One of the most frustrated & REWARDING parts of homeschooling, is teaching your child how to read. Check out my video teaching your Early Reader here.
Here are principles we apply at our house:
Be supportive
When a child sits along side his/her parent and starts to bring small words to life by recalling all of the hard work they've done on letter sounds. Those first moments together with their first reading book are glorious!
...now it's 1 month later and Mom's pulling out her hair because even though the word "had" was on the last two pages, her little one is still sounding out each letter carefully "Hu...a...ha...du...haddu...had..." These can be frustratingly redundant times. A month ago the child blew us away with starting quickly, and now they're skills are dragging...or ...so we think.
• Be their cheerleader! Cheer them on for every word or even sound they say correctly.
• Reward! Give them a big hug before and after reading time, always high-5, or maybe even break out the sticker chart (...and M&M's...shhh)
• Help! Don't spend your whole time correcting them or making them do every word on their own. Count to 5 in your head and give them the word or sound they need & move on.
Short & Sweet
Being overwhelmed squashes the fun. Keep reading time short and sweet.
• Set a standard. Make your reading for the day doable. Make it 1 book, 2 pages, set a time limit or whatever is attainable. If you're going through a struggling period, less is more.
• End with Success. Always aim to end on a good note. Reading isn't fun anymore if you read until your sick of it. Don't read book #2, even if your child is willing, if they're not going to finish it smiling.
Get out of the rut & make reading fun again!
What am I using? Check out my YouTube video on our pre-k & kindergarten reading material.