Teaching Reading

Teaching reading to elementary students is not difficult, but it is daunting. It can be overwhelming because we are learning our children’s method of learning to read as much as they are learning to read.

I have taught 4 children to read. All with different levels of success, lol.

Teaching my oldest child to read: 

My daughter learned almost effortlessly. I used Abeka phonics curriculum to teach her the letter sounds. Before I finished the curriculum, she made the leap from reading short 3 letter words and silent e words to reading beginning level books. Fast forward to today, she has a degree in English, a minor in Spanish, and an MBA. She works as an editor and marketer, and is an artist in her spare time. Just as when she was younger, she loves reading. In fact, she married a young man who also loves to read. They love, love, love books.

Teaching my oldest son to read:

My oldest son didn’t learn as easily.  I used the same phonics curriculum with him, but nothing stuck. I gave up. So my husband who maybe read one book about homeschooling, picked up a children’s bible and read it to him at night. He asked my son to repeat the words after him. Which he did. That is how this kid learned to read. I later learned he’s a whole to parts learner. Last month he just graduated from college with a degree in computer science and is now working as a computer programmer. Today he mostly reads to find information he wants to know or learn–non-fiction just as he did as a young kid. His preference is to spend time playing piano, guitar, or video games. Last month he married a young lady who loves music as much as he does. They are having fun!

Teaching my middle son to read:

My middle son danced his way into reading. My middle son is a kinesthetic learner. If he was learning, he was moving. I taught him with the TEACH YOUR CHILD TO READ IN 100 EASY LESSONS book. It worked, but he jumped up and danced after every word he read. It takes a long time to cover a lesson when the child jumps up and does a jig after each word.

It was fun, and frustrating, teaching him to read. How can it not be fun to see a child excited about reading! I became frustrated because I worried that the lessons wouldn’t stick because there wasn’t a continuity of focus on his part. I worried a lot, but I should not have because he did learn to read. And he is a good reader, and an excellent writer. Today, 12 years later, he doesn’t love reading. Today, my kinesthetic learner is occasionally seen with a book, but only because he is working on improving his vision by training his eyes to read without glasses, or something like that. He is currently a sophomore in college, also majoring in computer science. His favorite past time is watching history documentaries and working on improving his vision–a 2 year process. He’s thinking of getting back into martial arts.

Teaching my youngest son to read:

My youngest son learned easily. My youngest son learned to read from the same book. He learned easily, partially because he is the kid that learns from watching other people. But by the time I taught him to read, I was also a better reading teacher.  I taught him phonics. Reviewed sight words with Dick and Jane books. Then I followed up with my own Charlotte Mason Writing Through History curriculum during the elementary years (teaching reading and writing through copywork, narration, and studied dictation).  My youngest does read a lot today. Not as much as his sister, but probably more than his brothers. He reads for personal improvement.  Mostly about religion and philosophy. He’s a senior in high school now. So it’ll be interesting to see what he decides to do. My guess is it’ll be computers too. By the way, his favorite past time is producing music on his computer.

 

What I wish I’d known about teaching reading before I started teaching reading.

• They will eventually figure it out.
• They may not learn via the same approach as everyone else or anyone else.
• They don’t all have to love to read.
• They’ll be reading later in life regardless of whether they love reading now or not.

If I had known the above, I’d have saved myself a lot of worry and stress.

When our children are in elementary classes, we experiment a lot with various resources. Here’s an opportunity to win over $300 in resources and expand your homeschool library at no cost to you.

Scroll below for the chance to enter the giveaway.

	Mastering Handwriting at Any Level from In All You Do includes over 150 pages of printable practice pages. Students will learn manuscript/print and cursive at the same time. This new curriculum takes children from prewriting drills before jumping in to letters.
	Bricks Through the Ages Bundle- (10) History Units from Homeschool On the Range – Study history, from the Ancient Egyptians through World War II, with your Legos or other building blocks in this fun, cross-curricular bundle! There are 175 pages of activities, spanning ten different eras in history.
	Helia and Zea: A Study of Flowering Plants for Kids from Julie Naturally – Listen in as Helia and Zea–a sunflower and a corn plant–talk about themselves and debate whether monocots or dicots are better! Learn about plants by talking with plants in this unique plant unit study that includes experiments, culture, nature study, writing, hands-on activities, plenty of full color printables, and more!
	All About Trees Nature Study Journal Bundle from Homeschool Helper Online – With this printable All About Trees Nature Study Journal Bundle, your students will learn about: Trees Through the Year, Apple Tree Life Cycle, Tree Identification, Types of Trees, Deciduous & Evergreen Tree Characteristics, Tree Trunk Growth Rings, Tree Anatomy. and more! Designed for K to 8th grades.
	Early Frontier: Kentucky, Davy Crockett & the Battle of the Alamo from Whole Child Homeschool – This unit is FILLED with FUN, hands-on projects like: Find out what a flintlock is and how it works. Build a potato launcher. Learn about forensics and interior & exterior ballistics. Create an embroidery sampler. Build a model of the Alamo. Build a squirrel feeder. Learn new words like “varmit” and “discombobulated”. And much more! Activities & lessons for the whole family!
	Writing Through History Level 1 Manuscript Bundle from Brookdale House – All Level 1 books in this homeschool writing curriculum contain historically relevant reading selections. They are divided into four chapters: short stories, time period tales, poetry, and cultural tales. There are two writing models following each reading selection; one for copywork and the second for dictation.
	Rabbit Trails through Literature Volume 1 from Rabbit Trails Homeschool is a hands on, literature based language arts curriculum for all elementary ages. Learn different language arts concepts with amazing, award winning books as the spine of your child’s education and create a love of learning!
	Jonah & Nahum Little Fishes Bible Study from Homeschool with Moxie provides a gentle introduction to the inductive study method for your kids in grades K-4. Your kids will deep dive into key passages in these books over 36 lessons.
	Junior Scientist Science Study: Healthy Habits from Living Life and Learning – Teach your kids the importance of personal hygiene, dental health, healthy food, and healthy minds. These healthy habits will set them up for success in life. Perfect for students in kindergarten to grade 2.
	Learn Classical Music with Cartoons online course from Music in Our Homeschool – “Learn Classical Music with Cartoons” is one of the most fun and accessible music appreciation courses ever written! Inside are 37 separate composer studies with music to listen to–by cartoon–which range from the very vintage (1931!) to the very modern. Every lesson also contains an optional movement activity to get the kids moving and off the couch.
	Ultimate Kindergarten Bundle from Some Call It Destiny is comprised of six different workbooks focusing on skills learned in kindergarten. Kids will enjoy the fun animal themes. Use them to teach, refresh, or reinforce concepts.
	K-2 Summer Power Hour Bundle (Math Centers!) from Create Your Homeschool is perfect for keeping math skills fresh throughout the summer! This bundle is geared towards students in Kindergarten through Second Grade and covers topics such as: telling time, counting coins, comparing values, and more! Each section uses hands-on activities that are fun and engaging to keep summer learning exciting, which helps the transition from summer break to fall learning quick and smooth for everyone!

Learn more about each of the 2022 Elementary Homeschool Giveaway Sponsors

This giveaway wouldn’t be possible without our amazing sponsors! We encourage you to visit their site and take a look around at all their wonderful products perfect for homeschoolers!

Thanks to these amazing bloggers and brands that love supporting the homeschool community, we’re giving away more than $330 in Elementary Aged prizes!

Want to enter to win? Simply enter by following as many sponsors and partners on the form below, and you’re in it to win it! 

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