How to teach reading

There are many great ways to teach reading.  This is my way and the curriculum I use.

First an overview:

1. Read out loud to them from birth, every day.
2. Teach them letter recognition and the first sound the letters make.
3. Wait for them to develop the skill to blend the sounds together to make a word.
4.  Practice reading CVC words using a white board or tiles.
5.  When CVC words come fairly easily, sit down with a beginning reader (BOB books, then McGuffey Readers)
6.  Begin systematic phonics instruction. (Ordinary Parents Guide To Teaching Reading)
7.  Teach all of the letter sounds (Phonics Road, level 1) You can do this anytime after step 2.

1. Read out loud to them from birth, every day.
Find a list of GOOD, high-quality, beautiful books, not dumbed-down books, and read to your children every day.  I have some links on the left side of my blog for lists: 1000 Good Books and Ambleside Online booklists for years 0-3.

2. Letter recognition and the first sound the letters make.
I start at a young age and teach them the first sounds of the letters and letter recognition. I make flashcards, a card for each lower case and each upper case. After I've taught them five letter sounds or so, I will put down five letter cards and say, "which letter says /b/?" "which letter says /a/?" etc... over and over again. Clap, make a big deal... Then teach another another sound and play the same game over and over. They love it. This is for ages 3 & 4. With the cards we also match lower case to it's upper case and learn the names of the letters. Do this for about 5 min. a day and they will have letter sounds down. OR buy the leap frog movies. That works too  

To help with letter recognition in words I would play a game where I would lay out 6 letters and say, "What sound comes at the beginning of book?" She would choose among the 6 letters and choose the B.  You can ask, "What are some words that start with /b/?"  Book, ball, bounce, big, bubble, bus, bill, buck, bubba"  Just play games.  Be creative.

What are the first sounds of the letters? 
A=/a/ as in apple
B=/b/ as in ball
C=/ck/ as in cat
D=/d/ as in dog
E=/e/ as in egg
F=/f/ as in fat
G=/g/ as in goat
H=/h/ as in hot
I=/i/ as in icky
J=/j/ as in jump
K=/ck/ as in kick
L=/l/ as in lick
M=/m/ as in mom
N=/n/ as in nest
O=/o/ as in octopus
P=/p/ as in pig
Q=/qu/ as in queen (you can make a flashcard with just Q or Qu, since Q is always paired with U. It doesn't really matter though)
R=/r/ as in red
S=/s/ as in snake
T=/t/ as in tent
U=/u/ as in up
V=/v/ as in vest
W=/w/ as in water
X= /ks/ as in fox
Y=/y/ as in yellow
Z=/z/ as in zebra

3. Wait for them to develop the skill to blend the sounds together to make a word.

Then I start playing a new game to see if they have developed the skill of blending. While driving in the car I will say "try to guess the word I'm saying: /p/ /i/ /g/?" Keep it fun and light. 

When she starts doing this with some success, as well as breaking down the word PIG into its individual sounds, you can move to the written word.

4. Practice reading CVC words using a white board or tiles.

With Madelynn, blending a three letter word on paper was too difficult at first. I would write PIG. She would sound out each letter and say "PIT", "GIB", "POG", etc. She couldn't keep all of the sounds in her head long enough to blend them together. So I changed my method. I chose the vowel "A" and only wrote a consonant and the vowel "A". So my paper looked like this:

ma
pa
ca
ba
ra
fa

She would say /m/, /a/, /ma/.
/p/, /a/, /pa/
/c/, /a/, /ca/
and so on.

Then I underlined the consonant/vowel pairs that she just read and added a "T" at the end of all of them. So now it read:

mat
pat
cat
bat
rat
fat

With my finger I would cover up the "T" and ask her to read "MA" again. She would say, /m/, /a/, /ma/.
Then I would uncover the T and she would say /t/. Sometimes she would then say /mat/ and sometimes she would have to sound it all out again.

To move on from here, I found a handy list of words online and printed them out. It is called Reading Made Easy with Blend Phonics for First Grade. This guide teaches reading the same way I do, so reading through the directions would be worth your time.

Today, I started with UNIT 1 words. I wrote them one at a time on a piece of paper, underlined the first two letters, and had Madelynn read them to me. We got through the first two columns today.

