In our homeschool, we start teaching our kids to read when they are interested in learning. For the three kids who have done reading so far, that is around 5 or 6. The book we have chosen to use to teach them is all inclusive. We do not have to prepare other cards, make copies or hunt down other items in order to teach from the book. The name of the book is Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. Sounds good, right?
We enjoy this book because it starts out very basic with just learning the different sounds. The parents are provided with a script to help the child as they read through the book together. They sound out the different sounds and build basic words for the first couple of lessons.
Each lesson builds on the previous lesson. The children are reminded what different sounds the letters make and put together new words with the sounds. Phonetic symbols are used on some letters to make it easier to learn the "long e" sound and others.
As the child continues in the book, the lessons get a little more challenging. They learn to read words by sounding out each letter and pointing to it. Then they learn to read each word quickly as a whole. Well, that is at least the goal of the middle and later lessons. They should become quicker at recognizing the words as they go along.
The later lessons also have a little story that the children read. It is usually about one page long and includes a little picture and questions to discuss at the end to make sure the child is understanding. They should be able to read these with few difficulties and the stories get a little more difficult and longer as the lessons go along.
Most people say that their children make it halfway through the book or so and gain the confidence to read on their own at that point. I have two boys who have made it all the way through the book and still find reading a challenge. I think they just need more practice in order to gain confidence. I told one of them that he could get a Steemit account when he was reading and writing better, so that is his goal. My daughter just started the book and is learning sounds at the moment. I am hoping she picks it up quickly and enjoys reading!
There are so many methods out there, but this one has worked pretty well for us so far.
Schoolhouse Saturday will be brought to you here every Saturday by A Panama Mama.
Check back each week for updates on school life, curriculum, our lending library and more.
If you have something you’d like to hear about, feel free to let me know in the comments.
Thanks for visiting!