When I first started homeschooling, one thing that really intimidated me was teaching my children to read.  I thought only "professionals" could do that!  My insecurities led me to want to try every learning to read program that was produced and ask every veteran homeschool mom what they had used to teach their children to read.  Over the years I have learned that there is no "one size fits all" program out there... what works for one family or child may not work for another!  With that being said, here are some of my favorite resources and techniques to teach your little ones to read:

READING MADE EASY by Valerie Bendt

This is the book I am currently using to teach my daughter to read and we both LOVE it!  My daughter really loves being able to read sentences and short stories, it makes it much more interesting than just learning a bunch of sounds and words.  We also love the read-aloud time that is at the end of each lesson, where the child picks a book for mom to read.  That makes the reading lesson even more special... time for just mommy and child (or children, if the other kids start crowding around when the story is being read!).  This reading curriculum also has the child do copywork of the sentences that he/she is currently learning to read.  If you would like more information about this book, check out www.valeriebendt.com .

I used several different curriculums with my first child (a son).  By the time he was in 3rd grade, he still didn't read terribly well, and just wasn't interested in reading.  Now that I look back, there were probably several reasons for this.  First, being a boy, he always was more interested in playing outside, building something, or playing a sport.  Let's just say he is a very hands-on learner.  Second, I was insecure in my ability to teach and if the lesson wasn't going over well, I got discouraged and frustrated easily.  Third, I believe he just wasn't really ready! 

Around that time I started reading some books by Dr. Raymond and Dorothy Moore.  What I read astounded me!  They said that many children are simply not ready at an early age to read and it was actually not even good for their eyes to read at a young age!  Everything they wrote was based on research.  I was so relieved to realize that my son was normal and that he would be reading fluently when the time was right.  What a weight off my shoulders! 

By the next summer, he was reading fluently and at or above his grade level.  What did I do to encourage him?  Here are some things we did or used:

READING REFLEX by Carmen McGuinness and Geofrey McGuinness

This book uses the "foolproof phono-graphix method" to teach your child to read.  My son and I both enjoyed using this book.  There were a lot of games (my son loves games!).  The book was easy to use and very inexpensive compared to other learning to read programs there are out there.  I would really recommend this resource and you can read more about this book at www.amazon.com

BUDDY READING

I read about this technique from another homeschool mom and it really did work.  We call it buddy reading.  My son and I would sit together with an easy book.  We would take turns reading each sentence.  So, I would read the first sentence, then he would read the next sentence and so on.  It made the task of reading much easier for my son, and he was able to enjoy the story more than if he had to struggle through the whole book by himself.  After a few weeks of doing this, when his reading was getting better, we then took turns reading each paragraph.  After he improved his reading with each paragraph, we then each took turns reading each page.  By then we were able to read chapter books and my son was happy about that!

READING MATERIAL

I also found that it helped to have a lot of great, interesting books around for my son to read.  At the beginning he liked learning to read books such as the "Step Into Reading" series.  These books have great topics and stories that make reading more interesting.  We then started reading the "Magic Tree House" books.  This helped keep his interest and he was always excited to read the next story in the series.

FAVORITE HOBBY/TOPIC/INTEREST

My son has always been crazy about sports.  I think his first word was "ball"... not Mom or Dad, it was "ball"!  Ever since, he almost always has a ball in his hand, whether it be a baseball, basketball, soccer ball, etc, etc! 

So, my husband decided to try to encourage our son to read the sports page in the newspaper to learn more about what was going on in the world of sports.  At first I was doubtful that our son would be about to read the sports articles... but by the end of the summer, he was able to read them all with no problem! 

I have spoken to other moms who have had the same experience.  If you have a reluctant reader, find out what they are really passionate about and have them read about it.  If they want to learn more about the topic, they'll read! 

Now, my son reads all the time... sometimes late into the night!  He loves to read mysteries, sports stories and about other topics he is interested in.  Sometimes, when reads something to me, I look at him and think, "Wow... I taught him to read!"  What a great feeling!  If I can do it, so can you!