BTW, reading at 4.5 is about right when teaching them phonics.
My 3 yr old knows all the letter sounds, but we’ll probably wait until she’s at least 4 to start teaching phonics & reading.
I hate to compliment a PBS show, but my girls learned their letter sounds from Sesame Street. Letter sounds is the tedious part. Once they know that, putting the sounds together is a piece of cake.
We used Blumenfeld’s book, Alphaphonics, which goes for about $20. I understand that it’s significantly less expensive than 8 years of schooling. They miss out on some fabulous socialization, though.