This topic has come up a couple of times recently and I thought I'd blog about it. Every child is different so there is no perfect formula, but this is what has worked for Ashton and Landon.
1. I read to them a ton. They listen to books daily from the time they are infants and normally several times daily. We have books everywhere. They love to sit and look through the books during the day, at rest time and before they go to bed. Because they love to be read to, they've come to me and asked to learn to read.
2.I have them watch The Letter Factory DVD to learn their letters and sounds. We discuss letters and sounds also, and I may throw a few internet-printed worksheets at them with some letters on them also. Watching the video daily for a few weeks seems to teach them those letters and sounds wonderfully.
3. After learning their letters and sounds I start using Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. This book tells you exactly what to say and do with your child each day for 100 days to teach them to read at a second grade level. It takes about 10 minutes a lesson. At the end there is a writing section, but I do not do that part. I have tried other methods that involve lots of little pieces and songs, but it was too much for me to deal with. 100 Easy lessons is simple and to the point. If it's taking forever and super frustrating for the child, I'd say they're not ready and to wait a couple of months and try again. I do not like to induce burnout and hatred of learning in my children. I've found that waiting a couple months is much more beneficial than force fed learning to a child that is not ready. They can learn the same amount in 2 days when they are ready than they would have learned in that two months of waiting. I started 100 easy lessons when Landon was 3 and while he could do it, he just didn't have the maturity to sit there and focus. So we stopped and started again several months later. It was so much better!
4.Once they are started on their 100 EZ lessons and are starting to sound out 3 letter words, I get them Explode the Code book 1. These are phonics workbooks that really work! They are simple enough for my boys to do on their own for the most part and have really seemed to help them become good spellers. Landon is on book 3 now and Ashton is using book 4 1/2.
5. I like to use Bob books when they are sounding out some words. They love to be able to read real books! The NIrV bible is great for young readers. One of my favorite assignments I give to my kids is to have them read aloud to me the "Proverb of the day". So if it's the 15th, they read Proverbs chapter 15 to me. This is obviously for readers that are past the 3 letter word stage!
6. I continue to read books to them that are above their reading level to keep them interested in reading. I enjoy it and so do they.
All of this is very inexpensive. The 100 easy lessons can be reused for every child, as can the Letter Factory, NIrV bible and BOB books. The explode the code workbooks are only $6 at Rainbow Resource. I know there are a lot of people who don't use anything but plain books and paper to teach their children to read, but I needed some help! I hope this helps someone, too :)
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