How to Teach Your Child to Read at Home (A Teacher's Simple Method)

The first big thing I taught my kids was potty training. Reading felt like the next big hurdle.

But I can tell you from experience: I’ve taught all three of my kids to read, sitting side by side with them on the couch or at the kitchen table, and it’s a lot easier than you think.

Teaching kids to read starts long before the first phonics lesson. Let’s take this one step at a time.

Step 1: Read to them. A lot.

The very first thing you do to teach your child to read is just read to them. Read to them a lot.

Read lots of different kinds of books. Go to the library and check out your full limit (ours is fifty), from every genre you can find: fiction, non-fiction, picture books, biographies, books about nature, the human body, science, geography, geology, history. There are so many wonderful books out there, and all you have to do is read them aloud.

Kids learn by watching and listening. As you read, they’ll start to notice that when you reach a comma, you pause, and when there’s an exclamation mark, your voice changes. They pick that up just from hearing you read. Nobody had to teach them a lesson on punctuation.

Track along with your finger

When you read with your child, run your finger under the words as you go. It helps them connect what’s on the page to what they hear you saying. Before long, they’ll start to see the sounds coming before you say them.

Go to the library every week

I know I’m a big library supporter. But simply going to the library every week has helped us so much. It’s part of our homeschool routine, and my kids love it.

There’s nothing better than coming home from a library afternoon to a quiet house, because there are three kids on the couches diving into all the books we just brought home.

When my kids were pre-readers, we went too. We might not have checked out as many books, but we chose ones with beautiful illustrations, pictures they could follow along with to grasp the story.

What a kindergartner is actually working toward

Here’s roughly what a kindergartner is working toward by the end of the year:

• Knowing their letters and the sounds each letter makes
• Starting to blend and read CVC words (consonant, vowel, consonant), so they can sound out c-a-t, cat
• Getting familiar with how our language fits together, including what vowels and consonants are for

I always say vowels are the glue that holds a word together. Without a vowel, you can’t have a word. (Of course, there are sneaky ones like Mr. Y who try to confuse the kids. But words need vowels, and that’s something they need to know.)

And that’s it.

If your child is starting to pick up blends like fl or br, that’s great. If they’re not, you’re not behind. You’re exactly where you need to be.

Pick one reading curriculum

A quick note: some links below are Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you. I only ever link to what I’ve actually used.

Choose one reading program and use it. You don’t need five.

I used Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. The title pretty much says it all. It’s scripted: you read your part on the page, and your child answers. It’s very thorough.

In my experience, I only had to go through about half the lessons. By then my child was reading well enough that I didn’t feel it was necessary to finish the whole program.

That’s another beauty of homeschooling: you get to tailor the instruction and the curriculum to your learner.

Add phonics practice when they’re ready

For phonics practice, I love Explode the Code. You might add it about halfway through the kindergarten year, or at the beginning if your child is already fairly confident with reading. It’s wonderful for understanding, in a very granular way, how letters make sounds and sounds make words.

Use I do, we do, you do

Don’t forget this tried-and-true teaching principle: I do, we do, you do.

Say you’re reading the word cat together:

1. I do. “Listen to Mum: c-a-t, cat.”
2. We do. You both point to it, sound it out together, and say it together: cat.
3. You do. Hand them the book or the paper, and let them point and read it on their own.

That scaffolding helps them become a more confident reader.

Keep reading lessons short

This is the one I learned the hard way: keep your reading lessons short. Finish the lesson before your child starts showing signs of I’m done.

I made this mistake with my oldest son when he was learning to read. I thought we had to check every single box every single day, or he wouldn’t get it. I was very wrong. It led to a lot of frustration for him, and he struggled with his confidence in reading at the beginning because it had become such a chore. It wasn’t a joy for him anymore.

So finish the lesson, even if the book says you’re not quite done, before your child gets frustrated. Short and happy beats long and tearful, every time.

To sum up

• Read to your kids a lot.
• Look for signs that they’re ready.
• Pick one program. Don’t feel like you need to buy five.
• I do, we do, you do.
• Keep lessons short.

You and your child will thank you for it.

Choosing that one program? Here’s how I’d choose a kindergarten curriculum without overspending.

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