3 Year Old Reading: What Helped My Son Start Reading Early

At the end of 2023, my husband said something that stayed with me:

“Let us get our son reading before the end of 2024.”

Our son was born in May 2022, so my immediate thought was,

He will only be about two and a half… is that even possible?

At that point, I had already been reading so much content online. Watching videos. Saving posts. Seeing what other parents were doing.

The idea of 3 year old reading was constantly on my mind.

If I am being honest, I was probably talking about it a lot at home too.

I guess I had talked about it so much that one day, instead of just listening to me go on, my husband simply said:

“Why not give it a try?”

And that was the turning point for me.

Because up until then, I had mostly just been learning. Reading, watching, saving ideas, and thinking.

But that moment made me realize something:

I had to stop only learning about it and actually start taking action.

So we did.

Not with a perfect plan.
Not with everything figured out.
Just with a goal and a decision to start.

The beginning was not easy

Let me be honest.

It was not smooth.

Some days, my son remembered everything.

Other days, he looked at the letter A like he had never seen it before, and I would think, Did we not just do this yesterday?

I tried worksheets, videos, and different methods. There was a lot of trial and error.

Some things worked for a few days. Some did not work at all. At times, it felt like nothing was sticking.

But we kept going.

Not perfectly.
Just consistently.

When things started to change

Slowly, something began to click.

It was not sudden. It was not dramatic. But it was real.

By around 2.5 years old, my son had started reading simple CVC words like cat, dog, and sun. He was able to read short sentences using decodable books, and that was such a special moment for me. Because it was no longer just sounds or single words, he was actually reading.

I remember thinking:

Wait… this is actually working.

That moment meant more than I expected because what once felt unrealistic was now happening in small, visible ways.

Fast forward to last year, when he was about 3.5

About four months ago, I decided to take him to Kumon.

Not to prove anything.
Not to compare.
Just to check if we were truly on the right track.

And honestly, I did not expect much.

But the results surprised me.

They placed him right around the level we had already been working on at home: stronger blending, more complex words, and early reading confidence. His first assessment even came back at 100%.

Even the instructor was impressed.

But for me, it was not just about the score.

It was what that moment confirmed: All the small, imperfect steps were working. They were adding up.

So, can a 3 year old read?

Yes.

A 3 year old can start reading.

Not every child will do it the same way or at the same pace, but many children can begin recognizing sounds, blending simple words, and reading early CVC words with the right support.

With the right approach, 3-year-old reading is possible.

What helped with our 3-year-old reading journey

1. We read every day

One thing I believe helped my son the most was that I started reading to him when he was still a baby.

At the time, my mom thought it was a little funny. But I kept doing it anyway.

Over time, something beautiful happened.

He grew up knowing that books were part of everyday life.

Books were not strange to him.
They were familiar.
They were normal.

And maybe it is also his temperament, but he never tore books. He seemed to understand, even from a young age, that books were special.

Looking back, I believe this laid the foundation.

Before he ever started reading words for himself, he had already built a relationship with books.

And that matters.

Because before a child learns to read, they first need to enjoy books.

2. We focused on sounds, not just letters

At first, I focused on letters the way many of us were taught: A, B, C.

But I realized something important.

Reading does not start with letter names.
It starts with sounds.

So we shifted our focus. We shifted sounds, repeated them often, and kept it simple. You can review our steps in this blog post here

And slowly, it started to come together.

By around 2.5, he was blending sounds and reading simple words. Then he moved on to short sentences in decodable books. That taught me something important:

Consistency matters more than complexity.

3. We made learning part of everyday life

This made a huge difference for us.

Learning did not only happen at a table.

It happened at the mall.
In the car.
In the parking lot.
At home.

It became part of everyday life.

And that changed everything.

Because learning started to feel natural, not forced.

Now that he is almost 4, I can clearly see the impact. He sees learning as fun, not a burden.

And I truly believe that came from how we introduced learning from the beginning.

Final thoughts on 3-year-old reading

If there is one thing my 3-year-old reading journey taught me, it is this:

Small, consistent effort matters.

What made the biggest difference was not doing everything perfectly.

It was showing up daily.
Keeping things simple.
Being patient.

And trusting that those small steps would eventually add up.

Because they do.

If you are in the middle of your own 3-year-old reading journey, I hope this encourages you.

You do not need to have everything figured out.
You just need to start.