Homeschool Reading:
How to Go Beyond Phonics

Homeschool reading is so important. But so many children struggle with how to read. When I was teaching my children to read it seemed like it took forever.

Beyond Phonics

A fun way to homeschool reading is to share a predicable book. Predicable books are books that rhyme or have repeated patterns. If you read the book over and over the child can "read" the book from memory. Predicable books give struggling learners the confidence that they can learn to read.

Since my children are older and can read I had difficulty thinking of books that they enjoyed. This is the list that I could come up with. I know that there is probably more.

• If You Give a Mouse a Cookie -- by Laura Numeroff
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear -- by Bill Martin
• There's A COW In The Road -- by Reeve Lindbergh
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar -- by Eric Carle
• Where's Spot? -- by Eric Hill

Homeschool Reading Comprehension

Children need to comprehend what they read. To understand what is read your child needs to be able to read the words. He also need to know what the words mean.

When I was an aid in the public school system I learned of a neat technique for children to determine if a book was to hard to read. The child was to read a page in the book for every word that they could not read they were to hold up a finger. If they held up five fingers the book was too hard to read.

When my own children found a book that was too hard I would ask if they still wanted the book. If they still wanted the book I would read the book to them.

To help with reading comprehension I would ask questions about the book that we were reading. When you ask a lot of questions children learn to think about what they are reading.

Be sure to ask "who", "what", "where", "Why", and "how". Ask such questions as: "Who are the characters?" "What did __ do?" "Where does the story take place?", "Why do you think that happened?", and "How did the story end?"

We also did a lot of summarizing. We summarized chapters and books. Summarizing helps put the information into your child's own words. Sometimes I have my children write their summaries on paper.

We use real books for teaching comprehension. If you do not know what kind of questions to ask you can find comprehension worksheets online. ABC Teach has some that you can download for free. Their worksheets are for preschoolers through high school.

Fluency

My children and I liked to read together. Sometimes when we read I would first read the passage. I would then have my child read the same passage over. He would try to read with the same speed and expression.

Other times my children and I would read the same passage together. We read the Bible this way a lot. Reading the passage together helped my children learn how to read new words.

Another way to increase fluency is to use auto books. You can find auto books in the library. There are also some auto books that your child can read online. I like the online books that highlight the words as the story is being read. Two sites that I like are RIF and Mighty Book

Homeschool reading should include fluency. You child may be asked to read in public. You would want him to read as smoothly as he can.

Books for Reluctant Readers

It is always difficult to find books that children who struggle want to read. Many of the book series appeal to struggling readers. My children have liked:

• The Boxcar Children -- by Gertrude Chandler Warner
• Junie B -- by Barbara Park and Denise Brunkus
• The Magic Treehouse -- by Mary Pope Osborne and Sal Murdocca
• Nancy Drew -- by Carolyn Keene
• Hardy Boys -- by Franklin W. Dixon
• Little House on the Prairie -- by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• American Girls -- by different authors
• The Berenstain Bears -- by Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain
• Clifford the Big Red Dog -- by Norman Bridwell
• Curious George -- by H. A. Rey

This list is not in any order. My children like reading series because the characters are the same and the themes are similar.

Teaching Children with Autism to Read

Sometimes it helps for a child with autism to visualize what is being read. You can write stories into programs such as Boardmaker. I also found a site widgit.com that has ten stories that you can download. Each story has PECs above the words.

Most of all make homeschool reading fun.

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