I then decided to explain the words "I" and "A". When these letters are alone in a sentence, they say their name. I then wrote on the whiteboard "I am a cat." and she read her first sentence.

I will continue through the list of words until CVC words come a little easier.

5. When CVC words come fairly easily, sit down with a beginning reader (BOB books, then McGuffey Readers)

When CVC words come fairly easy, I'll bring out the BOB books. We don't sit down with a book until CVC words come easily.

We'll sit on the couch together. I'll point with a pencil which word to sound out. I also cover the pictures. After she reads the whole sentence, I uncover the picture for her to see. This keeps them from guessing words.
When Bob Books have been conquered (the first three sets), we move on to McGuffey Readers (which both my readers LOVE). 

6. Begin systematic phonics instruction. (Ordinary Parents Guide To Teaching Reading)

Sometime after we begin in the BOB books, we also start in a systematic phonics instruction book.  I used Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading in the past.  We start wherever they are at, not from the beginning.   I end OPGTR when they are reading fluently. I have yet to finish that book.  I don't know that it is absolutely necessary, but it helps me feel like we've covered all the bases. 

So at this point, the reading lesson begins with one lesson from OPGTR, then at least one chapter from McGuffey every day.

I also hand them Little Bear, Frog & Toad, and other beginning readers to practice, and alternate with McGuffey.  When they have read through the McGuffey Readers through Book 2, we start The Little House in the Big Woods.  First we alternate reading a paragraph, then I have just the student read while I listen for mistakes. 

With both of my oldest daughters, before we finish Little House, they take off on their own.  When that happens, I don't sit with them to read anymore.  I do ask them to tell me about what they are reading occasionally to check comprehension.
 
7. Teach all of the letter sounds.  You can do this anytime after step 2.

Teaching ALL the phonograms and ALL the sounds.  What is this?  It is the easiest way to teach reading.  Here is a sample of all the phonograms and the sounds they make.  You can buy flashcards here with the sounds written on the back and just teach them to know the sounds when they see the phonogram.  Or you can print out the flashcards from this site for free.  This can replace your phonics instruction from OPGTR.

There are many programs that teach this method, which originally began with the Spalding program; the manual is called The Writing Road To Reading.  The spin-off of Spalding that I used, and the easiest to use, in my opinion, is The Phonics Road to Spelling and Reading, level 1.  Buy it used because it is expensive.  You don't need the rest of the levels, nor would I recommend them.  The great thing about Phonics Road is that the instructions are on DVD and she puts the spelling/phonics rules to easy songs to help the child remember. 

Basically, you teach the child all of the sounds that each phonogram makes.  Maddy asked me to write "peacock" on the board.  So I sounded it out as I wrote: p ea c o ck .  Two-letter phonograms are underlined.  Each phonogram makes a sound.  The phonogram ea make three sounds: /ee/, /e/, /A/.  In "peacock" it makes its first sound.  If I wrote the word "lead", I would write it like this: l ea d, and put a little 2 above the phonogram ea since it makes its second sound.  There are also marks for indicating a spelling rule.  Analyzing words like this makes reading and spelling much easier.
 
A few rules I have: They sound out everything. I never teach sight words until they've been sounded out first. For instance "the". I let them sound out /t/ /h/ /e/, they try to blend it, and THEN I say "This is a tricky word. We actually say "the" when we see this word. Now whenever you see it, just remember to say "the".

I'm a stickler on making them re-read a sentence if they skip a word or guess a word. NOT ok in my book.

If they are struggling with a word, I just tell them what it is and move on, IF they have done their best to sound it out first. I try to keep reading enjoyable.

I go at their pace. When they're done, reading time is over. When I'm done, reading time is over. Negativity cannot be present during reading time.

Reading time has to be consistent when they are first learning. I try to wait until they are around age 5 and can blend before it becomes a consistent daily practice.

If the child can't sit still for more than 5 min., I have done reading time 3 times a day for 5 min. and that worked out nicely.

MOST IMPORTANT TIP OF THE DAY:  Fill your bookshelves with the classics.  There are so many beautiful children's classics that contain worthy ideas and words.  Check out the 1000 Good Books or Ambleside Online link on the left side of this blog.  Find the classics cheap online or in used bookstores.  Have your own library of only good books at home.