How did I learn to read?

"How did she learn to read?" is a question that Äiti is often asked. I thought I'd share how I learnt. It all began back when I was 12months old. Äiti would be cooking in the kitchen and I would sit on the floor playing with an old set of fridge letter magnets. If I chewed one Äiti would say "please don't eat the T". When I was 13months old I walked up to Äiti holding a 'S' and announced '"S". It turned out I knew 6 letters then. Äiti bought me a lovely alphabet floor mat and an alphabet peg puzzle. I also discovered car number plates and would stand for hours reading the letters on them. By 15months I knew all A-Z, a-z, phonics and letter names.

When I was 16months old I went into a friend's classroom, I walked straight over to the kids cubby holes and pointed at the 'Sophie' one. I then slowly started picking up words when Äiti read me stories. I had about 20words that I could read by 17months of age.

The turning point came when I was 18months old. I suddenly asked daddy to "put daddy" on my magnadoodle. He wrote it down for me, so I asked for more words. By 21months I could read 100 words, by 22months I could read 300 words! I increased my sight words on a daily basis just through following what was read to me. I liked Äiti to read with her finger pointing at the words. I was reading purely by sight, I wasn't decoding or using phonics to help me with new words. This happened at 2y6m when I read the words 'Natural History Museum' without pausing! My reading then took off again. I read my first chapter book at 2yr8ms. I like to read anything, but my preference is non-fiction. I like cloth books, board books, picture books, chapter books and encyclopedias!