I have started homeschooling my five children, any tips for how to get them to read.?

Question

I have a two yold and he remembers most things i read and then will read the book to me. how ever three of my older kids, hate to read and everything to do with it.what do i do.

Answer 1

Here's an interesting activity that I did with a summer day care group and they LOVED it. We read Holes. We did it as a read aloud (nothing wrong with reading to them!) but you could have them read independently.) Then we watched the movie. Then we had a group discussion: Which was better the movie or the book? (No wrong answer, but they had to explain why they felt that way.) Compare the two - what was the same, what was different. We did several books that way and the kids absolutely loved it. They made a whole list of books they wanted to do that activity with! Also, kids will do what is modeled for them. Do you read for pleasure? Read when they're around. Read funny books. (Dave Barry is hilarious.) When you are laughing over something, read it aloud to them. Read magazines and the newspaper, and say Wow, this article is so interesting. It's about..... (choose subjects you know they like, sports, animals, science, whatever). If you get excited over it, they probably will too. It won't be an immediate thing, but be patient and persistent. These things will work!

I also gotta tell you that what your 2 year old is doing is truly an early reading behavior and is very much to be encouraged and referred to as reading! "Picture reading" and "retelling" are foundations of reading, and encouraging those behaviors is a great way to make sure that a toddler progresses to become a fan of reading!

Answer 2

You just read to them. When they need to read they will. Kids are like that. You didn't give their ages? But I would really suggest you do unit studies. Choose a book, or novel, such as Little House in the Big Woods. Let that be your start point and create everything around that. When you get to the wolf parts, study wolves online. Have each older kid research wolves. Each has to have a fact. Make index cards of the facts you gather up and create a poster from it. Make a word wall with wolf words- ferocious, predator, carnivore, nocturnal, etc. Just use cheap index cards to create words walls.
The idea is to find something you can all study together and make projects from that. Create a 9-patch quilt using pieces of the 20cent walmart felt. Have each kid decorate their "patch" with permament markers or crayons. Just do things together. Assign different levels of work to each child based on their learning level. Homeschool and school at home are two different things. Relax and enjoy your kids. Don't let things reach the frustration level.

Answer 3

How often do you and your spouse/partner read for yourself and how many books do you have in your house? As Leslie B mentioned in her answer, almost all children will emulate behavior they seen, especially if it look like the person doing it is enjoying themselves. Spend a little of time each day on the sofa reading something, an informative magazine article, the newspaper comics, an engaging novel, anything! Your children need to see that reading is engaging and something that adults enjoy.

Answer their question through books. Spend several weeks researching their questions in the library. Seeing Squidward brings up an inquiry about squids? Check out a book on marine biology. Coloring elicits a questions about artists? Check out a book on art history. In addition to gathering info for yourself on their particular interests, you're introducing them to the idea that books hold all the answers! With five children this won't be simple, but heres some radical advice - drop everything else but reading and fostering a love of reading for at least the next two months. Reading is by far the most important thing you will teach your child and is instrumental in life-long learning, so it is worth the investment!

Litter your house with books. Go to the library, visit the bookstore. Books are super cheap at second hand stores and yardsales. Invest in a set of encyclopedias (used sets that are only a couple years old are available by the dozens in used bookstores and thrift shops). What are your children interested in? Its a well known fact that children can and will absorb knowledge considered 'above' their age group if they have a burning interest in the subject. Same goes for genre interests - if you're trying to get your mystery lover into period fantasy you've already lost the fight, but if you get the right book into their hands they'll become voracious readers. Enlist the help of your librarian, bookseller, friends, hs moms, etc. - each will be able to give you a ton of books children they know have enjoyed. And read the books yourself as well. Not only will you be able to discuss them with your child, you may discover a gem that you enjoy too.

As I mentioned above, a love of reading is easily the most important educational tool you can give your child. Help them to discover everything books have to offer and in addition to fostering life-long learning, your entire homeschool journey will be a breeze!

Answer 4

Not sure how old the other kids are. If they have the ability to read, just don't like to, then try a silly circle.

You can either have a book for each kid or they can pass around the book.

Each child has to read a paragraph, but they have to use a silly voice, make faces if they want too. You start the circle off, be as silly as you can be. If you have goofy kids like I do, you can even pick a character in the book to dress as; something as simple as a hat or as elaborate head to toe.

