Many parents are nervous about homeschooling because they don’t think they’ll be able to teach their child to read. You are in luck, you don’t have to. Just as you didn’t have to teach them how to put one foot in front of the other to walk, and you didn’t have to teach them how to move their mouth to talk, you also don’t have to teach them to read.
If you read to your child and if they find value in written words, they will decipher the code and learn to read. Their little brains are wired to learn and absorb new information. After all, they did just learn an entire spoken language in a few short years without instruction. That is pretty remarkable, yet we take it for granted. We assume our children will learn to walk and talk on their own, but then, for some reason, we think they need to be taught how to read. We quickly forget how capable they are.
Nothing magical happened at age 5 that now requires them to only learn through schooling. They were learning all about the world through observation and experience. If you let them continue, they will surprise you with all they can learn. All you have to do it continue to trust them.
I know how hard it can be to be a parent. I understand the worries that come with educating children at home. Am I doing the right thing? Would they be better off in school? Public or private? Should they do sports? Music? Gymnastics? What curriculum should I use? Will they keep up with their peers? Am I really capable? Am I going to screw them up? It can be stressful. I’ve been through it, I understand.
One thing I have learned is to find a good balance. Each child is different and has different needs. Some will thrive with unschooling, learning on their own at their own pace. Others need more guidance and structure.
If you have a little one and you want them to grow into a reader, the best thing to do is read to them. Let them see you reading. Read signs, write letters, have words all around. Give them a reason to want to learn to read. If you feel like you need to do more, I have a book I would recommend.
Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Siegfried Engelmann. I have used this book with over a hundred children and had great results. Some children start and within 20 chapters just start reading. Others need to do each lesson several times.
Some things I like about this book are that they first focus on letter sounds not letter names. You don’t need to know the names of letters to know how to read. The sounds they make is what is important. I also like that kids need comprehension. Many reading programs have pictures and the child can look at the picture to guess the word. That is not reading. In this book, the pictures are supposed to be covered up until after the child has read the words and is able to answer questions about what they read.
For parents that are still nervous about trying to teach a child to read, relax, this book walks you through it. It even has, word for word, what you can say to your child to help them progress through the book.
Some of the things in the book seem odd at first, such as letters with a line over them. These would be the vowels that say their name. The short vowels don’t have the line. Some letters are combined to form different sounds like “th” and “sh”. Don’t worry, toward the end of the book they explain that they are two different letters and the lines above the words are removed so that your child will be able to read any book, not just ones written in this funny text. Once the book is complete, they have suggested books to read next. And you can give yourself, and your child, a pat on the back for completing this hurdle.
So while I fully believe that most children are totally and completely capable of learning to read on their own, I realize that most parents want some support to help them. I first used this book about 20 years ago and many children have learned to read. Most of the children have enjoyed the book and will ask to do reading lessons without being prompted because the lessons are easy and fun. Whatever way you decide to help your child learn to read, always try to make it fun and they will continue to enjoy learning.
