For years, I’ve shared my love for the brilliance of babies and toddlers under 3 years old. These little ones are truly like sponges—soaking in language, rhythm, and meaning from the world around them. Watching them learn is a magical experience.
When I began sharing how I taught my children to read during infancy and toddlerhood, I was met with curiosity—and a fair amount of skepticism.
“Surely they memorized the books,” people said.
“There’s no way a 2-year-old is really decoding phonetically!”
But it wasn’t a trick.
With consistent support and developmentally aligned tools, my children learned to read fluently at a very young age. In fact, by 4 years old, one of my daughters was reading Charlotte’s Web—a chapter book well beyond the expected reading level for her age.
Today, I’m sharing the exact steps I used to help my children not only read simple words like cat but also tackle complex ones like nation—before their 3rd birthday.
Step 1: Prepare Your Materials Early
While there are many apps and videos designed to support early reading, I strongly believe that physical materials matter most. After all, our goal is for children to read real books, not just screens.
Toddlers thrive when they can hold, feel, and interact with the learning materials. That’s why I recommend using laminated flashcards to ensure durability through curious hands and mouths.
To help you get started, I’ve created a ready-to-print set of 303 flashcards that includes:
- All 75 basic phonograms
- Diacritical marks and IPA symbols for pronunciation support
- Consonant blends, digraphs, and vowel teams
- Sight word examples with phonograms highlighted
- Real-life Montessori-style photos to deepen understanding
- A printable Parent Guide and Phonogram Chart
- Access to a private Facebook group for community support
Step 2: Keep Lessons Short and Gentle
This isn’t about drilling or pressure. When my children were infants, we started with just 5 flashcards per session, about 3 sessions per day: morning, afternoon, and bedtime.
Each session only took a minute or two, making it easy to weave into daily routines.
I used a spaced repetition system to keep track of which sounds and words my children were recognizing:
- Mastery: Correct responses most of the time (no need to show daily)
- Weekly Practice: Recognized about 50% of the time
- Daily Practice: Needed more exposure and repetition
Once my children were around 9 months old, I added active recall games like:
- “Which card says /b/?”
- “Can you find the word ‘sun’?”
These small moments built huge progress over time.
Step 3: Build Words and Sentences
Using flashcards and magnetic letters, we played games to build words syllable by syllable. I prefer this over isolating sounds because it mirrors how we blend sounds naturally when reading aloud.
Eventually, we started using the flashcards to build short sentences, and I left sticky note messages around the house that they could decode on their own.
Reading became a meaningful part of their daily life—not just a lesson.
Step 4: Read Books Together Every Day
Reading books aloud every day reinforced the phonics we were practicing. When my toddlers began recognizing words in their favorite stories, they were ecstatic.
As their confidence grew, I introduced simple decodable books and gradually transitioned to more challenging texts. We kept it pressure-free and focused on joy and connection.
I asked basic comprehension questions to check understanding and made sure reading always felt like a special bonding time—not a chore.
Step 5: Make Learning Functional and Fun
Children are wired to learn what’s functional. That’s why personalized notes, familiar photo images, and real-life context make such a difference.
By connecting reading to their daily lives, toddlers learn faster and retain more.
And guess what? It works.
The videos I’ve shared of my toddlers fluently reading—smiling and engaged—show the difference in this approach. It’s not just about early reading—it’s about early joy in learning.
You Can Do This, Too
It might seem almost too simple—just 5 minutes a day with flashcards, books, and intentional interaction. But that’s truly all it takes to spark a lifelong love of reading.
Imagine: one day your child is learning their first sounds at 11 months… and not long after, they’re reading their favorite books to you at 2.5 years old.
It feels like magic.
But it’s just the right system.
Give your child the gift of literacy today—without the overwhelm.
🎁 Download the 303 Flashcard Bundle + Parent Guide Now
