Teaching Littles to Read

Literacy is extremely important. I believe knowing how to read opens the way for so much learning - self guided, exciting, exploratory learning. Once one can read, the world is virtually endless for what can be learned. I've always been a bookworm myself, devouring books faster than chocolate (yes, it is possible!).

That being said, I am amazed at the number of extensive curricula available for teaching a child to read. Obviously, this is a challenge that most parents take seriously, especially homeschooling parents (many non-homeschoolers depend on the public school to do this task, but hopefully encourage at home as well). The thing that really shocks me, though, is the price of so many of these curricula! I've seen kits that are over a hundred dollars, sometimes several hundred dollars! That can be very overwhelming to a new homeschooler (or any new parent wanting to take on teaching their child to read) - and each one seems so promising - your child will surely fail at reading forever if you don't use theirs!

But I wanted to offer reassurance. It IS possible to teach your child to read and love reading, with very little (if any) cost. What's the first step? Read to them! Daily, if not several times a day! From the time they are tiny, cuddle them in your lap and explore the beauty of books. Let them turn pages, even if you're not done reading one yet. Let them ask questions, talk about the pictures. Make reading time a special, wonder-filled time! Read them their favorite, over and over and over again.

By the time Isaac was 9 months old, he would army crawl over to the small bookshelf in his room, and pull out "Goodnight Moon" from among the other books on his shelf. We read that book everytime we sat down to read - I still know it by heart! My parents purposely bought me the book "The Baby Beebee Bird" when I began having children, as revenge for the sheer of times I requested they read it to me when I was young (if you've ever read it, you'll understand why it was a form of revenge!).

Second, one small purchase I made to use with the boys is a book called "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons". It cost me $29 and is reusable, so by the time Judah learns to read, it will have cost me only $6 per child for their reading curriculum.

This book is amazing! First, let me say it does NOT have bright colors, silly games, fun music, and interesting illustrations - everything that something to teach younger children with is supposedly "supposed" to have. It is a very dry book in that way. But it disproves the theory that kids need entertainment to learn! It is incredibly effective, and each time I go through it, I think "Wow! What a great method!"

Each lesson takes about 15-25 minutes, depending on if you do the handwriting section, too. The books quickly teaches the child to read c-v-c words, which excites them and motivates them to continue on to learn more. Its a small time investment with a big payoff. By the end of the book, they are reading full stories and ready for short books! And there's no rush - you can do one lesson a day, three lessons a day, or one or two lessons a week. Its very easy to take at your child's pace without causing frustration or discouragement.

Also, keep in mind that every child really is different when it comes to the pace at which they learn to read. Just with my first two experiences, I discovered that doing something at the child's pace is much more effective than trying to force them too soon or too fast. Reading is something that "clicks" at the right time - for some children that time is early - age 3 or 4! For others, its later - not until 7 or 8, or even later. One of the wonderful blessings of homeschooling is to be able to go at that individual pace, instead of them being forced into a "mold" in which labels such as "geek" or "learning disabled" can quickly be placed upon anyone who doesn't fit the mold imposed by public school standards.

I wanted to encourage any parents who are about to be (or are in the middle of) teaching your little ones to read - you don't need some huge, fancy, expensive curriculum! And don't be discouraged if your child is not moving along as fast as you might think they need to - with patient, gentle teaching, and exposure to lots of wonderful books and time spent sharing them with you - it will happen! And then watch out - a whole new wonderful world awaits!!