Comments on: What is the best way to teach your child to read?

By: Lisa K

Lisa K — Sat, 23 Aug 2014 09:37:22 +0000

I somewhat disagree with this article. I think that there needs to be a balance between children learning phonics skills (breaking words down into fragments), memorization of sight words and the “whole language” method of learning to read, which is what this writer essentially is describing that she supports instead of decoding/phonics skills. I find it interesting to read her list of “her approach” to teaching her child to read basically states that she will read the books to her child, instead of her child actually reading them. While reading books to your child is a perfect way to teach them to learn to comprehend the written word, to develop their vocabulary and many other skills, it does not actually teach them to read by themselves. Although teaching them the rules of decoding may be boring, it is a necessary part of learning how to read. There needs to be a balance between both. You must learn the decoding rules to read, but you also must learn to comprehend what you read to enjoy it and want to read more. Learning to read requires both. Today’s public is putting much more emphasis on “reading for fun”, which means that people will try to tell you to scrap the “old way” of learning phonics. Some things are tried and true because someone else back in the “old days” tried everything and realized that it really was the way to do it.

By: Rachel@ {i love} my disorganized life

Rachel@ {i love} my disorganized life — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 18:52:13 +0000

I love the steps you’re taking to help your kids not only learn to read, but to love reading as well!

By: Katelyn Fagan

Katelyn Fagan — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 02:12:24 +0000

In reply to Carrie. Thanks for your input Carrie. I've heard a lot about the Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. I might have to pick up a copy. One of my daughters certainly seems very ready for more formal instruction, so I don't know. Maybe I should just try it. Thanks.

By: Carrie

Carrie — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 01:21:43 +0000

I am a special education teacher and I have 2 girls, ages 6 and 3. My 6 year old currently reads orally at the 4th grade level, her true reading level (oral reading and comprehension level) is likely around grade 2 or 3. We have read to her frequently from day one and around age 4 she started sight word reading and I am not a fan of sole sight word readers. I wanted her to learn the rules of decoding words and not to memorize every word. Although I was not a fan of the program when I has to use it in my classroom (now work part time in early intervention) but I purchased a smaller version of the SRAs DISTAR reading program. It was called Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons. It does throw in comprehension. I loved it for her but it is not for every kid. Obviously it was successful for us. It was cheap, easy, self explanatory and she actually enjoyed it. She does read for fun now, magic tree house is her favorite. My 3 year old will not be an early reader, yes I know that already. Unlike my oldest, she has no interest in exploring letters or pointing out words in books. We read to her ALOT. I mean we fill up our 31 bag full of library books on a Monday and by Monday evening those books have been read twice! But play is most important in her mind and quite frankly I am 100% for that. I know that reading to your child is necessary and it will help them with reading but I also strongly feel that for most children, they need some direct instruction to help them read. I do not feel it needs to be done before they reach school age. It only needs to be rushed if the child is rushed, my daughter wanted to read early. I was there to help!

By: Shelly

Shelly — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 17:26:56 +0000

I completely agree with your approach. I just wrote about this here
http://redheadmom8.wordpress.com/2014/03/12/my-hands-off-approach-to-teaching-reading/ if you’re interested. Btw, I came from the Anything Goes linkup!

By: Angela @ Joy Focused Learning

Angela @ Joy Focused Learning — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 15:09:39 +0000

This is very interesting to me. We used a simple phonics based program with my daughter when she was small. We also read her a variety of books during that time, not just easy readers. We love to read chapter books together like Charlotte’s Web. She is an avid reader and seems to be her happiest cuddled up on the couch with a stack of books. I definitely agree that even at young ages you should be reading quality books to your children.

I featured this post at this week’s Anything Goes link-up.

By: Amber @ Fit, Foodie Runs

Amber @ Fit, Foodie Runs — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 11:23:12 +0000

Love these tips! Added it to my favorite post of the week! Thanks for joining Anything Goes linky!

