How to Teach My Children to Read

Hi N.,
Have you started letters? numbers? fine motor skills? do you read to them yet? have they learned to sit quietly and listen for short periods of time (5 to 15 minutes)? Do they have many "sight words" yet?

These are all pre-reading skills to start before real reading can begin.

Good luck :)
t

if they know the sounds of all the letters, start w/small words.... every night my son and i would do "letter sounds" while in bed
"what sound does M make?" "what sound does CH make?"
he's barely 4 and reads. it works.
: )
oh... we moved on to work books as well as reading books... 9-15 words a night.
he gets a prize after finishing a book : )

This may not sound nice but how are you going to homeschool your children if you are unsure how to teach them at this early stage?

I'm sorry you have some unhelpful judgmental responses here. See if your library has any books on teaching your child to read. I recently got "Teaching A Young Child To Read" by Wood Smethhurst, for ex. This one looks good, it gives you a lot of specific ways to teach reading.

Contrary to what some of the responses said, there is no rush, so don't freak out bc you think your kids are behind compared to some of the responders' kids. Plenty of research has shown that kids don't end up ahead in the long run by reading earlier (broadly, not individual children, of course). In Denmark they don't teach reading until 7, which is what is done at Waldorf schools as well. These kids are ready to learn to read and pick it right up and do not end up behind their peers who learned at earlier ages. Just because they are forcing the academics earlier (preschool, in some cases) does not mean that is better and if you are going to home school, they don't have to be at the same level as what they are forcing on the public school kids. And different methods will work for different kids, so you may find trying different things helps.

If you don't have a local home school group, get online and find what you need. There are TONS of resources out there. You may want to connect with that local group, even if it is older kids, as some of the moms may be able to point you to other local resources. Good luck!

Hello N.,
Welcome to homeschooling!!! I taught my twin 5 year olds how to read with the website called "Headsprout". Googling "Headsprout" should take you to the correct place. It is a wonderful program. It is interactive, cute, fun and tracks their progress for you. My children enjoyed it very much! The first 80 lessons covered beginning readers through 2nd grade. The next 80 lessons covered 2nd through 4th grade. It was easy for them to navigate and they were virtually independent on it within a few lessons. They have a trial offer on their homepage so you can try a lesson or two before you buy it. I was sold on it. I highly recommend this program to anyone who has beginning readers. I have other recommendations for curriculums that I have liked if you are interested.

Another shceap option is to use scrabble tiles to make words...they do not have to make sense and change them one at a time....so you can have hit, then change it to hat and then heat, then heart, etc

spit, spot, pot, pots, cots, cats...to see how they are responding phonetically

you can also do oral deletion practice... say car and then take out the "k" sound what do you have left? "are" that sort of thing... have fun with the home schooling, your library should also have resources and can get them for you through Inter Library Loan if they do not have them.

Nat

Hi N.! I homeschool my 6 year old son. My favorite reading program is Sing Spell Read and Write. We are in the first grade program now and started when he was in kindergarten. Another good method is "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons".

We are using Math U See for our math program. I think you would be really interested in reading about it.

As far as the other comments, don't worry that your kiddos are not reading yet. Not every 5 year old is required to read and there is nothing wrong with your boys. I am a bit disturbed that a poster even commented on that. And poster JG was right. What she said was NOT nice.

Homeschooling is very easy and very effective. You do, however, need a plan. Read up on the homeschooling laws in your state and follow them to the letter. Make a lesson plan and set easy to reach goals. Plan outings and contact the homeschooling group in your area. There is most likely going to be parents with kids the same age as yours and even if there are none, you can benefit from talking with experienced homeschool moms.

Please contact me if you have any questions!

Starfall is good, as are the other websites suggested below. And if your kids know letters/sounds, they are on the verge of having it all click. My focus, in your place, would be to keep the pressure off and let reading seem like a fun adventure. I'd read to them a lot, and get really cozy with my local library – make it a fun destination. Too much drill will squelch the natural drive to learn for a lot of children.

Some parents decide to homeschool their kids precisely because they have trouble meeting the academic expectations for their age in some subject area. Some children simply need more time, and the pressures of keeping up with age-specific goals works against their success, confidence, and even joy of learning. Kids who aren't prodded into reading are generally at the same level as their peers by fourth grade, if not sooner.

I noticed some "shoulds and oughts" from other responders, and a bit of judgement. Homeschooling's not for everybody, but it's great for some kids, so don't let yourself be bullied out of trying. You say you're "going to be homeschooling," not that you're a certified expert. One of the great things about it is that parents generally learn wonderful lessons and skills right alongside their children, and that is a fabulous example to show your kids.

