At this time of year, some parents are being informed that their child will likely be “held.” That is a difficult 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 in a child’s education. It is a precursor to any other theme. My elementary school teachers avoided phonics altogether and opted to teach word recognition. As with most children who do not learn phonetics. reading was difficult and not enjoyable. I got good grades, but it took a lot of extra effort. It wasn’t until adulthood that I learned phonetics. I was surprised at how suddenly my reading skills advanced. It’s no wonder that most parent educators are very concerned when they start teaching their children to read. However, with a little knowledge and the right tools, I guarantee that it is much easier than one might expect. So let’s start that process in this article.
Learning styles
Thirty-eight percent of the children “let’s do it” (Artisan personality). Unfortunately, the school system does not effectively teach this large group. They are often falsely labeled as dyslexic, attention-deficit, or troubled children. My oldest grandson had this type of personality.
At a young age, he was eager to learn anything related to hands-on action … like riding a bike. The bumps and bruises did not deter him. He just got up and went for the toy over and over until he mastered it. He showed a great degree of intelligence in this way. However, when he entered school, things seemed to be different. He was not interested in formal learning from a sitting position. Like 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. It describes the action-oriented “artisan” personality and people who bring excitement to their relationships. “Churchill and Patton were of this personality type. In other words, these children are not unintelligent, dyslexic or ADD. On the contrary, they are very Intelligent It is the missing teaching method because it is not designed for action-oriented attention.
In third grade, I was visiting this grandson in his class. I was taking a written test and answering multiple-choice questions. He did the first three correctly and then proceeded to mark the rest without reading them. I said, “Does the teacher want you to read this?” “No, he replied, she doesn’t care.” Because he didn’t misbehave, this kept repeating itself, causing his mother to have to catch up with him every summer. Eventually his mother removed him from the school system and began homeschooling.
In the school system, it is not uncommon for these action-oriented children to be detained every two years. They gave me those children mid-term because the teachers had abandoned them. By simply changing the method used to teach them, these children catch up with their classmates and graduate on time.
Unfortunately, repeated failures of practical learners are typical. If this is your child’s story, the early learning curriculum needs to be action-oriented.
Fortunately, for my grandson, his mom found the answer. However, many of these children reach adulthood without reaching their full potential because they believe that “they are not as intelligent as the others”, which is far from the truth and is the greatest parody of all.
We recommend that learning be presented as a game for young children because it is the most natural way for them to learn. However the “Guardian Personality“It adapts earlier than most to formal learning, which is the most common method taught in public schools. Likewise, The Guardian parents / teachers 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). My granddaughter is from “Guardian personality”. From an early age she wanted to help and was excited to point out and follow the rules in the face of her brother’s frustration. What I mean here is that all children are different, and the school system does not usually consider this when they teach as if they are the same for all. We don’t have to repeat the same mistake in the homeschool setting. Instead of deciding that a child should learn to read by age five, allow him to reveal his schedule and learning style.
For example, let me tell you a story about my second grandson. Koty (“Analytical personality”) he has never attended a public school. His mother educated him at home from day one. She read to him regularly and it was a fun time for both of them. Once she learned the alphabet, she tried using flash cards to teach her phonetics, which is a very unnatural way for most young children to learn. It quickly became a chore for both of them. I reminded him of a game I use to teach children to read. All changed. Koty quickly learned its phonetic sounds and begged her to play it more often than her mother wanted. He was able to read the early reading books. He even spoke difficult words like Premium at the local gas stations while playing word-reading games on the go. However, he had no desire to pick up a book and read it alone. After reading the Raymond & Dorothy Moore book “Better Late Than Early”, her mother continued reading to her. At the age of eight, he picked up a book and asked his mother to read it to him. Having no time at the time, he refused. Eager to wait for her, he began to read the book himself and, from then on, had an insatiable appetite for reading. In six months he was reading at a fifth grade level. We highly recommend the book “Better Late Than Early” because it explains how important it is to adapt to a child’s natural tendencies rather than to fit them onto a square peg of our own design.
Whole Brain Teaching Verses Left Brain Teaching
The Conventional Method (workbooks, cards, lectures … sitting at a work desk) teaches the left side of the brain and reaches approximately 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 decrease by 90%. It also improves brain health, making it a good method for those with learning disabilities.
As a homeschooler, can you teach your child to read?
It is a common belief that teaching reading requires 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 for your child to associate reading with phonics as soon 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 … so on.
(2) Many children mislearn some of their phonetic sounds, making them slow readers or unable to combine the sounds of words. As a tutor, I have found this common with computer phonics games and in public schools. That is why it is important for the educator to ensure that sounds are learned correctly.