By: Lisa

Lisa — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 14:10:42 +0000

I earned my master’s in elementary reading and literacy, and know many of the “strategies” used in public schooling to get kids to read. And you know what? I discarded almost all of them when it came to teaching my own kids. I enjoyed reading your post.

I do believe that familiarity with the alphabet is a huge predictor in reading success and enjoyment, and so from the time they are very young, we are singing the alphabet song, playing ABC games in the car, and using foam letter mats to build castles and just introduce the kids to the letters.

We listen to books on tape when we go in the car, we read aloud scriptures every morning, and from a Bible devotional every evening. My husband and I both model reading for them. This exposure has helped them to embrace reading as a preferred pastime.

By: Katelyn Fagan

Katelyn Fagan — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 12:12:37 +0000

In reply to The Monko. Thank you! Someone else after this post mentioned Waldorf, and I had no idea what it was, so thank you for sharing a bit about that philosophy. I'll have to look more into, as I am homeschooling.

By: Katelyn Fagan

Katelyn Fagan — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 12:04:01 +0000

In reply to April. We've used some Leap Frog DVDs to help with letter sounds, recognition, numbers, and other things. I think it's smart to entertain with knowledge. And your daughter sounds adorable. And it generally sounds like you are doing a great job teaching her how to read and to love reading. Go Mom!

By: The Monko

The Monko — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 21:16:37 +0000

This is so interesting. My son isn’t quite ready to start the reading journey, he’s 4.5 years old and only just starting to recognise letters. We read a lot to him and what we tend to read are fact books because thats what he is interested in. I have often thought – how will be bridge the gap between the interesting content of the books that we read him, and the boring simple stuff he will need to read when he is learning. So your post really struck home with me.
Have you come across the Waldorf/Steiner philosophy on reading, that you don;t start teaching until about 7 years old, but before then you fill the child with stories and read to them and get them to love words and vocabulary, so that when they are ready they will pick it all up so much faster. This approach resonates with me, but as we will be sending our son to a regular school we won’t have the luxury of allowing him to wait – if you are homeschooling maybe you should look into this option a bit more.

By: April

April — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 19:15:44 +0000

I’m in the middle of figuring all of this out for myself. I use anything at my disposable. I have DVDs that are extremely repetitive that helps with basic information like letters, numbers, and colors. My daughter recognizes most letters, numbers from 1-10 and quite a few of her colors. I also don’t know that’s lazy parenting. She also thinks a heart is called “I love you”… because that’s on the balloon that’s shaped like a heart. I also read to my daughter. We don’t have many of the typical children’s books, yet, I read what I have. Not a lot of pictures, but it gets the job done. Then we also have storytelling time… where they can make their own stories. I correct for sense… I will stop the story to see if the next thing makes sense. And if it does, then they keep going. It’s been fun. I don’t know what’s best. I don’t think my daughter is a genius. I just try to push her a little farther than I did the day before and hopefully she’ll find a love of reading. Granted, my husband never read a book cover to cover until he graduated from engineering school, so sometimes I wonder, what’s the point?

By: Sandy @ Being Content Where We Are

Sandy @ Being Content Where We Are — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 18:26:33 +0000

I too want my son to be someone who loves to read and i try to make sure he sees me reading often. I have no doubt that you will have no trouble teaching your kiddos to love it too.

By: Sandy

Sandy — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 17:56:05 +0000

I read books to my 2 children from the time they were babies. Child #1 pretty much taught herself to read before she was in kindergarten, which surprised the heck out of her teacher! Child #2 was not an early reader, partly because her sister read to her and she didn’t bother to learn! However, both kids are now grown. The non-early reader has her doctorate and the other has a master’s. Both work at jobs they love.

By: Jennifer-Mommy Life After Ph.D.

Jennifer-Mommy Life After Ph.D. — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 21:40:11 +0000

Love this post since we are in the middle of this right now with a kindergartner. Your list is spot on. I just try to treat him like a learning human being and not baby him by dumbing down my own verbal language with my kids. If they don’t understand a word I use, we write it down, sound it out, and talk about synonyms. I think that basic approach is very helpful and will benefit them later on too! Thanks for sharing!!