I would strongly suggest you get connected to a homeschooling support group. Google to find the ones closest to you geographically and philosophically. Good luck!

We are using the Scholastic Bob Books to teach my son. As one of the other women mentioned, each book uses basic words (CAT, MAT, SAT) and each subsequent book builds on those sounds. There are around 50 small books in the series. I am also a huge believer in phonics. I sound out everything with my child. Even if he can recognize the word CAT, I want him to be able to sound out the word as well. Leapfrog has many games with both the letter and the sound. Finally, Google 100 Most Commonly Used Words. Work with your child on those words. They are the building blocks of our language. My mom put little signs on everything around the house when I was a child. Your children might enough writing the word CUP with you and then taping it to a cup. Make it a game.

My son goes to school, but I'm also teaching him to read. Just because I'm not an educator doesn't mean I can't teach my child. I think it's kind of sad when we put ourselves down like that. As mothers, we are our children's primary teachers.

Sounds like they're pretty much on track really. Not all 5 yr olds read (and not reading at 5 is not necessarily an indicator of intelligence either). I think the best thing you can do is read, read, read with them. Some great books are the BOB books and there's also a series written by an author (Moncure?) that my son loves. Check with your local libraries. I've found them to be a wonderful resource. Check out any of your local learning-type stores. There's also some great games my son loves (Boggle Jr & Zingo) that help with word recognition. At this age, a lot of learning to read is repitition and memorization along with learning phonics. If you're looking for a curriculum, there's a link in this article that I found a while back. It's a link to the World Book website: http://www.magicalchildhood.com/articles/4yo.htm It's a great article too. There are some great homeschooling resources out there. You might look into the Five in a Row series. A lot of the books they use can be checked out of the library. it will also give you more confidence teaching your child. I've looked to a lot of these websites for ideas. I'm really amazed by all the great things some of these moms are doing! Good luck to you in your adventure.

my sons school had us doing this reading online thing during winter break check it out www.raz-kids.com

I think you need to join a homeschooling group in your area. You need a game plan and a curriculum. Good luck!

We used Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Lessons. I taught 3 of mine to read with it. You can go as fast or slow as you need.
Also I have Susan Wise Bauer's book The Well Trained Mind. It recommends all sorts of curriculums for homeschoolers.

In order to home school, most states require approval from your local district and give you a curriculum to follow. Children who are home schooled are tested by the school district periodically to make sure they are learning and acheiving basic benchmarks.
You said you didn't understand what fine motor skills are. That means the ability to perform tasks, such as writing, using the small muscles in the fingers and hands. At this age you children should be able to color neatly, write their own names, first and last, write all letters, capital and lower case, all numbers, and should be writing sentences on their own using many phonetically spelled words. They should know that sentences and names begin with capital letters, but the rest of the letters are lower case. They should be able to illustrate their sentences. The number sense needs to be developed. At this point they shold be able to identify numbers at least through twenty, count to 100, count specific groups of objects, estimate groups of objects, sort items, make patterns from shapes, toys, buttons, etc. They should know the names of all shapes.
As far as reading, you need to read stories to them daily...asking them to answer questions about the story when you finish (who, what happened when, where did the story take place, etc.) or stop the story at some point and ask them what will happen next. You are developing critical thinking and comprehension. Have them sound out words...give them a simple word like dog, isolate each letter have them give the sound, then blend the sounds to read the word. Build and memorize word families: cat, bat, hat,...... hen, pen, ten, etc. Get a sight word vocabulary from websites, libraries, etc. (from your district is best) use flashcards to practice a few at a time. Have them write sentences using sight words. ( for example a, see, I, the... using some of these words they can write " I see a cat." They should know that words are usually written with all lower case letters, a sentence starts with a capital letter, their names begin with capital letters, sentences end with periods (question marks, exclamation points). There is so much more they should be doing at this age. SHUT OFF the computer most of the time. You need to be working with your children at a table with paper, pencils, etc. Social skills need to be developed also...not just with siblings, but with outside friends. This is extremely important.
Kindergartens of today are the first grades of yesterday...most children are reading and adding and have a great base for learning through the grades.
Good luck!

Good for you for homeschooling. I think that could be a lot of fun. I'm guessing their are tons of resources out there, but I have found with my kids that the simple stuff is working great. My kids are 5 and 6. My 6 year old is a great reader and my 5 year old is a beginner reader. There is no one 'right' approach as far as I'm concerned. Reading, writing, playing games - all count.

Both our kids love to color/draw and one thing that I started after they knew their letters/sounds was to have them write the names of the items in their pictures. Let them sound it out and form the letters on their own without correcting the spelling errors. We play a game in the car where my 5 year old picks out words he knows from signs.

