My son Patrick just turned three in December. We purchased a Phonics program six months ago and we just did our first lesson and letter today … “M!” It went very well. Is it unrealistic to expect my son to be reading within six months? He already knows all the letters of the alphabet, uppercase only for the most part. He currently has 20 plus books memorized and reads to himself daily, often making up the story from the pictures but mostly from memorization. I look forward to hearing from you.

In answer to your question, that isn’t unrealistic at all. He sounds quite bright and very motivated, and certainly curious about books, letters, sounds, etc. Proceed through the program as he is able. I love teaching Phonics to my preschool class and have seen amazing results. One word of caution—he is very young, and may lose interest before he’s fully reading. Be sure not to push him. Let him go at his own pace, be consistent, but not pushy. If you find that he’s losing interest or fighting you, back off and slow down. We want to keep daily reading fun, not a daily chore. Sometimes when I have children who make up “reading” and think they are doing it correctly (based on the pictures), they don’t want to “re-learn” the real words in the book as it slows them down. However, as you progress through the lessons and correctly teach each letter and sound, then blend them into words, he’ll begin to see how it all fits together. Good luck and enjoy the process of working with your child.