Teaching a child to read can be intimidating, especially if you’re trying to gauge whether a child is ready to learn or the best way to go about it. I’ve heard many parents say over the years that teaching a child to read is their biggest fear when considering whether or not to homeschool. 

While I know there are some exceptions, I’m here to encourage you that teaching a child to read is simpler than you might expect. 

In this blog post, I’m sharing how my older two children learned to read when I started homeschooling. I’m also sharing five simple steps that I recommend following as you approach this with your kids. 

Take a deep breath, spread a feast of living books and resources, and connect with your child as you begin to show them how reading works. You will be amazed at how they will lead the way and what you can learn together.

In this blog post: 

• How my children learned to read: Four unique stories
• From alphabet to books: Five steps for teaching a child how to read
• Teaching letters and reading through multi-sensory experiences
• Frequently asked questions about teaching a child to read

How my children learned to read: Four unique stories

When my oldest son was a toddler, we started immersing him in books. Having baskets of books in every room and reaching for those over the television remote was the culture of our home. 

Even though I had a vision for making space for reading together in our home, it didn’t go the way I planned. Around age 2, my first son was diagnosed with hearing loss and sensory processing issues. He had zero – and I mean zero – interest in books around that age. He wouldn’t sit on my lap for longer than one page at a time. I cried multiple times leaving the library because he had absolutely no interest in storytime and was a disruption. I wondered if he would ever pick up and enjoy a book on his own. 

By age 7, something shifted, and we couldn’t keep books out of his hands. He would devour any book in sight and was happy to tell others his hobby was reading. He started saying he wanted to be an author (and audiobook narrator) when he grows up.

So what happened? Even now, I honestly can’t tell you what changed. I didn’t even teach him to read. We never sat down and blended sounds and letters to decode words and sentences. He just picked it up naturally. So did I play a role? Absolutely. But it isn’t what you think. 

The thing I’m confident I did right was create a home where reading was readily available, and then gently invite him in. Whether your child is naturally drawn to books or not, this is where it begins. I browsed living book lists and made it a priority to read to him as much as possible. I bought a CD player and let him listen to audiobooks and follow along in print. We tried a lot of different books and stories, and we just kept trying new things to figure out what would stick. Around age 3, he started following along in books with his finger as I read to him, or while he listened to an audiobook. He’d reach for books without me and start “reading” them, even if he was just pretending. 

When he was about 3 ½, we were driving in the car one day, and he said, “Mama, what is Toys… R… Us?” He had simply looked out the window and read the sign himself. When we got home, I pulled out a new early reader book and sat down with him. Sure enough, the child could read! He never had a stumbling-through and sounding-out phase. A few months later, I got him the Frog and Toad Storybook Collection, and he read it fluently. 

I know this isn’t the story for every child. It wasn’t even my daughter’s, who grew up in the same home and learned to read a couple of years later. 

My daughter loved being read to and listening to audiobooks as much as her big brother. It wasn’t until about age 4 ½ that she started asking to learn how to read like her brother. When she started saying this, we started working together here and there. I’d gently invite her to read with me and point out different words. Then I would let her take a turn trying. I mostly leaned into her interest and let it lead the way. I was merely making space to introduce her to new books and inviting her in when she was ready. It wasn’t forced, and there was no pressure. I wanted her to take the lead and have ownership.

A few years later, my third son was less interested in reading at a young age, so I didn’t start trying until he was a little older and in formal school lessons, during first grade. I used components of My Father’s World first grade curriculum, Learning God’s Story, and readers from Dash into Learning. He also loved Bob Books, and became more motivated to read once we started using those. By age 6 ½ he was reading fluently.

My youngest daughter was eager to learn around the same time as my third son. She learned to read around age 4 ½, and learned more organically, by just sounding out words I read to her. She got the hang of reading quickly, in part because of watching her older siblings during their reading time and homeschool lessons. Once she could read, I gave her a lot of beginner books and trips to the library to keep her moving forward.

From alphabet to books: Five steps for teaching a child how to read

Not all children will naturally learn how to read, or learn to read independently. Some children will be eager to learn, and others will need gentle encouragement to learn how reading works. When children need assistance to move to the next level, this is the approach I take. We work on reading together, trying to build on their own reading readiness as much as possible. 