Labeling stuff around the house is tons of fun too - use sticky notes to put names on everything - mirror, bed, chair, clock, etc. Reading should be fun, and if kids struggle with it, that's ok too - just as long as they understand that they ARE reading when they recognize their own name/family members names, stop signs, etc. and that helps build confidence.

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I've also been teaching my 5 year to read. I can't remember how i learned either. I do remember in first grade those Dick andJJane books. I bought a few of them for my son and he hated them.
I would also buy some sight word flash cards. Now days the main focus is on learning phonics. In my day i think it was mostly memorization. Phonics teaches the child to sound out words that are unfamiliar which can make for a better reader. I'm not good at teaching phonics to where my son can understand. I believe it's mostly because I have a hard time breaking it down to his level of understanding . So, I have bought a few of the Leap Frog DVD's to watch with him and we pronouce the letters and words together. I think that the DVD's makes the phonic lessons a little less boriing for him and keeps his attention. But, the DVD's are just a supplement because we do buy and read lots of books.
I try to choose books with subjects my son is interested in and this makes him more focused on the words. He has started losing a few of his baby teeth so right now his favorite book is "Loose Tooth" by Ezra Jack Keats. It's the story of a little boy who loses his front tooth right before school picture day. We try to read at least two books a night and we take turns. I usually read one page and then he reads the next.
Hope this helps a little.
Good Luck!

Do not ignore the steps of learning to read. It's like learning to walk. They need to roll over first, then crawl, then take 1 step at a time...or they will not be good at walking and fall alot. The most important thing you can do is to READ TO THEM " EVERY DAY". Even as they get older. Before bed is a good time. I made it as much of a ritual as brushing their teeth before bed. Books should be a big part of their life at their age. Bring them to the library and let them pick out their own. Engage in conversation with them about the story. The first step is to learn what the pictures in the story are telling them. They will be able to tell the story in their own words by looking at the pictures. Get them a picture story book at the library. Let them learn to read at their own pace. Don't push them. They "will" get it with the more exposure they get. They enjoy swapping turns too. You read one word and they read another...or you read one page and they read the next. Do not correct their faults. Let them read what the picture says to them for starters. Writing is the same. They will learn to write words by how they sound to them. tabil (table). Encourage all of that. This is the first step. Enjoy your time with them and encourage all their efforts.
Best time of their lives, and yours.
S....mother or 4 children

they're five. they should be reading level 1 books by now. not to scare you but my kids are, their friends and peers are reading by now.
teach them letters. then teach them sounds, then teach them words that sound and read the same (cat, hat, map, mop, fun, grass, pass, fast). you should have a vocabulary of about 50 sight words, as you introduce more words you do more explaining (two e's make a long e, two os read as a u) etc).
but i have to tell you, even though my twins started kindergarten at age five, they were already reading level 1 and 2 books, and by december the other kids in their class were reading too.
so if i were you, i'd probably be not looking at homeschooling if you don't have some sort of curriculum developed for them.
reading aside, they should know how to write numbers to 20. then do simple addition. then recognize things like which group has fewer items which has more, count by twos etc.online websites are not the best way to start with all these. websites help when a child has acquired some sort of knowledge and then can do some practices online but not be taught from websites
EDIT: after reading your 'what happened next' i really do think you're missing the point of homeschooling, and that it is my opinion you got this whole thing wrong, and that your children should be going to school. you complain about shcools not having 'gifted' programs, but here you are trying to figure out how to teach your kids the basic stuff re: reading, which they should know by now.
teaching children is not about being there when they learn the first time, it's about keeping their hunger for knowledge ongoing. you're missing the train here, while you figure out what gross motor skills is.
also, teacher doesn't get to teach your kids much re: moral values. you do that at home. i can tell you're still confused, so instead of lashing back at people who offer opinions, you should read all of the posts carefully, and then if you still decide to go with homeschooling, then i suggest you start doing your research. by the time you figure out what's what, your kids will be way behind that not even no child left behind would be of much help.

N.,
While I think that homeschooling is a great option for some children ad some families I think that you must have a plan and some background knowledge of education. Now I am not saying that you need a masters in education to homeschool but you do need to do your homework first. It does not sound like you have much of a plan or a support network and it concerns me that you are planning to homeschool and you don't know what fine motor skills are (a major component of education for a 5 year old) and are referring to reading as "this reading thing". There are many curriculums available for families who want to homeschool and I suggest that you find one that seems to fit and then find other people in your area who are also homeschooling and can support you and your children.
I guess my other question is WHY did you decide to homeschool with so little knowledge of what you were going to need and how to accomplish it? Teaching is a tough job at home or in a classroom and I applaud those who do it either way with success.