The Only Reading Lesson You May Ever Need To Teach.

I was saw a list that showed that 100’s of thousands of folks like you and me were searching  (every day) for ways to help their kids become better readers. You are one of these people. You probably typed in “reading lessons” to find this page.

Here’s the challenge. Trying to force a child to learn how to read (to memorize sounds, and exceptions, and the exceptions to the exceptions) is like trying to turn a pile of feathers into a bird that flies.

Example: review this list of words from a reading teacher’s book. Tell me what you learn.
sped            speed
bred            breed
bled             bleed
fred              freed

This list was intended to teach “same-vowel” blends. But what I learned (I think) was how to say the past tense of Fred. What Fred was doing in that list of verbs I cannot say. But you see the challenge. The language is so complex, and the mind goes where it wants to. We not only hope, but we strong>expect our kids – our little, robust,  learning geniuses — to learn to speak, write and read this messy pile of bird feather logic we call English! And our kids do it.

God bless ‘em. Because each and every one IS a GENIUS. But if we approach this with force (not fun), than teaching our kids to read is an impossible task. It makes them, and us, very unhappy…and where is the fun in that?

The Title of This Academic Paper Says It All

Here is the title of a recently published paper on teaching reading that I just found online. See if you can guess what it  might be about.

Compression of Exception Lexicons for Small Footprint Grapheme-To-Phoneme Conversion (Ok, before you guess, bow down and salute reading teachers
everywhere who understand this!)

Now, I will translate that title into something you might tell your child relating to a reading lesson homework assignment:
“Honey, here’s a very long list of words that have letters that make sounds that don’t make any sense based on all the phonics rules we taught you. Start memorizing!”

Now, I am not taking a mean-spirited shot* at the person who wrote this paper. I am only saying that if someone as smart as this has to work this hard to understand how to help kids read,
than there must be an easier way.

*My apologies for lifting the title out of context to make
a point. But you see how complex the topic can seem from this example!  

The Only Reading Lesson You May Ever Need: Find a book or subject that EXCITES Your Child

Happily, I NEVER had to memorize the long lists of word that were exceptions to exceptions. Why not? I just found books that I LOVED TO READ – and my own genius little mind did all the “memorizing”
without any “work” on my part.

I saved the memorization for highschool and college Spanish where after 6 years of memorizing I can barely say “My name is Chris.” (I would be  the village idiot in Spain!)
h2>A simpler plan for good Moms and Dads.Your work is simple. Find a really good chapter book series. (Start here.) Ease your child into it. Read it aloud to start. Make a fun and light time of it so that only good feelings are associated with it.

You know, make popcorn when you read. Have pancakes for dinner. Snuggle close in a chair. Read every other chapter. Get the joy juices flowing…and watch your kid’s reading muscles grow. Watch their reading GENIUS take over and the improvements begin. Luckily you have come to the right place.

A FUN BOOK!

You need a FUN chapter book series. And we have one! You can get 1 here. This lets you test them out with our guaranty that they will turn on your child’s GENIUS reading mind. 

Simple Reading Lesson Instructions 

Start by reading out loud to your child (if your child likes this sort of thing and most do.) After the second book, most kids have a real “head of steam” and feel ok about reading the books on their own.

Many kids WANT  to read the books on their own and FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.

Once your kids hit that point, they are on their way to reading. If your kids like to read the books on the computer, let them. If they like the idea of printing them out and reading them under the covers at night with a flash light – buy them a flashlight! 

Reduce all friction. Bend or break your rules. Turn your child loose in the fun zone so that their READING GENIUS kicks in.