How I Taught My Son to Read

As a homeschooling Mama- no task seemed so great, no obstacle more large then the dreaded one of teaching your child to read.  Seriously, how does one teach someone how to read? How?? I was really stumped on this one.  My smart 6 year old was entering 1st Grade and I thought- for sure, this is the year! He's going to learn to read!  Ha!  Was I wrong!

First, we used super, super easy readers from Barron's Reader's Clubhouse.  They were a gift given to William from a wonderful friend and included all the books in all 3 levels.  Exhausting- but a great starter and sadly, I would recommend them.  Perfect for the kid who is not quite ready for Scholastic level 1.  Click here  to order from Amazon if you so choose.  Let's face it though- they are no literary works of art.  In fact, I'm pretty sure Lucky Dog & Buddy Boy could read these things!  Dan the Ant...Dan the Ant likes to eat.  Dan the Ant likes to eat food.  Oh, Dan-what silly antics you have in pursuit of your yummy snack.  And let's not forget, Nick is Sick, Parade Day and Joe Boat.  What masterpieces await you!

William mastered that playful and silly Dan the Ant.  Level 1- done.  Gah only 2 more to go!  Over the course of the entire school year, William read each book in these simple readers, slowly and painfully moving ahead to the next level.  Until finally one day, level 3 wasn't as difficult.  He was ready for....wait for it...wait for it.....Scholastic Level 1.  Ugh, back at Level 1.  Again.  Parents, let me just tell you that teaching your child to read is by far, the most gruelling, patience testing process ever invented.  During that year, I pushed and I pushed. If I could will my child to learn to read- I was that determined.  I exercised more patience then I thought possible & engaged in a fierce battle of wits with William.  The more I wanted him to read, the more he fought me.

So it should come as no surprise that by summer time, we had both had enough.  I said- I give up.  I give up! There you have it, I confess....I totally gave up.  For a while that is & so we decided to take the summer off.  It was blissful, it was calm & it eventually had to come to an end.  By the time August rolled around, I was making myself crazy trying to figure out what in the world I was going to do.  I could NOT have a 2nd grader who couldn't read! Surely that would make me the World's Worst Homeschooling Mom, right?  I'm mean really- there has got to be a judge and jury just waiting in the wings to convict me of my crimes against homeschooling.  No?  Hmmm...maybe not.  So back to the month of August-  I did something I'm not entirely proud of, although it was a genius idea. <Insert evil laugh here>  I said, "William, you know you're entering 2nd grade and all your friends will know how to read.  Don't you want to know how to read to?"  Ohh- I did it, I totally guilted my child into learning to read.  If that doesn't make me win the title of World's Worst Mom, I don't know what will.  Eh- who cares.  I did what I had to and it worked.

If was after that, that William decided he was finally ready to become a reader.  I thought perhaps we should take on a different approach then before in the hopes that this might do the trick.  Each day, William sat down for 20 minutes in any book of his choice (although I made sure to have plenty readers available) and he read quietly.  The first week I stayed close by and was on hand to answer all his questions.  "Mom, what does a-n-d spell? T-h-i-n-g-s? How about d-o-o-r?" And on and on it went.  Grueling.  Exhausting.  Endless.  But you know what- with each week, he asked me less and less.  And then a funny thing happened, he just started reading.  All by himself.  He did it!! I did it!! WE DID IT!!!!!!!!  My son was now a reader!  Oh thank the heavens! Break out the happy dance, I don't totally suck at this homeschooling business!

Now I look back on the last year and can't believe that he's only been reading on his own for just one year.  He's come so far and it's truly amazing to think- we did this.  William and I- we freaking killed it!  Learn to read? Challenge Accepted.  Challenge Concurred.  You'll notice I say that we did it.  I tried my very best, but it wasn't until William decided that he was ready, that everything finally clicked.  I trusted him and I gave him the freedom to accomplish this task.  Imagine what would have happened if I kept pushing him?  Nothing pleasant I can tell you that!


William reading for FUN!

I've been blessed with a boy who loves to read.  His current favorites are the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, he's finished book #6 and we need to go buy #7.  There were rumors of more books in the series- so he's pumped about that.  He also likes  The Boxcar Children series and anything about Lego.  He's signed up for the free Lego magazine and devours that each time it arrives in the mailbox.  He also just started reading Harry Potter- a little advanced for him but I'm happy he's reaching & pushing himself.  William continues to read quietly each day, except now he's up to 40 minutes per day and next Fall, we will increase that to 60 minutes each day.  I could NOT have imagined a better outcome then this and I'm so proud of both of us.

This is how I taught my son to read.  You Go Homeschooling Mama- you got this!