At this time of year, some parents are informed that their child is likely to be “held.” That’s a hard message for any parent to hear. As a tutor, I can honestly tell you that this is sometimes necessary and sometimes not. As a result, more and more families, including professional teachers, are turning to homeschooling. Today’s schools cannot produce high school graduates who can compare favorably in knowledge and skills with the eighth grade graduates of the 1900s.
Reading is the most important element of a child’s education. It is a precursor to any other theme. My elementary school teachers eschewed phonics altogether, choosing instead to teach word recognition. Like most kids who don’t learn phonetics. reading was difficult and not pleasant. I got good grades, but it took a lot of extra effort on my part. It wasn’t until adulthood that I learned phonetics. I was surprised at how suddenly my reading skills advanced. It is not surprising that most parent educators are very apprehensive when they start teaching their children to read. However, with a little knowledge and the right tools, I guarantee it’s a lot easier than you might expect. So, let’s start that process in this article.
learning styles
Thirty-eight percent of the children are “practical learners” (Artisan Personality). Unfortunately, the school system does not effectively teach this large group. They are often falsely labeled as dyslexic, attention deficit, or problem children. My eldest grandson was of this type of personality.
At a young age, I was eager to learn anything to do with action… like riding a bike. Bumps and bruises did not deter him. He just got up and went for the toy over and over again until he got the hang of it. He displayed a great degree of intelligence in this way. However, when he entered the school, things seemed to be different. He was not interested in formal seated learning. Like so many, he concluded: “If I can’t do something with it, it’s a waste of time.” You can learn more about this personality type in the book: “Please Understand Me II” by David Keirsey. He describes the “Craftsman” Personality as people who are action-oriented and who bring excitement to their relationships. Churchill and Patton were of this personality type. In other words, these children are not dull, dyslexic, or ADD. On the contrary, they are very intelligent. What is missing is the teaching method because it is not designed for action-oriented attention.
In third grade, I was visiting this grandson in his class. She was taking a written test and answering multiple choice questions. She got the first three right, and then proceeded to mark the rest without reading them. I said, “doesn’t the teacher want me to read this?” “No, he replied, she doesn’t care.” Because she did no wrong, this kept repeating itself, causing her mother to have to catch up with him every summer. Eventually, his mother took him out of the school system and began homeschooling.
In the school system, it is not uncommon for these action-oriented children to be retained every other year. They gave me those kids midterm because the teachers had given up on them. By simply changing the method used to teach them, these kids catch up with their classmates and graduate on time.
Unfortunately, the repeated failures of practical students are typical. If this is your child’s story, the early learning curriculum must be action oriented.
Fortunately, for my grandson, his mother found the answer. However, many of these children reach adulthood without reaching their full potential because they believe that they are “not as smart as everyone else”, which is far from the truth and the biggest hoax of all.
We recommend that learning be presented as play for young children because it is the most natural way to learn. However the “Guardian personality” adapts earlier than most to formal learning, which is the most common method taught in public schools. Similarly, parents/teachers at The Guardian prefer to teach this way. All children should gradually acclimate to ” formal learning.” (Note: One can learn more about the personalities of The Guardian and others in the book, “Please Understand Me II” by David Keirsey.) Guardian Personality. At a very young age she wanted to help and was eager to point out and follow the rules to her brother’s frustration. My point here is that all children are different, and the school system usually doesn’t consider this when teaching as one size fits all. We don’t have to repeat that same mistake in the homeschool environment. Instead of deciding that a child should learn to read at age five, let her reveal her timing and learning style.
For example, let me tell you a story about my second grandson. koti (“Analytical Personality”) he has never attended public school. His mother homeschooled him from day one. She read to him regularly and it was a fun time for both of them. Once he learned the alphabet, she tried using flash cards to teach him phonics, which is a very unnatural way of learning for most young children. It quickly became a chore for both of them. I reminded him of a game I use to teach children to read. He changed everything. Koty quickly learned phonics from him and begged to play more often than his mother wanted. He was able to read the first reading books. He even uttered difficult words like Premium at local gas stations as they played reading words on the go. However, he had no desire to pick up a book and read alone. After reading Raymond and Dorothy Moore’s Better Late Than Early, his mother continued to read to him. At the age of eight, he picked up a book and asked his mother to read it to him. Not having time at the time, she refused. Impatient to wait for her, she began to read the book himself, and thereafter had an insatiable appetite for reading. Within six months he was reading at a fifth grade level. We highly recommend the book “Better Later Than Early” because it explains how important it is to conform to a child’s natural tendencies rather than to fit a square peg of our own design.
Whole Brain Teaching Verses Left Brain Teaching
The Conventional Method (workbooks, flashcards, readings… sit down to work at a desk) teaches the left brain and reaches around 45% of children. However, Whole Brain Teaching teaches all learning styles by involving as many senses in the learning process as possible. With this method, children learn faster, retain more, reduce stress, and dropout rates drop by 90%. It also improves brain health, making it a good method for people with learning disabilities.
As a homeschooler, can you teach your child to read?
It is a common belief that to teach reading you need to have a teaching degree. In the 1900s, many teachers did not have high school diplomas, and education was better than it is now. Unfortunately, there is no magic: if you can read, you can teach children to read. Of course, the right tools and information are the key to success.
Important notes:
(1) It is important that your child associate reading with phonics as early as possible. Once they learn their first 8 sounds they should be able to read their first reader early. As soon as they learn 6 more letters, they should be able to read their second reader early…and so on.
(2) Many children mislearn some of their phonics, causing them to be slow readers or unable to combine sounds with words. As a tutor, I have found this common with computer phonics games and in public schools. Therefore, it is important for the educator to ensure that the sounds are learned correctly.