Probably the most intimidating part of homeschool for me is teaching my child to read. Reading is the one skill that my children will need for the rest of their lives. Every other thing I teach them pivots on their ability to read. Talking about PRESSURE!
But, I am not the only one dealing with issues. Franc was apprehensive about reading. He made a valid point… it is much easier to have someone read to you than to read it for yourself. Wait… what? No, sir. That attitude will not fly in this house, but how do you teach someone who is a bit resistant?
Take it one step at a time.
Step One ~ Find something they love and use that to teach them.
For Franc, his thing is Mario. So, when I found these Mario word family printables, I built everything else around that.
I invited Mario to school and together, we helped Fran work on blending. Who knew that Mario would be such an awesome tutor? He climbed up that pipe like a pro with Fran creating words and reading.
Step Two ~ Build on what they know
Once Franc was starting to feel excited with his accomplishments and was having fun, I was able to introduce some other manipulatives, like letter tiles and flash cards.
These flashcards came from the Dollar Spot at Target and the tiles are from Scrabble Alphabet Scoop
We made our own rules for this word building game. If you built a word, you had to read the word. The flashcards served as our guide. Simple.
Step Three ~ Invest in simple books
As Franc grew in confidence, I introduced him to Bob Books, Set 1: Beginning Readers
“I can read those!” he yelled and ran and jumped into my lap.
Why was I ever afraid?
What tips can you share with me for teaching a child to read?
Working with word families (like you are doing) is an excellent way to learn to read but I would also suggest working on other phonics skills. “Old” Hooked on Phonics kits are great for this & a whole lot cheapter than the newer versions. Plus there are some great daily phonics practice books from Evan-Moor. While working on phonics & word families, start to build a set of sight words. Then you can play sight words bingo or scrabble junior. Or there is this great game from Whole Brain teaching called Super Speed 100 (and then there’s also a Super Speed 1000 I believe.)
This is what I have used to help my reluctant readers & I teach middle school aged special education students. They are probably some of the most reluctant students ever but this is working for them.
Hope this helps! 🙂
Great idea on the older Hooked on Phonics kits. We have one somewhere. LOL I have not heard of the Super Speed game. Going to check that out. Thank you!
THANK YOU for the link to the Mario word ladders! My 5yo will LOVE those! 🙂 I am so excited to start using them.
It’s our first year homeschooling (my oldest did kdg-2nd in our parish school), but so far 100 Easy Lessons is working very well for my 5yo. We’re currently on Lesson 69, and I can say that I wish I had done it with my oldest.
I have heard great things about that book. I am so glad your Mario-lover will enjoy his pipes. They are a huge hit here. 🙂
Awesome! It’s so cool that you guys used (and enjoyed) our Word Pipes! 🙂
My kids LOVE them!