Yesterday’s tip was about Learning to READ, but the next stage is just as important: Reading to Learn!
Once my children finish Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, we start Pathway Readers. Again, there are many excellent choices available, but this is an inexpensive option that incorporates good, moral story lessons with solid phonics and reading comprehension.
Charlotte Mason’s method of narration is useful regardless of your teaching style and lends itself well to the important skill of “making connections” between what is being read and what is being learned from the world around the student! If you can’t always listen to long narrations from the pre-writer think about buying a small tape recorder! You will later treasure these tapes! TRUST ME!
Literature-Based Unit Studies bring each book read into a life of its own. Five in a Row is a good place to start with younger students, but the choices available are almost without limit. One of my friends is using The Prairie Primer! I know she is going to have a VERY fun year or two! Once you get the feel for it, you and your child can even create your OWN based on what your children want or need to learn!
Don’t be so quick to answer your children’s questions! Help them learn to LOOK IT UP!
Referencing Skills are easy to forget about, but don’t underestimate how much this improves a child’s ability to take their learning to the next level. Invest in a Children’s Dictionary and add to your Reference Shelf from there. We have a collection of Internet-Linked books from Usborne, An Illustrated World Atlas, and several other treasuries of poems, and such! Our Science Encyclopedia gets so much use that I have had to repair the cover more times than I can remember!
Always take the opportunity to encourage your child’s interests and hobbies with a trip to the library. My middle son is fascinated with Navy Seals. When he has finished his chores he loves taking a trip to our local library to find a new book. I think the librarians are running out of recommendations for him, but they are definitely impressed with his sustained interest in the subject!
Once your children are READERS they easily become LEARNERS! If you feel like you cannot teach them everything they will need… rejoice in the availability of these brilliant TEACHERS who can instruct your children on every subject from A to Z!
Lovingly and Prayerfully,
Christina
Christina and her family are in their 11th year of homeschooling. They believe that it CAN be done despite the many challenges of life! Every member of a family brings its own unique needs and blessings. Maybe some of what they have learned can be a blessing to YOU!
