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Are you just starting your homeschooling journey? We’re here to help! Begin with our Get Started in Homeschooling page and Homeschooling FAQ to make the transition smoother. If you’re guiding a young child, explore our How to Homeschool Kindergarten. to make those first steps special. For middle schoolers, don’t miss our Middle School page packed with tips and advice. And if you’re heading into the high school years, our Essential Steps to Homeschool High School will guide you every step of the way!

Show Notes:

Reading Readiness

Is my child ready to read?

One of the biggest factors and obstacles in teaching a child to read is their pre-reading skills and reading readiness. These skills are essential for reading development. Trying to teach a child who has not demonstrated a grasp of these skills and is not ready for the next step can lead to frustration and anxiety for both you and your child. It is also not developmentally appropriate. A child who is ready to start learning to read will be much easier to teach than one who is not, and sometimes it can be difficult to determine readiness.

Even the best reading program cannot instill an interest in reading. So, what are some of the pre-reading skills that are essential for reading readiness? Many of these skills will naturally and organically develop during the toddler and pre-K years. If you have a preschooler, be sure to check out our Preschool Page with free Routine Charts

Essential Pre-Reading Skills

• Rhyming: Rhyming is one of the first indicators of reading readiness because much of phonics instruction involves manipulating language, which is closely related to writing.
• Matching/Sorting Items, Colors, and Shapes: Children love to organize and sort things, so it’s great to include these activities in daily life and normal conversations. While there are plenty of toys you can buy for this, you can also use items around your house like kitchen containers, plastic plates, Tupperware with lids, socks, shoes, or even setting the table with colored cups and plates.
• Motor Skills: Developing motor skills is crucial. Activities like holding a pencil and drawing large shapes, making letters with a finger in a cake pan filled with rice, using a stick to write in the dirt, or using sidewalk chalk are all beneficial. Creating letter shapes with dough is another fun option. Remember, there are no rules that dictate you must use pencil and paper; these activities still teach the necessary skills.
• Book/Print Awareness: Your child should know how to handle a book properly. This means that when offered a book, they can find the cover and hold it right-side-up. They should understand that books are read from left to right and that we turn one page at a time. This knowledge often comes naturally from cuddling up on the couch while you read to them.
• Language Skills: Your child should be able to join in conversations and enjoy telling or retelling stories. Making up stories during pretend play or pretending to “read” a favorite book they’ve heard many times are also signs of readiness.

Signs of Reading Readiness

• Hearing Parts of Words: Your child can hear parts of words (like syllables) and sounds in words (like /c/ /a/ /t/ in cat). Phonological awareness (such as clapping and counting syllables) and phonemic awareness (like hearing each sound in a word) are essential for when they begin to look at letters and sound out words.
• Understanding Text Has Meaning: Your child understands that text has meaning and that the purpose of reading is to gain information. For example, if a child sees his name written out, he understands that name refers to him, not anything else.
• Reciting the Alphabet: Whether it’s singing the ABC song or just saying each letter from memory, knowing the alphabet is an important step toward reading readiness.
• Identifying Letters: Your child can identify and name some or all uppercase and lowercase letters. This is important because individual letters make up words to be read and written. They don’t need to know all of them but should see the differences.
• Letter-Sound Correspondence: Your child can correspond some or all letters to their correct sounds. This skill is necessary for decoding, which is the act of sounding out words.
• Echoing Simple Text: Your child can echo a simple text that is read to them, demonstrating an understanding of one-to-one correspondence in reading. This means that each word on a page corresponds to a word that is read.

Other Developmental Signs

• Social Development: Social development is important for reading because children need to know how to take turns, cooperate, and develop self-control before learning to read. Much of reading instruction involves activities and discussions where these skills are essential.
• Emotional Development: Before learning to read, children need to have a good self-concept and an understanding of how they fit into their world.
• Physical Development: Children need to have strong bodies that can support sitting, as this is often the preferred position for reading a book. They also need to have the fine motor skills necessary for writing and turning pages.
• Cognitive Development: For reading readiness, children need to have the cognitive ability to visually and auditorily discriminate between letter shapes and sounds. Visual discrimination involves recognizing similarities and differences among letters, such as distinguishing between L and T, a and o, or 6 and 9. Auditory discrimination means that a child can hear the difference between sounds like /f/ and /v/, or the ending sounds in words like ‘cap’ and ‘cat’.

