slowly in the whole matter, answering any questions the child does ask and just playing an occasional game with him that will carry him a single stage further. Avoid any sort of pressure or any suggestion that learning to read has more value than learning to make things with one’s hands, or dancing or singing or talking. It is not likely that your little boy has really forgotten the nursery rhymes. Probably there has been a diversion of interest, and he will remember them again later. 

With regard to his questions about babies and chickens, I would suggest your getting the book, “How a baby is Born,” by K. de Schweinitz, and having it by you for the next occasion when questions arise, so that you can show him the pictures and read him the simple explanations.