Seeking Other Homeschool Moms

Hi C..

I homeschool my two boys (7 and 11). I love to read and they both tell other people they love to read, but it is like pulling teath to get them to read.

I read to them a lot. They love that. I also let them pick books they are interested in (Star Wars for my older son, animal books for my younger one.) They always complain at first, but once they get into the story, they really like it.

One thing that helped my older son was to give him a lot of books that were well below his expected reading ability. He could read those fast and feel proud of himself. He read some of them over and over, and even read to his younger brother. His reading ability improved greatly. That made him feel good about himself and eventually he felt better about reading books at his grade level. You don't have to have her read at grade level, by the way. Since you are homeschooling, that is up to you. I did the same thing with my younger son, having him read "Bob Books" over and over until he felt like he was an excellent reader. Then he wanted to prove it by reading harder books.

What we do now is read all together. We pick a book that both boys are interested in and I read a page, then pass the book to one of the boys to read a page, and we just keep passing (reading aloud.) I don't know if you read the Bible, but the Psalms are a great place to co-read like that since there are many short verses and we can pass it back and forth quickly. You can choose to read a whole page each, or one paragraph, etc.

Also remember that some kids just don't get into reading until they are older. I hated reading all through school and learned to love it once I was out of high school and able to read the novels I wanted instead of what was given to me at school. Give her time and lots of choices. She'll do great!

C.,
I am in the process of teaching my 5 year old how to read. She is a perfectionist so it's a little frustrating to her when she doesn't "get it" right off the bat. We have started with the Hooked on Phonics lessons and she is loving it. We tell her that she will be able to read all of her own books anytime when she learns to read on her own. That excites her. She asks me everyday, is it time to do school? That program is alot of fun for them. Hope that helps!
T.

Hi C.,
Although I'm not a homeschooler, I am a stay home mom. I have a 16 year old and a 6 year old. Both my boys at age 5 or 6 had trouble being interested in reading. What I did, was took them to the library every week for story time. It gave them an outing as well as seeing other children their age interested in hearing stories. Afterwards, I would let them look at books in their reading section that interested them. I find with my 6 year old now, that he lacked confidence in his reading skills. I read to him every night and point to the words that are his level and let him try to read it and help him sound it out. Each time he gets one right, I get all excited and hug him and tell him "see you can read." The public school has a list of words he should know by the end of the school year. We go over the list a few times a week. For every word he has trouble with or doesn't know, we put a small pencil mark by it. We say the word 3 times slowly and spell it 3 times slowly. The next time we go over the list, he gets to hold the pencil with the eraser end ready, because if he knows the marked word, he gets to erase the mark. He loves to erase the mark and prove to me that he knows the word now. I find him reading the channel guide on TV and telling me what's coming on next. I hope these few tips help. Good luck.

Hi C.!

While not a homeschooling Mom, I was homeschooled as a child and hope that what i have to say is relevant to your situation.

One of the biggest things you can do to interest your child in reading is to read to her. Sit in a comfy place, pull a blanket over you, and read books about things that interest her. Build a blanket fort, break out the flashlight, and read in the dark. Read in the bathtub. Read while hanging upside down. Let her see how much fun reading is, that it is a SOCIAL endeavor, and that reading = special time with mom.

Also, let her catch you reading. You are her role model, and she will copy everything you do. If reading is a chore for you, she won't want to do it either.

Pay attention to your TV time. In our house, the kids watch one feature length film on Friday night, and one on Saturday night, and that's it. We grown ups don't watch TV and the kids don't either. It's easier to motivate reading when television isn't an option, because one of the joys of reading is picturing the story in your head. TV does that for you. You don't have to use your imagination when you watch tv. Imagination is sort of like a muscle: use it or lose it.

Don't push your daughter on her own reading skills too much yet either. Like everything else, she'll know when she's ready for it, so take your time. Encourage her to help you make grocery lists, and make alot of your own books centering around your daughter's art or her routines. This will help her see the value of reading and will make it something she WANTS to do.

Good luck!

Hope this helps!

Hi C.. I'm the homeschooling mom to six kids. Two were early readers, one was a late reader and we are still waiting to find out about the last three. My one preschooler has no clue and could careless about even learning her letters so it looks like it might be awhile.

Unless you are enrolled in a charter school that is pushing it, I wouldn't worry about it. Read to her often, get books on tape, provide easy readers for her and let her figure it out at her own pace. If you want to try a curriculum, the best one I have found is The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading. I got it at Barnes & Noble for about $20 I think. It's worth it.

Hi C.,
I have homeschooled my two children since kindergarten. They are now 3rd and 5th grade. My 3rd grader was a slow reader and found reading frustrating. So, she always said she hated reading. I read to her often and we talked about the stories afterward to show her what we learned from what we read. I also let her pick out what we read so they fit her interests. I also got her a childs magazine subscription so she could read smaller articles. I built her confidence by giving her books that were a little below her reading level. Now, she reads wonderfully and one of her favorite activities is going to the library. Stick with it and be patient and hopefully she will come around.

Hi, I have 3 children 2, 5, 8 and am homeschooling the older 2. My son had no interest in reading/ books, in fact hated reading, until this year. We have at least 1 hundred + kids books in our home, but none were his absolute favorite subjects (star wars, transformers, knights, etc.). I recently enrolled in a charter school - we LOVE it. We get an allowance every semester for school/educational stuff and the kids love to go to Borders and pick up 10 - 20 books at a time. All of a sudden my son is interested in reading because he gets to picks out all his favorite stuff. And now I don't have to force him to read. He'll call his 2 siblings and get all their favorite books and read to them for 30min. or so. This charter school has really changed our homeschooling experience for the better - its our 3rd year to homeschool.