Teaching Reading
If you are homeschooling a non-reader or struggling reader,
then you have no doubt been trying to wade through the maze of curriculum
choices out there! I’m assuming that you
are searching for a reading program, or you wouldn’t even been reading this,
right?J
Of my six children, two learned to read spontaneously. I read aloud to all of my children when they
were young, and two of my children just “got it”, seemingly without any effort
on my part. (Gotta love a child like
that!)
Unfortunately, I also had four children who s l o w l y, and p
a i n
f u l
l y , made little or no progress
year after year. Honestly, if I hadn’t
had two children who could read well, I would have begun to feel quite a
failure at homeschooling.
I am sure that I have tried every single reading program
available!! So, let me help you out a
little with just three small suggestions. J
(I’m assuming that you have had your child evaluated by their pediatrician and
an optometrist to rule out any neurological or visual problems that could be
hindering their reading ability).
1.
Do it every day – keep it short and sweet! No matter which program you decide to use or
buy, just use it consistently, every single school-day, if only for 5 minutes a
day (don’t drag out the lesson for 30 or 45 minutes). Sometimes the success or failure of a program
really depends on this short daily consistency.
If you approach it as something that is a daily requirement, like, for
instance, brushing your teeth, then the child won’t balk and whine about
it. It has to be done, so let’s just do
it (with a smileJ)!
Then mom reads something fun and
interesting to the child to wrap it up – keeping in mind that the goal is
learning to love reading. Always leave
them feeling good about reading.
2.
Variety,
sometimes, is the spice of learning to read! If the program you are using
is obviously not working for you or your child, set it aside and try something
else for a change. When you have paid
big bucks for a program, the temptation frequently is to push through it,
because, after-all, it was supposed to be “THE” program, and I can’t waste my money! Many times, in situations like this, I have
to play mind games with myself. I think,
“If this were a free program, would I feel differently about it?” Take money out of the equation and make
decisions based on what you believe to be the best for you and your child at
this point. I have frequently used three
or more different programs with the same child at the same time. With consistent daily practice, you will see
results. The results, sometimes, just
aren’t as fast as we would likeJ.
3.
No
program is “it”! I’m sorry to burst
your bubble, but every program out there is wonderful – every one of them will
help some children learn to read. And
every program out there will not be the ticket for every child! Many times it is by trial and error, trying
many different approaches. Sometimes it
is truly just a timing issue – the child is not “ready” even though society
tells us all children should learn to read in first grade. Of my four struggling readers, they finally
learned to read fluently between ages 10 & 12. For two of them it was a sudden “lightbulb”
experience. For the other two is was a
very slow process to get from sounding out three-letter words to reading sentences – they were in 1st
& 2nd grade readers for several yearsL But they did all learn to read, and your
child will learn to read, too!!!
If you need to switch up your curriculum a little, here is a
free one to try:
In the meantime, make good use of the abundance of audio
books available, keep electronics to a minimum, and remember to read to, and play
and have fun with your children every day!!
1 comment:
Reading Buddy Software is advanced, speech recognition reading software that listens, responds, and teaches as your child reads. It’s like having a tutor in your computer
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