6 Get-It-Done Resources for Helping Your Homeschooler Learn to Read

Teaching your kids to read can be a daunting experience.  With so many resources available, what resources are good?  What if your kids have different learning styles? And do you really need all those suggested supplements?

In a recent video, I shared the reading journeys of my kiddos.  They all came to reading through different journeys but a few resources stayed the same.

Progressive Phonics

Progressive Phonics has books starting with the earliest of readers (those just learning their letters) through a more advanced reader (multi-syllabic words) and they are FREE.  Designed to be read with the parent, each person reads assigned text (black for parents, red for the child).  The readers pair well with phonics programs, like Explode the Code, or could be used as a stand-alone program.
{Watch my video review.}

(Truly!) Beginner Readers

Oh, how I love the BOB Books!  They were one of my first homeschool purchases and have been a constant over our nine years.  All of my kids have outgrown them by now but, occasionally, I still see them pick one up.  Simple illustrations, funny stories and just the right repetition of words & characters throughout the books.
{Watch my video review.}

A Get-It-Done Phonics

Explode the Code is another one that has been a constant throughout our homeschool journey.  They remind me of the BOB books–clear, simple illustrations, just the right amount of repetition. 

The eight books will take your child from learning their vowel sounds & blends up through multi-syllabic & irregular words and paragraph reading.  Each book takes approximately 10-12 weeks and my kids have taken right around two years to finish their books.

{Watch my video review.}

Bear Necessities

A rather unknown but strong program is Bear Necessities.  For a child who is quick to catch on, this may be a great choice.  It is straightforward with a repetitive format that is easy to stop & start each lesson.
{Watch me teach a lesson of it.}

Yes, Audiobooks.

Audiobooks may seem like a strange recommendation for teaching kids to read.  While a child isn’t sitting down and reading an audiobook, several things ARE happening inside their brains.  The reader learns vocabulary, learns to love literature, experiences decreased decoding anxiety, and increases their comprehension levels. 

While you may not see an immediate payoff, as you would with curriculum, think of it as a long-term game.

For the under-8 crowd, some of our favorite audiobooks are A Bear Called Paddington, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, Winnie The Pooh (free with Audible Channels), the Ramona Quimby books, the Fudge series and the Boxcar Children series.

Phonics Pathways

My middle kiddo was entirely resistant to learning to read.  I was confident he’d pick it up quickly but getting him started was proving mighty difficult.  We tried a couple of things before I decided he just needed something that taught the basics, quickly and without much repetition. 

Our library had Phonics Pathways, so I grabbed it.  He didn’t love doing it but he was much less resistant to it than anything else we tried. It did the job, and before we were halfway through it, he was reading well enough that I switched to solely using Explode the Code plus reading books like Progressive Phonics & BOB Books.

{Despite not having a firm grasp of all his sounds when he turned 7, he was reading above grade level within six months and now, at 10, easily reads at a high school level.  My gut was right, he just needed a little pushing!}