Teaching Triplets to Read

As a boy growing up, one of my favorite authors was Isaac Asimov, an incredibly prolific writer who penned more than 500 books during his lifetime. A professor of biochemistry before he became famous as an author, he wrote both fiction and non-fiction and covered a wide range of topics: everything from children's detective stories to science-fiction mysteries, histories of the ancient world to annotated literary guides and books on popular science.

As a young teenage fan I knew none of this, however. All I knew was that he wrote some pretty cool novels about robots. I was fascinated by "I, Robot" and, after devouring it, searched high and low for other science fiction works by Asimov. One book I found was a collection of short stories that was also an autobiography. In it he wrote that he taught himself to read at the age of five, and then taught his younger brother to read - who was only three years old.

As with most readers, I found this astonishing, and I've never forgotten it. It struck a chord because I had trouble learning to read when I was growing up. I remember vividly my first few years in elementary school when my mother sat down every day and painstakingly went through books with me, letter by letter, sound by sound, word by word. She had to do this because the school had given up on me and told her that her son would "never be able to read."

I wasn't only behind in reading. In fifth grade a classmate actually came up to me one day and said sneeringly that I was in the math class for "dumb dumbs." When I asked my teacher if this was true, the kindly man said, "You're in the class that's right for you." I knew then that my classmate was right.

In the end I caught up with my peers, graduated from university with honors and went on to earn a master's degree. But I vowed that if I ever had kids of my own I would make sure they didn't experience what I went through. I wanted others to think of them as intelligent, and for them to be confident that they could learn anything. I'm a firm believer that if you give children the tools to learn from a very early age, their potential will be unlimited.

In 2004, after a very difficult pregnancy, my wife, a Ph.D. chemist, gave birth to our triplet boys - Hideki, Akira and Ichiro - seven weeks early. She had the higher-paying job, so I volunteered to be the one to stay home with the kids. This put me in an ideal position to fulfill my vow, and I immediately started thinking of how to furnish my boys with the mental tools to become successful in life. Step one in my master plan: have them reading by age three. After all, if Isaac Asimov could teach a three-year old to read, why couldn't I?

What follows is an explanation of the steps I've taken to teach my kids, the mistakes I've made, and what I've learned from them.

My approach consisted of "passive" and "active" teaching. What I did passively was provide an environment that encouraged reading. I bought plenty of children's books (mostly used, to stay within budget) and allowed the triplets to have access to them. I read these books to the triplets for at least 15 minutes a day. I also made sure they saw me reading, to set an example. When the boys watched TV, I chose educational videos and DVDs. Before the age of two these usually taught the alphabet. After they were two they watched programs like Word World and Blue's Clues that teach whole words.

In terms of active teaching, I did the following:

Before 1Ã'½ yrs.: I Sang Letters

As early as I could I took advantage of downtime with the kids to teach them. The problem was, however, that because they were triplets there was no downtime for the first few months; it was a sleepless blur of carrying, feeding, diaper changing, bottle making, burping, etc. (A time period my wife and I wouldn't have survived without lots and lots of help.) Eventually, though, once the boys were on a schedule, could lift their heads and focus on something for more than a few seconds, I began Hideki, Akira and Ichiro's lessons.

What I did was simple: I sang the alphabet to them - not the alphabet song, but a separate tune for each letter. I would take simple tunes I know, like "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," and substitute the words with the letter I was singing about, for example: "A, A, A A A." And while I did this I held up the letter and showed it to them, either on a flashcard or an alphabet block.

Wanting to teach them as much as possible as soon as possible, I began very ambitiously, and tried to sing through all 26 letters in one sitting. It quickly became clear, however, that this was too much. While they looked at me and the letters for a short time during these lessons, their attention soon wandered to other things. Worried that I would tire them out, I reduced the number of letters to 10 a day, starting from "A" again only after I had sung through the whole alphabet. As time went on and their attention span increased I added more letters, one at a time, until I eventually sang all 26 to them in one day.

When I taught Hideki, Akira and Ichiro this way, I found that the triplets weren't the only ones enjoying their lessons (they often smiled when I sang) - I was too. Adjusting to life as an at-home dad was tough for me; it can be demoralizing for a man (especially an American one like me) to move from a paying job to a non-paying one. I found to my surprise - even though I had volunteered to take care of the kids - that this bothered me. I was also adversely impacted by the fact that I had left a mentally simulating occupation (journalism) for one that was menial and, well, tedious. Taking care of one's children is an important job - I understand that - but I don't find it fulfilling.

When I taught them, however, I felt useful. And because singing is something I enjoy doing (I'm a soloist at a local church), I found the lessons to be therapeutic for me.

1Ã'½ - 3 yrs.: I Spelled Out Words

Once they recognized most of their letters, which happened at about one and a half years of age (when they began vocalizing), I started spelling small words out to them. I did this when I had their complete attention and when they were least distracted, which was usually when I was changing their diapers. I would chant rhythmically: "M-I-L-K, milk," "R-E-D, red," "B-O-O-K, book," etc. These were words I knew they understood and were interested in ("food" was another one).

I continued singing letters to them as well, only I began showing them lowercase as well as uppercase letters. These can be very different (for example, "H" vs. "h") and have to be learned separately. In some cases there are three different versions of a letter, such as "A," "a" and the hand-written lowercase version. The same goes for "G." I did my best to expose them to all permutations of each letter.