What Curriculum Should I Use?

Before we jump into curriculum options, let’s talk about the importance of being read to. As we discussed in another episode, reading to children is the single biggest predictor of high academic achievement and high ACT scores. A study from Ohio State University highlights the profound effects of reading on child development, showing that children who are read to in the first five years of life have a 1.4-million-word advantage over children who are not read to at home.

There is no ideal age range for reading aloud to your children, and there is no end range. Many families still enjoy read-aloud time with high schoolers and college students. “The Read-Aloud Handbook” by Jim Trelease discusses the benefits of reading aloud and offers great book suggestions for every age range.

Benefits From Reading Together and Reading Aloud:

• Vocabulary
• Language patterns
• Thinking skills
• Writing skills
• Encourages independent reading
• Bonding time
• Problem solving
• Concentration
• Memory work
• Moral lessons and life skills

It’s not only about instruction; it is essential that your children learn to ENJOY THE STORY. Reading is challenging, and you don’t want to make it harder for them. Help them understand the reason for reading. Here are seven strategies for getting the most out of your read-alouds. 7 Strategies for getting the most out of your read alouds.

Back to curriculum…

When choosing a curriculum, consider these Six important factors:

1. Understand the reading program parts. It should have at least two parts, but ideally will cover phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension.  These components work together to create reading abilities.

2. Knowing the names of ALL the letters is not necessary.

3. Teach the sound the consonant represents; begin with the short sound for vowels.

4. Introduce consonants and vowels in a strategic order so a child reads sooner than later. Do not introduce letters in ABC order. 

5. Multiple letter sounds should be introduced at one time.

6. Search play vs. structured teaching approach for PreK and Kindergarten levels.

Teach Your Child to read in 100 Easy Lessons is a popular program. Critics say it can be dry or boring.  It also has a writing component and if you have a resistant writer, this can be a struggle, but you can skip the writing part, and you can also move on rather than cover it repetitively, if you feel you’ve mastered a concept.  It is totally ok to use curriculum as a guide and use the parts that work for you.  Don’t be afraid to adjust things like this.

Sometimes a child needs more phonics mastery after a reading program. Here are some to consider:

Phonics Pathways

Explode the Code– This program is silly and fun and the kids really liked it- it’s probably the only workbook they would do!

All About Reading

The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading

Logic of English

Language Lessons for Little Ones by Sandy Queen an informal introduction to language arts with a Charlotte Mason flavor for preschool students.  

Your reading curriculum may have a follow up book list or recommendations for what complements their program or what they suggest students read next.

early reader recommendations

Mo Willems Elephant and Piggie Series

Dick and Jane

MCGuffey Primer Reader

Dr. Suess Beginner Collection – perfect for rhyming fun!

Bob books

Leveled readers may also be something kids like to start with and progress through. (I can read series and I can read it series).  Your library probably has these books sectioned off in the children’s area and can be fun for kids to pick their own. Graphic novels-there are always internet arguments about whether graphic novels are really “reading.” Of course, they are! Anything that gets your child’s interest and helps them practice their newfound skill has value.  Many students have strengthened reading skills with comics like Calvin and Hobbs or the Far Side.

We are both Charlotte Mason style homeschoolers and this philosophy takes issue with what we call “Twaddle.”  The idea is that it is easy to find books that appeal to the eyes- lots of pictures, short sentence snippets, lots of action but not a lot of substance.  These books are entertaining but offer little substance and don’t require a lot of effort. Often parents think this is what young children need, but the Charlotte Mason approach would say this is not how you strengthen the mind and the imagination. We know kids have great imaginations because we can see it in their play and their drawings, and the stories they tell us.  When we give them less of a prefabricated story and idea and picture, they illustrate the rest in their mind.  So rather than giving them easy, thoughtless books, challenge them with quality, living books that will make them paint pictures in their own mind and words and strengthen their mind’s eye. We don’t need to spoon feed every scene of a story. Visual overload can squelch imagination rather than strengthen it.  

