I use to homeschool.... I did it for 4 years.
I loved it.
I always said that I would follow the Lord each school year to whether they should be put into a school or if I should still homeschool them.
This was the year that they were to go to school.
I miss them... I miss homeschooling... maybe someday again.
Anyway.... I have things that have helped me and I want to share them with you.... homeschoolers or not. And reading is at the top of many parents list of things they want their child to learn.
So here is what has helped me teach 3 boys {so far} how to read.
There are different views on when to teach reading is best but it is definitely put as
something that is important.
There are so many different programs to choose from and different ways
to approach reading. So many different methods and ways to entice
different learners.
For us I wait until each boys tells me that they want to learn how to
read and we start there. I have one child who really took his time and
was a slow reader, I have one who taught himself to read, and one that
used a reading program.
But they all took off and have become really good readers once they
started reading the scriptures. We have always done family scripture
reading, so this wasn't a new thing but as the boys got more interested
in reading we would hand them the scriptures and have them read out
loud.
For hundreds of years children have been learning to read out of the
scriptures. There were no fancy programs to access a reading level, no
stars to mark off, and no nonsense words to try to navigate. Now a days
there is so much to choose from it can be a hard choice to know what is
right.
Back Story....
When Steve was at DLI in California {Language school for the military} our
Stake President for the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
told all the soldiers that if they read the Scriptures in their
designated language that they were to learn for the military, that they
would learn it faster. I watched many men go from struggling in a
language to passing and even excelling by following that counsel.
Fast forward to today.... I still feel that the counsel that was give
still applies... only we are not learning a foreign language in our
house {yet} we are just trying to read English.
Even before they know how to read they are with us for scripture reading. And when they are young and parrot like I'll read a verse 3 or 4 words at a time and have them parrot back what I have read. Again they are learning the words and phases of the scriptures even before they are capable of reading.
Once each of the boys had a basic grasp of reading, they would each pick
up the scriptures and there reading skills would take off. I know the
comprehension is not all the way there, I mean it's the word of God and
not Dr. Seuss. But they are able to understand the basic stories and are
learning who the prophets are. They are reading something that is worth
wild and will help them grow and learn. Sometime I sit with them and
have them read to me, other times it is on their own.
If you have a struggling reader it might seem like to big of a challenge
to bring out the Scriptures when they are having a hard time on "easy"
words but I know that they will do well with it. So many of the words in
the scriptures repeat themselves that soon your child will start to
recognize what it is. {think... "And it came to pass" "Savior" "Lord"
"pray" ect.} And honestly... these are words that I want my children to
be familiar with.
What have you done to help your child or children to read.
I love how intense he is watching the caterpillar, and his expression says so much.
