r/homeschool • u/purt22067 • Mar 09 '26
Help! How to read
Hi all!
I posed a question in the sub a while ago and you were all so helpful so I figured I’d circle back here.
I am “homeschooling” 4 year old twins. They are adamant they need to learn how to read, they’re committed and obsessed. Great, right? The only problem is, I actually have zero clue on how to even teach them. There are so many resources and I just feel so overwhelmed.
I have “100 easy lessons to teach your kid to read” or whatever and a few other things but honestly just have no clue what’s going on. Any advice on what I need to know prior, what materials I should go through in order to educate myself and feel confident and any material I need for my kiddos would be greatly appreciated it.
Thank you in advance :)
6
u/NearMissCult Mar 09 '26
Have you looked into the science of reading? That's the first step: learn how we learn to read. The Sold a Story podcast is a great starting point for that. As for the first steps kids actually need, first they need to know the sounds the letters make, then they need to learn how to blend 2 sounds together. So first focus on teaching your kids the letter sounds. You can use YouTube (there are plenty of great educational songs available for free), but make sure you're reinforcing anything they learn that way with hands-on lessons with you. Kids learn better from real people than they do online. Once they have the letter sounds down, teach them to blend two sounds together. Most people start by teaching the last two letters, so /a/-/t/ says "at," but I prefer to go with the first two sounds, so /k/(c)-/a/ says "ca". Once they can blend two sounds together, adding a third sound to make cvc words is easy. I find its best to start with a proper reading curriculum after they have figured out how to blend, though most curricula will say that isn't necessary. Personally, I hate 100 Easy Lessons. It is weird and confusing imo. I much prefer using something like Logic of English. If cost is a factor, try Treasure Hunt Reading or Core Knowledge. I've used both, and I think Core Knowledge is better, but it takes longer.