“Can I Teach My Child to Read at Home?”
Perhaps you have a child who will be starting school this fall.
Perhaps your child DID start school already, but learning to read has been a struggle.
Can you do anything about it? Perhaps you’re thinking, “I’m not a teacher.” Can you teach your child to read at home?
Well, if you take a quick survey of experienced parents, you will soon find that children learn to read in DIFFERENT ways and at DIFFERENT times, much like walking, talking, or even riding a bike.
But, PLEASE, do NOT make the mistake of thinking you are helpless and cannot do anything about it.
You CAN help your child learn to read at home.
Here how:
Learn more about the stages of reading.
If YOU know what steps come first with reading, you’ll know what is the most important thing to teach your child first without adding confusion. If you know what stages come later, you can know what to expect as your child grows in the skill of reading. A few things to note are:
—rhyming skills
—phonemic awareness (What is Phonemic Awareness? Watch here.)
—short vowel words
—sight words (Binge watch some of my sight word videos here.)
—suffixes
—magic e
—vowel teams
My course, Next Step Reading, will cover this material to help you move your beginning reader to the next step, so be sure you watch for that!
Read TO your child and LET YOUR CHILD READ to you.
SUCH SIMPLE ADVICE. So OFTEN overlooked.
It goes both ways. You can NEVER go wrong with reading aloud to your child. You bond. You learn lessons in stories. Your child learns vocabulary and hears the flow of the language. Many parents remember to do this part, but forget to have their child read to them. DO BOTH.
If your child gets weary, take turns reading. Be sure you find interesting books that entice your child to read. If your child is at a very low level of reading, the books can be a bit boring. You might find some with funny pictures, which helps. However, at this stage, I’ve noticed the children really appreciate the confidence they get from having a “good fit book,” a book that is not too hard. “DECODABLE READERS” is a term you can use when you’re looking for something that will work. Many are sold in sets online or on a platform such as TeachersPayTeachers.
Be sure you’re picking up something to read DAILY. Some children have all the reading skills, but simply don’t have the practice time they need to get better. Even 10-15 minutes a day will make a huge difference!
Utilize weekends, evenings, and school breaks.
Even a busy parent can make things work. Taking some one-on-one time with your child on a Friday night or a Saturday morning is NOT going to ruin your whole weekend or your child’s whole weekend. Over my past 8 years of tutoring (since leaving full time teaching), I have witnessed determined parents put their child’s reading as a priority. It’s only for a season. It’s only temporary because what happens is the child grows in reading skills and moves on to become an independent reader that enjoys books. The parent then no longer has to sit with the child one-on-one as often (if at all). If you can do ball games, dance, piano, church, and your favorite tv show, then you can SURELY make your child’s reading a priority for a while. It’s life changing.
Try a homeschool curriculum.
Homeschool curricula are written for parents—not school teachers. They usually explain things with this audience in mind and can be quite user-friendly. Not a homeschooler? No problem. Curriculum companies will still allow you to purchase their curriculum, which can then be utilized over summer break when your child has more free time. It IS possible, and there is no one stopping you from trying this option. There are more options now than ever before. YouTube is a handy place to search for curriculum reviews and see the product, so I’d recommend starting there. It’s worth a try, and most of these curricula have a good resale value.
Has this given you some food for thought?
Just think, how did people learn to read before government schools were widespread?
There certainly were people who learned outside of a school (some girls or minorities who weren’t allowed into places of education). Who taught them? Did that person have a degree? Likely not.
I’m not trying to take away the importance of a trained and experienced person. Training does help, particularly in situations where a child has a learning disability. Experience matters. After all, I’m writing this blog piece because I have been trained and mostly because I have the experience behind me to share with you and encourage you. However, just because you’ve never taught someone to read does NOT mean it’s impossible.
In fact, some children can mostly learn on their own with proper exposure. I’ve heard many parents say, “I just read to my child. That was all.” That DOES happen. It doesn’t happen for everyone, but it does happen. If you feel like your child has an extra challenge, then READ up on it! Educate yourself on what you can do. This goes back to step 1, which was LEARN ABOUT THE STAGES OF READING. You might choose to purchase a course, subscribe to a channel, or purchase a curriculum. It’s like anything that comes with an instruction manual. If you absolutely feel like you need outside help, contract a tutor’s help. You can watch more on my thoughts about tutors here: Getting a Tutor Video Series
I can say with certainty after years of tutoring, that most of the time
6-8 tutoring sessions (with a parent observing), is enough to empower the parent
to continue the rest at home with recommended resources.
Did I leave anything out? Comment below with your ideas. Share this article with a friend who could use the encouragement.
Remember, you are your child’s most influential teacher.