Once they started speaking I began testing them as well, pointing to a letter and asking them what it was. They would get irritated if I asked them about too many, so I limited these "tests" to a few letters at a time. Each kid reacted differently. Ichiro, who is the most eager to please, liked being tested (and still does). Akira did at first, but quickly grew bored, so he would start rebelling by purposely getting letters wrong or pretending he didn't know. Hideki didn't learn as fast as the other two (whereas he picks up musical tunes the quickest), so I had to repeat things more often for him and be more patient.

3 yrs. and Up: I Wrote Words Out

At about two and a half, Hideki, Akira and Ichiro recognized several of the words I had spelled out to them. That's when I started teaching them new words by writing them out on a Doodle Pro (an Etch-a-Sketch-style writing board). I found a book I wanted them to start reading - Inside, Outside, Upside Down, by Stan and Jan Berenstain - took words from it and wrote them out for the triplets one at a time. Once they knew enough to make a sentence, I wrote the whole sentence out and had them read it. After mastering the sentence on the Doodle Pro I had them read the same sentence in the book.

It was at this point I made a big mistake: I turned what had been a fun, interactive learning experience into a stressful one. I was no longer simply singing and chanting to the kids for short periods of time; I was now asking them to sit down, spell and read. This requires a lot of focus and concentration, something that does not come easy to a three year old; in fact, they didn't like it. After the first few reading sessions they didn't want to do it anymore and I had to chase them down, pick them up bodily and put them in my lap prior to each lesson.

It's easy to expect too much from your kids and push them too hard, and that's what I did. They were now three, my target age for them to start reading, and they couldn't read a book yet. So I grew impatient and raised my voice when they made mistakes. I'm ashamed to admit that a few times I actually reduced my sons to tears. My wife witnessed one of these sessions and wisely advised me to be less demanding.

"You don't want them to hate reading," she said. And she was right.

So I backed off. I stopped testing them and no longer forced them to sit with me. I only read books to them that they wanted to read, about topics they were interested in. If I asked them to spell something out, it's only one word, not a sentence. And when it comes to reading, I wait for them to start reading something before I begin teaching them. If I correct them I don't do it with a harsh tone. I've continued this approach to the present day.

Can They Read Yet?

Hideki, Akira and Ichiro are three years and seven months old now, and you're probably wondering if they can read yet. The answer is: a little.

I made another mistake recently, which was telling people that my kids have read a book. You see, before I became a wiser teacher I had gotten each of the triplets to read Inside, Outside, Upside Down from cover to cover, so, to be honest, they had read a book. When my parents paid us a visit recently I wanted to show them this accomplishment, so I asked the triplets to read for them.

None of them wanted to. It took much cajoling, persuasion, and promises of rewards for them to sit down with the book. When they finally did so, the results were predictable: Akira acted as if he couldn't read anything, Hideki had a lot of trouble, and Ichiro, who tried the hardest, made many mistakes. My claim that they could read a book was proven false.

But that doesn't mean they can't read. They can, a little. Many of the words in the book they recognize, and there are even some they don't know the meaning of but can pronounce. This is true even for Hideki. But the cost of teaching them those words was high, too high, in my opinion: they don't like the book and don't want to read with Papa anymore.

As you can see, I'm as much a student as my triplets are. I don't think it's wrong to have high expectations of your kids. Many of the problems in American schools today, in my opinion, arise from the fact that teachers expect too little from their students. There are teenagers graduating from high school who have never read a book from cover to cover, and that's a disgrace. But forcing kids to learn can be counterproductive. I want my boys to read because they want to, not because they have to.

So I've softened my approach considerably, and am doing much more passive than active teaching. I've set aside Inside, Outside, Upside Down for the time being and am spending much more time reading to the kids, rather then have them read. I'll eventually get back to Inside, Outside, Upside Down - not to do so would be a waste - but I'll do it when the kids are ready, not when they meet my "target age for reading."

The Nay Sayers

Some may conclude from my experience that trying to get your kids to read early is a mistake, that children this young just aren't ready to learn such things. This view isn't uncommon; in fact it's shared by many experts. Let me tell you of two I encountered.

When the triplets were a year old my wife and I took them for their scheduled appointment with a developmental specialist. At one point I told the professional that I was teaching the boys the alphabet using "Baby Einstein"-style flashcards. The specialist adopted a smug, knowing look and said, with all the certitude of the young and inexperienced: "Einstein never learned using flashcards."

Three months later I was at a family gathering and I mentioned I was teaching my boys their letters. One relative - who has a degree in teaching - turned to me and said, "That's ridiculous! Infants can't learn at that age."

Don't let such "experts" discourage you. There is growing evidence that the best time to teach a child reading and math is before the age of six, when it's easiest for them to absorb new information. (For more on this, read How to Teach Your Baby to Read, by Glenn & Janet Doman.)

I, of course, used the experiences of Isaac Asimov and his brother as a model for my kids, and although I've stumbled along the way, I have already seen encouraging results. According to WebMD.com a six-year old is expected to "know about 100 common words" and "count and understand numbers." ("When Should Kids Learn to Read, Write, and Do Math?")

Hideki, Akira and Ichiro already recognize more than 20 words in print, they can count to 20 and they aren't even four years old yet. They don't read sentences like bigger kids, but they look at books and magazines all the time and read and spell out individual words. Whenever we walk downtown they eagerly read aloud road signs they understand and spell out those they don't. It may be inaccurate to say my sons can read, but they're certainly well on their way to doing so.

(For more on Les Jacob's experience as an at-home dad, visit his Web site: TripletsDad.com.)