Good luck

Answer 5

You did not state how old the other children were, or how they may have developed a dislike for reading.
Reading is important, because it is the door to knowledge, and independent learning.

Some idea's are:
Depending on their ages, take them to library story hours, or at Barnes and Noble.
Get books that teach with humor, or crafts if they like that.
Kaleidoscope kids books by Williamson publishing are great for that.
Get some magazines for kids, let them spend time reading on the computer.
Books on tape, I bought a whole Adventures in Odyssey collection, and there are many others.
Here is a web site where you can download many books for free. http://www.free-books.org/

Keep reading aloud, we still do, and we all enjoy it.
I have only one that is not a natural reader, and she still will not pick up just any book, it really has to interest her, or have a purpose.
Just be patient, and always have plenty of interesting reading materials available for them to pick up.

Answer 6

Your 2yo is probably not really reading the book to you. If you point out the words going in reverse order, can the child still tell you the words? If you point to a word on any given page (with the picture hidden), can he tell you the word? If he can, this is an EXTREME and is considered hyperlexia.

You don't say how old your other kids are, if they are already able to read or if you are trying to teach them to read. So, some general comments and advice:

Kids hate to read if you force too much too soon, if their skills are weak and find it frustrating, or if they're forced to read things they don't enjoy. If they already know how to read, set up a mandatory reading time each day, starting with 15 minutes. They read any book they want (of course, within reason--a 7yo shouldn't be reading The Shining, for example). Gradually extend it to 30 minutes.

Make sure to have a read-aloud time together each day--have the kids help you pick out books for you to read aloud to them.

If you have been giving in at any sign of complaint to do with reading, then their current behaviour may have nothing to actually do with reading but with a set in role and behaviour. You make some small requirement, enforce it each day despite the complaints, and they will get used to it. I know one mom whose son started homeschooling in grade 4. He said he HATED to be read to, but he and his sister were read to every day. He ended up loving being read to. Part of it was how the things were read to him--much livelier than his previous teachers had done. Part of it was that some good stories were picked and decided up with his input. He got to a point of complaining when the read-aloud time was over and would ask for another chapter to be read.

If your kids were in public school previous to this, then they will have been forced to read all kinds of things they didn't enjoy. Make reading a pleasurable occasion. Be pleasant about it. Make sure to read on your own so you have interesting things from your book you can share (yes, even you can read kids' novels now and then). Following through on establishing a new routine doesn't mean being an ogre about it; just be pleasant and say, "This is our new routine. Pick any book you would like to read for the next 15 minutes and read." It doesn't matter if they pick a book that is way below their ability. Right now, the focus is on letting them read what they want so they see reading as a pleasurable activitiy.

If any of your kids are actually lagging in reading skills and that's the reason why they hate reading, find a phonics-based program like Phonics Pathways or Reading Reflex to work a bit on each day. As their confidence builds, so will their interest in reading.

Answer 7

When i was a kid, i had this A-Z book. It had names of animals ,fruits, countries, things from A-Z. Those things help a loot. It increases your interest and also helps in your general knowledge.( Most are illustrated and you can find one in the local library or shop!)

I also was let to watch plenty of movies and games (with subtitles on) so it helped my understanding and reading ability.

http://www.educational-software-directory.net/children's/reading.html
This site has some software, which will interest the children into reading.

I think youve done a good choice by homeschooling, so they dont pick up stupid accents or swear words.
But ido think you should send them to a normal school before their teens, as it is the time where you make most of your friends.

Also keep plenty of books around the house, so when they are bored, the dont just pick up the TV Remote.(Limit their TV viewing

Answer 8

Reading should be fun and interesting. Perhaps you could read aloud and let the kids listen to books on tape. Living books would also be helpful. Living books are books that come to life i your mind as you read. Nothing worse than reading twaddle!

I have a site that focuses on reading.

http://www.squidoo.com/everybodycanread/

HTH

Answer 9

I am sure you have tried reading to them...if that doesn't work...
The older kids might like PC ( learning games) that are fun - kinda tricks them into reading.
Also, my guy really likes kids magazines.
They have quick short articles that are cool and interesting to him....he reads all the time now.
Also, fact books for kids, almanacs, mysteries, animals, nature....fun to read material.
Good luck.

Answer 10

Sometimes it's finding the right thing to read. Mysteries, sci-fi, westerns, comic books. Who cares, it's reading.