Wondering what it takes to teach your child to read?

How do you know when your child is ready? 

Are you worried about turning them off of reading, or butting heads as you begin the process?

Teaching your child to read may feel overwhelming. There are a lot of moving parts. 

As a resource teacher working with children and teachers, I was able to lean in on others’ classrooms and get a ton of great ideas. These teachers inspired me to raise the bar, and one, in particular - the Reading Recovery teacher - had a profound impact on my practice with her simplified tools to teach reading.

She had a giant tickletrunk of tools - many of them very playful and hands-on -  and I couldn’t help myself from eavesdropping every time she did a lesson. These struggling kids learned to read SO QUICKLY - with confidence, ease and fluency. 

I took stock of the strategies she used, and started to test them out in my own practice, and later on with my own girls. I was...

Set it Up!

Okay! You’ve carved out a schedule for your day, now it’s time to sprinkle in the fun, meaningful learning activities {I call these “invitations”}.

Setting up an invitation requires a bit of prep, but the benefits are SO WORTH IT.

If you lay out the basic supplies needed in an inviting way, your child is SURE to dive in, and be engaged far longer. 

The kinds of invitations I'm talking about...

• DON’T require you to be glued to your child’s side 
• DON’T involve tons of pricey, scarce supplies
• DON’T involve drill + kill worksheets that will turn your kids off learning.

These kinds of learning invitations are set up with your child’s many languages in mind {in Reggio we call this “the child’s one hundred languages” - meaning, kids express themselves in MANY ways: art, movement, music, sculpture, construction, drama… 

These invitations are meant to be FUN...

How to Homeschool when you’re NOT a homeschooler!

Setting up your Basic Schedule 

Now that you’ve got some ideas to create your impromptu learning space, it’s time to make a structure for your day. Kids THRIVE on structure, routine and predictability.

Neuroscientists have found that children's brains need a predictable schedule - because when children feel safe and comfortable, learning flourishes.

That said, your schedule should be flexible. Rhythms, routines...a general, predictable FLOW is what I'm talking about...

Make a list of the “musts” for the day.

Meal time. Outdoor play time. Naps. Chores. Bedtime etc.

Schedule it!

Create a schedule that works for your family. Carve out chunks of time for a morning meeting (15 minutes), some focussed learning time (20-30 minute chunks), baking or cooking, as well as free unstructured play time. You can include your children's input here also. Be intentional about screen time - come up with...

Unexpected Homeschooler?

Don’t Panic! Deep breath. You can do this. *I promise.*

School closures are happening across the nation. This is a guarantee.

But for how long? This is still an unknown.

If you find yourself in the position of a “sudden homeschooler,” but also need to get work done, you might be wondering…

• What do I do with the kids?
• How do I occupy them without the iPad or Netflix 24/7?
• How can I maintain some structure and order in the home when things feel utterly chaotic?
• How and what am I supposed to be teaching my kids?
• How do we all stay sane?

Look, Mama. You’ve got this.

And I’m here to support you through it all. 

Before you continue to read, let’s start this post with a serious #mindsetshift. 

So here we are. At home. With kids. For 2, 3, 4 maybe more weeks….

What a BLESSING! 

Seriously. Before you let the panic, stress and overwhelm consume you, step back and think… in a...