How do you do this without feeling like you are dictating your kids every reading move? Easy- when you go to the library, let them pick the things they want while also picking your own choices.  Fill your bookshelves at home with quality books.  Mix them all in.

Many find reading really takes off when you find that child’s “currency.”  Maybe a popular series that they hear people talk about often, or perhaps they want to teach themselves something.  A video game with lots of text may encourage reading- Animal Crossing was a game that encourages young readers if they want to play.

Best games for Learning How to Read

Hands-on, play based learning, especially for young children, is one of the best ways to learn.  So incorporating games and play into your reading instruction is going to be very helpful.  A really fun reading game is the app and computer game, Teach Your Monster to Read. This is a great option if you are looking for a free web-based reading game for kids.

This program has a bunch of fun reading games and built-in rewards to encourage your child to read and improve reading skills over 3 levels. They have both web browser-based and an app-based options. 

Peggy Kaye’s books are great options.  They had fun activities like this driveway chalk hopscotch game with letters, for instance.  They aren’t necessarily things you would do every day, but fun to break up a program when it gets boring, or if you are struggling and needed to do a walk away. Games for Reading– Playful Ways to help your child read. 

Webkinz

Sequence Letters is a great board game for teaching both the letters and the sounds they make. It’s a great way to teach early phonics skills in a an interactive way and it’s a good way to include your preschooler in family game nights. 

Reading Eggs and Starfall are excellent app programs for teaching children to read. When Starfall first launched, it was a free website designed to create a fun environment for children learning to read. Since then, it has evolved into a comprehensive program offering pre-K, kindergarten, first-grade, and second-grade curricula, with both paid and free options. Starfall is packed with great free online games for teaching your child to read. It is web-based and also has an app, making it a great option if you need to use screen time while on the go.

Tall Tails is a game that can boost your child’s literacy skills by encouraging them to build a creative story. This game is perfect for the entire family to play together, each adding the next twist to the tall tale. 

Scrabble Junior is letter-matching fun for your little one. It’s a great way for teaching sight words. On a more basic level, you can just hide the tiles around a room and then have kids identify the letter or sounds and make words. You can also do this with Bananagrams.

Karaoke– music is infectious! and children can’t help to watch the words dance by while they sing along. 

Reading games are fun and simple to do

These fun hands-on reading games can be incorporated into your homeschool life and the activities you are already doing:

• Rhyming Games: Make up jingles with different rhyming words.
• Making Silly Rhymes: Change words in rhymes, poems, songs, or short stories and see if your child can find out what you changed. For example, “Happy Birthday to shrews…”
• Listening Games: Ask your child to close their eyes and identify various sounds (e.g., crumpling packaging, tapping with drumsticks, footsteps, opening a door, eating something crunchy). You can also create a sequence of sounds and have them remember the order.
• Play “I Spy”: List objects you can see that start with certain sounds.
• Take Out Sounds in Words: See if your child can identify what is wrong when you alter a word, such as saying, “Can you grab me a ‘flice’ of bread?”
• Clap Syllables: Clap out the syllables in names, words, songs, and poems. Music is a wonderful way to engage young students.
• Stamp or Dance to Poems and Songs: Encourage your child to stamp their foot or dance to the rhythm of poems and songs.
• Alliteration: Make silly sentences with similar sounds about everyday objects, like “Sing a song with the sleepy sister.”
• Play Bingo or Memory: Use flashcards showing capital letters, and have your child find the matching lowercase letter or sight word.
• Library Story Time: Attend library story time sessions. Librarians can also help you find great books.
• Sing the Alphabet Song: Sing the alphabet song while pointing out both capital and lowercase letters.

There are many choices and pathways for teaching your child to read, and it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Take your time, be patient, and be willing to walk away for a little while if things get difficult. It’s crucial not to spend too much time trying to teach something to a preschooler that you could explain in five minutes to a second grader. Sometimes waiting for readiness makes all the difference, and stepping back for a bit can give your child the extra maturity needed to grasp a concept. It may seem counterintuitive, but it really works! Trust the process. You’ve got this!

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