How I Taught My Children to Read

I have been homeschooling for 26 years and I have nine children and graduated eight.

Eight out of nine of my children were taught very simply how to read using some very easy and basic materials in our home.

I didn't use a fancy curriculum that cost a lot of money.



I am hearing how some of you are homeschooling this year and are concerned about how to teach your child to read so I thought I would encourage you.


Here is what I used:


100 Easy Lessons to Teach Your Child to Read

This is one of my favorite books for teaching reading because it is so easy and already laid out for you. You don't have to think about how to use it or plan how to use it. Just open the book and go.  Easy-peasy and such a blessing when you have a large family and time is short.  I have taught all of my children how to read with this book with the exception of my oldest because I had not found the book at the time and not even sure if it had been published yet.

I had one child who only had to read to lesson 20 and she was on her way reading on her own. Some of them went half way through the book and the rest finished to the very end. I just used it last year on our little Bella and was wondering how this book would do with her and she did very well!

Sometimes you just don't need all the bells and whistles to teach a child to read. This book has been timeless in reminding me of that and several of my children are avid readers today. I highly recommend this book!

We also supplemented with reading these cute and simple little readers below which are the popular Bob Books. Inside each of these are a set of about 8 books! We mainly focused on the first two sets but the others are great too if you need them.


Bob Books: Set 1 Beginning Readers

Bob Books: Set 2 Advancing Beginners

Bob Books Set 3: Word Families

Bob Books Set 4: Complex Words

They also have Bob Books that include:

Pre-reading Skills
Rhyming Words
Sight Words
First Stories


Or you can get the complete set here:

Right now they are having a sale on all the above so it is a great time to get them, just click on the links above.

I also highly recommend Dick and Jane books--my daughter loved them and would try to always read them on her own. 

And finally, we would also reinforce all our reading by using additional reading shows/video online, reading apps, and a giving them lots of good books to read.

I hope this helps and simplifies the process for you!



What do you use to teach your child to read?

Please share below!

QUICK HELPFUL TIP BEFORE I GO:

My very favorite pencil in the world, these wonderful Ticonderoga pencils (I am telling you because they don't break, even with 5 boys!) are on sale for $9.18 for nearly 100! That is about 10 cents a pencil and a super great deal. It is only for a limited time so don't miss it. I know that us homeschool moms sometimes like to restock for the new year! 

Note: This post contains affiliate links--thanks for your support!