Which counts as learning to read?

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I read sight words at 3 and the simplest books such "Dick and Jane" aloud. I had some understanding of phonics but it was not explicitly taught. However, it was at 5 when my mother taught me how to truly master phonics and could read more unfamiliar words. When did I learn, 3 or 5?

Three.
This may surprise you, but some people have never learned phonics, however we are still literate.

Excuse me, but what exactly is the difference between learning "sight reading" and "phonics"? Isn't there only one way to read things?

sight reading relies on one recognizing the word as a whole (or simply by the spelling) and assigning a meaning to it. (for example, i can tell if a word is spelled properly by the shape of the entire word, which i suspect is a related skill.) you learn the word, hear it spoken (hopefully), and assign what you hear to what you see.

example (badly done) sight - c-a-t spells cat. [or, the picture of the word cat is equivalent to the meaning of "cat".]


phonics - cat = k sound, a= ah sound, t= t sound, put them together and you get kaht.



phonics breaks down words into small bits and you are expected to learn to pronounce the word based on putting the various bits together using the rules you learn. then you put a meaning on what you've done.

that's a very simplified explanation, of course, but a lot of kids do well with phonics. an equally (from the last lit i read on the subject) large number do very well with "sight" reading.

to me, phonics was a nightmare. i was in the first wave when they introduced phonics into the schools back in the 1960s and was so caught up with all the rules and regulations that i pretty much flunked phonics - although i was reading four to five years (with appropriate comprehension skills) ahead of grade level at the time. it was just one more thing to stress over, to "get right." the down side of my not mastering phonics is that i have a huge comprehension range as far as the english language; but, not having heard at least 75% of the words i recognize actually used as parts of ordinary (or not-so-ordinary) speech, i have a hard time using them (should i wish to) in speaking because i'm not quite sure how they're pronounced.

I was 3 as well.......never had phonics back then......just learnt how to read the only way I knew how

Mics

I was reading somewhat before age 3, in the dark ages before phonics.

I learned to read, when I was 8. I still have a hard time, unless the subject matter is something that I'm really interested in.

Yeah, I first read using an almost native language. It was almost like I took in the meaning, and could say the word as a secondary sort of feat. I read words, and later learned phonics. Phonics sort of condemned me to reading in english.

My mom bought me books with tapes as a toddler and I really enjoyed memorizing the tapes. I was good at reciting them. When it came to learning to read, I didn't want to because I had grown accustomed to memorizing and reading was just so different. My mom had to teach me after school. Once I caught on, I excelled.
You began reading at three, but, do we ever truly master reading, or do we just keep learning due to excessive practice? Do we ever learn everything there is to know? Is it possible, or, do we only glimpse life in intervals and stages. We can never know all the answers in the brief span of a lifetime.

I was reading (well, decoding) by sight very very young. Phonics would just confuse me. Just like learning individual words is harder for me than learning groups of them.

My parents made me read in my room, for an hour after dinner, the summer that I was 8, every night.