How to Get Your Kids Engaged With Reading

In this podcast episode, the host discusses different approaches to teaching reading in homeschooling. She recommends using a phonetics-based learning approach, like Montessori, which focuses on teaching letter sounds rather than names. She suggests using sandpaper letters and writing in the sand as a hands-on way to engage children with letters. The host also recommends using the Primary Phonics book series for teaching two-letter and three-letter words. She mentions that these books can be used with workbooks and can be adapted for additional activities like coloring and writing sentences. The host briefly mentions The Good and The Beautiful curriculum as another option, particularly for visual learners. She emphasizes the importance of reading to children daily and suggests incorporating sight words, although she acknowledges that sight words may not align with the phonetic approach. The host encourages parents to be patient and not rush their child's reading development, focusing i Welcome, welcome, welcome everyone! So glad to have you here with me on the Ultimate Homeschool Community Podcast. I'm your host, Tiffany Hernandez, and today we are going to be talking about reading. I have been getting a few questions from some of our earlier homeschool students. That's Janiyah in the background, you know him. So we are going to unpack some questions about reading curriculum, how to share with your children to get them interested in reading, and what kind of things you can do to benefit them in wanting to read and learning to read. Just to get started here, we are not affiliated with anything that I talk about today. This is just solely our opinion, and I don't have anybody that's advertising with us. So just know, you know, I'm not getting paid to tell you this, okay? The way that we started was with our Montessori school, and they are a phonetics-based learning approach for reading. So they do not teach A, B, C, D. They teach A, B, C, D. They teach the sounds and not the names. Help them to better understand how we're actually going to be using the letters. It's better to start teaching them the sounds. So if you have already taught your child the A, B, C song, it's okay. They can still learn the letter sounds. Children are like sponges, and you can't go wrong, all right? But just know if you haven't started teaching any letter names yet, I highly suggest you start teaching them the letter sounds. The other thing that Montessori is really great is that they have a way that they start writing. So reading and writing really go together, and that's how it should be. The way that they do that is with sandpaper letters and writing in the sand, and that is really very, very early on a way to get them engaging with the letters that they'll be using without having to use a pencil. You can look up Montessori sandpaper letters. They're, depending on the price, you can also make them yourself. However, I will say they are time-consuming to make, but they are a beneficial piece of equipment that you can use for many, many, many lessons. So once you start teaching them the letter sounds and they start putting things together, then you can start your two-letter and three-letter words. We used a book that was actually used in the Montessori classroom that my children were a part of, and it's called Primary Phonics by Educators Publishing Services, and those books are great because they start to build from short vowel sounds to long vowel sounds to blends and then, you know, silent e and so on. And the way that they work is with books, and you buy the set of books, and there's a workbook that goes with it. We have just had such a great experience with it. The children really enjoyed doing it, and again, it was at their own pace, so there was no pushing really except like, hey, let's, you know, let's get some of these things done so we can move on. My daughter, when she was about three years old, she was reading using these techniques, so I do know that it works. My son also started reading at age four, and most of it was against his will. However, we weren't aware of all of these different opportunities and ways to teach, so even if they're not as willing, they can still learn with using these books. I really enjoyed how easy it was and how simple it was for us to just open the book and go, and you can start reading it to them, and then they can start reading it. They're all character-based books, so there's, you know, a few mice and cats and all these different characters that are fun for the kids, and the books I have used in a multiple of ways. We've used it with the curriculum workbook, but then we have also made our own worksheets per se, and I would take the book, and I would photocopy the book, and then allow the children to actually color the page, and they were also able to then write a sentence. So, we would pick a page that they would be willing to copy the sentence down once they're at the age where they can be writing, and they would write the sentence. I would trace the sentence with like a highlighter, and then they would trace over my letters, and then it would gradually get to them writing the sentence on their own. So, these books have really been great for us. We've gone and used all the way up to, I think there's five or six in the series. There's like a red set of books, a green, a blue, a purple, a pink, and a teal set of books. Up front, it does look like it's a lot. You can find these on eBay. I've found them on Facebook Marketplace. A lot of people have these packs of books. There's