So today was Father’s Day. I took the kids to the mall and they rode the Merry-go-Round there. As we were sitting on line this three year old named Bobby in front of us was reading to his Mom. Reading!
So I realized today ON FATHER’S DAY OF ALL DAYS that I suck at parenting. If I gave my three year old a book she’d probably just hit the five year old with it.
I got me thinking. It’s a strange thing about parenting. Most of us have no idea how we’re doing. None.
June 20, 2011 at 11:50 am
Are you kidding me? At three years old, being able to hit a larger creature with a book is a much more important skill than being able to read. If a bogeyman appeared from the closet, what would make it go away faster…being pelted with well aimed books, or being read to from "The Fuzzy Bunny Saves the Day?" And what practical purpose does teaching your three year old how to read serve? Just to make your friends envious that your kid is so smart and yours aren't? Now that is a way to spread goodwill. Who is a three year old going to read to, anyway? Besides mom. Dad wants to play catch. The sibs don't have the attention span. You're doing the right thing, brother. Let them books sail!
June 20, 2011 at 4:19 pm
Re: “Most of us have no idea how we’re doing.” As long as you’re not called in the principal’s office, or social workers don’t take your kids away or cops don’t throw your kids to juvi means you’ve passed the minimum requirements. To know how well you’re doing above that, I wouldn’t base myself on what the kids say because we know that the older they get, the less candid they become. When my eldest (who is now 12) was 4, he said that if I died, he would just cry for days and not let anyone stop him. Yesterday, he was going to give me a dollar for Father’s day. (On the side, it is good to have 5 kids as I got more touching gifts with the younger kids.)
June 20, 2011 at 4:50 pm
Catholicity, you make me feel better that my house resembles "The Lord of the Flies."
June 20, 2011 at 5:20 pm
Matthew, I am much more impressed with kids who behave in the grocery store than the ones who can read at 3. And usually those behaving in the grocery store are in numbers of 4 or above!
I'd let my kids play with yours. Yours are normal and a good example! (Remember, "I am hardly sorry for I have upended Thee")
June 21, 2011 at 2:21 am
You are the dad. That's is all that is necessary. The children will raise you up and remind you of your duties and failings and in the not to near future appreciate your being "the dad"
June 21, 2011 at 7:29 am
She probably had memorized the book. Your kids sound like more fun anyway… who brings a book for waiting in line? 😉 Sincerely, another mom who's 3 year old couldn't read and therefor I am a bad parent.
June 23, 2011 at 12:10 am
If your kids are generally pretty happy and well-adjusted, then it is not likely that you are just jogging.
I'm all for high academic standards however pushing a nursery age child to read will really not do much more than generate the oohs and aahs at the time. The problem is that children do not get the time they miss out on typical developmental stages back once they pass that point. So if they are prepped in reading and math chances are the other areas of development they are naturally supposed to go through, one before the next, get short shrift in some way. And when that happens some important things can go off kilter. Even if a kid sounds out words it does not mean they can reason, comprehend, have a conversation which are the goals of learning to read. For this it is much better to read good stories with beautiful illustration aloud, and have a little chat about what you see and read. And the letters and the phonics will have their day the time is about right.