These could be steps you start when children are toddlers, during the preschool years, or in kindergarten. There is no right or wrong timeline. The key is making reading engaging and interesting so kids will stick with it instead of feeling frustrated or defeated.

We follow these steps gradually, moving forward when the child shows excitement and interest in letters and reading. I like to focus on mastery before moving ahead too quickly. I don’t want reading to feel overwhelming, or worse, become frustrating. 

• Step 1: Introduce letter sounds and names. Start with the letters in a child’s name, with both uppercase and lowercase letters. (This is the method we use in Treehouse Story School: Preschool.) Beginning with the letters in a child’s name helps them become familiar with letters and make connections to their real life. Once they have learned the letters in their name, continue teaching other letters of the alphabet. You can teach letters one at a time, then connect them to other things they know, like words in a storybook or household items. Make it exciting and playful as you learn new things together.
• Step 2: Begin practicing blending sounds and sounding out short words. Encourage children to slowly sound out the words they see, starting with CVC words (three-letter, single-syllable words that follow a consonant-vowel-consonant pattern). After they have correctly said all of the phonics in a word, prompt children to say all of the sounds together, quickly. For example, for the word “cat,” children would sound out c, a, and t, then blend the sounds quickly to say “cat.”
• Step 3: Learn sight words. Through reading books and exposure, once children have mastered letters and letter sounds and generally understand how reading works, they can begin to learn the words they see. I don’t do this through separate memorization, but just through exposure by being read to and tracking words with their eyes and fingers.
• Step 4: Learn letter blends and digraphs such as str, bl, sh, and gr. After children can read CVC words, they can learn new letter blends and start to understand the sounds that different words make. The key here is introducing new words and sounds slowly so children maintain their confidence when reading. Keep them moving along and enjoying the story, not getting lost figuring it out. Using beginner reader books (books where they know about 90 percent of the words) will help.
• Step 5: Practice reading beginner books aloud often, continually progressing in skill level. Children will learn so much from listening to books being read aloud. As you read together, they are learning more than you think. It will exponentially help them hear and comprehend new vocabulary. You can read books aloud, or you can take turns reading aloud to each other. However you do it, enjoy this sweet time with your child!

Teaching letters and reading through multi-sensory experiences

As your child is learning the letters of the alphabet and how reading works, pulling in hands-on learning activities can be a fun way to bring reading to life. 

You can connect letters your child has learned with silly movement games, spelling words with a movable alphabet, playing simple games with alphabet cards, writing words in a salt tray, or forming letters with clay. You can have them paint simple words with watercolor paint or write words outside with sidewalk chalk. 

See more hands-on activities for letters and reading in this blog post.

Frequently asked questions about teaching children to read

• How do I know when my child is ready or advanced enough to learn how to read? There are a lot of answers to this question, but personally, I think the key is letting your child take the lead. If they ask you how to read, or start trying to figure out words, they are ready. Don’t worry about whether they are reading by a certain age or by comparison with others.
• What if my child is older and isn’t interested in reading or still hasn’t learned how to read? We love the idea of learning through a child’s interests. If they reach an older age, like 7-10, and haven’t fully learned how to read or are not showing interest, we recommend continuing to read aloud, offering audiobooks or Yoto stories, and continuing to offer new ways to read.
• What are your favorite resources for phonics, grammar, and spelling? I have used a variety of resources over the years. The tools I am using this year for my younger two children are shared in this blog post.
• How long should you spend each day teaching your child to read once they show interest? I begin by keeping it short, like 5-10 minutes, or 1-2 pages of a book. You can still spend more time reading together, and you should, but you only need small amounts of time daily to work on reading mechanics together. This gives kids enough exposure without overwhelming them.
• My child has asked to read but feels frustrated when we work together. Any tips? I would recommend keeping it short and coming back to it daily if they are asking to learn but are getting frustrated when you read together. Start by asking a child if they are ready to work on reading, and do small amounts until they seem ready to learn more. I also love the idea of changing the setting, like reading outside on a blanket, going to the library, reading at a grandparent’s house, or another setting to mix it up and have fun.
• What books are good for my children to read once they have mastered reading? Once they understand how reading works, beginner readers are great to offer your child. These books are full of simple words that help kids get into the rhythm of reading new stories and turning pages to build confidence and enjoyment of reading. Grab the free book list in this blog post.

Have you taught your child how to read? How did it go? Share your thoughts in the comments below.