like 10 books per workbook, per like series, and it does go by like K1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. However, we did all of the sets of books, and between kindergarten and first grade is really when they're geared towards. The workbooks are great because it doesn't really require much in terms of explanation. It's very self-explanatory. You can teach them a little bit like, okay, hey, you're going to be putting in the letter sounds, okay, so they can write the letter. You can even help them with the letters if you want to write for them starting out, but essentially they should be able to get it done on their own. I know there's a lot of controversy between when the right age is to hold the pencil and write because a younger child's hand is not quite formed yet to hold a pencil, so use your best judgment with your own children, what would be best for them because, like I said, they can do the workbooks themselves, but if they want you to help them, feel free to do that. You know, it's however you can get the learning in, and if that's fun for them to have you involved, and if they're still at that younger age where they might not be able to do all of the work, that's fine, too. You're at least doing the repetition, and you're getting in the practice, right? So that's one thing. The other thing is I know there's some free curriculum with The Good and The Beautiful. Now, we haven't personally used The Good and The Beautiful, but we have several families that are Charlotte Mason based, and they use The Good and The Beautiful, and they really, really enjoy the free PDFs that you can print out, so you can download up to like level five or something. Now, with The Good and The Beautiful, you don't go by grade, it goes by level. It can be a little confusing, but the kindergarten and first grade level isn't technically first grade. You definitely want to do the, there's a test, an aptitude test online, and it'll tell you which level to download and start using first, and I have seen the workbooks that they do produce, and they are beautifully done. There's beautiful watercolors, and they're almost like art books because of all of the beautiful watercolors. So if your child's more of a visual person, that is definitely the route to go. I will tell you that the primary phonics, it's very plain. It's just white paper with black wording and pictures. There is nothing colored, and it's very plain and to the point. So if your child gets overstimulated with all the colors, I would definitely suggest going with the primary phonics. If your child needs actual visuals to get them interested and engaged, then I would go with The Good and The Beautiful. Like I said, I haven't personally used The Good and The Beautiful, but the parents that I have known that have used The Good and The Beautiful, they have really enjoyed that program. I hope that can give you a few tips to get started, and always remember if the child is not interested or not showing interest in really learning how to read, just keep reading to them every day. 10 minutes a day, 15 minutes a day. If you can get up to 20 minutes a day reading, and that doesn't have to be 20 minutes sitting all at once. A four or five-year-old is not going to sit for 20 minutes of reading, but if you do five minutes of reading four times a day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you're getting at least three times a day. That's 15 minutes to read a short book for five minutes. Just the act of reading and getting them to hear the words and, you know, pointing to the words when you're reading to them is really big. That helps them to learn how to follow along. So you're giving them all these pre-reading skills, even though they might not be as interested to read on their own just yet. One last thing is sight words. I have a love-hate relationship with sight words because sight words is just teaching memorization versus teaching the child how to sound things out, but some of the words in English, unfortunately, just have to be learned. Like, okay, this is this word. No, it doesn't sound out the way that you would say it, so that can make things confusing for little ones, but for the most part, sight words are okay. I just know in Montessori they do not advocate for sight words. They use, like I said, the phonetic approach, and then they build words with their blue and red wooden letters. I can share some more on another episode when we go over writing and things of that nature. If you have questions about either of these approaches, or if you're struggling to try to figure out which direction you need to take for your child, please feel free to get in contact with me. I would be happy to help you to navigate that. It is very challenging, and it can be stressful if you've been working with your child for, you know, several months, maybe a whole semester, and they're still not getting it, but just remember that it just might not be time for them yet to get into that side of reading, or maybe they just haven't found something that interests them enough to want to learn to read more. So, keep yourself encouraged, and if you need to take a break, take a break. Remember, there is no rush. There is no pressure. We are not racing this. This is to create lifelong learners. You want to create a reader that is engaged and willing to go and research and do their own reading. So, remember, you're not just teaching a skill to check off boxes. You're teaching a skill for them to have it for their whole lifetime. All right. Well, this has been great. I hope we can see you on our next episode.