Teach Your Child to Read

When I signed up for the home schooling thing I was afraid the most about teaching my kids to read. Even though I am a teacher by trade, the responsibility of teaching a child to read has always weighed heavy on me. My oldest was a late bloomer but I wouldn't say he is learning disabled. Now he is a fluent and voracious reader. My middle has had a rough start on reading because of his life experiences and the moves he was forced to endure set him back developmentally but now he is taking off and I'm very proud of his progress.

My third is a different story. I am so glad I've been at this for a while now or else I may be panicking more (I say more because there are days I am surly panicking). She too has seen more than her share of sorrows at the tender age of seven but in most ways you would never know it. While her brother has consistently struggled with anxiety, she has slowly but steadily accepted and embraced her new family with increasing trust (and dare I say, joy?). Developmentally, she has surpassed her brother because she is more relaxed and therefore is more able to grow. I am proud of her too. She has overcome so much and is a joy to be with (after about 10am LOL).

This reading thing has taken her for a spin though. After taking some courses this spring about learning disabled kids and how to do therapy with them in your home, I was both encouraged and sad. I could see the writing on the wall for her and knew we both had a mountain of work ahead of us. So, while her brother has flown through "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" she continues to struggle along behind him, working at an agonizing pace. We have been doing the prescribed excersizes and I can see they are helping but she continues to feel like she doesn't measure up and my heart breaks for her. I cannot wait until the day when she follows in her brothers' footsteps and cracks open her first "real" book. Until then, I am saddened to watch her sit on the floor with piles of books (not picture books, chapter books) next to her, turning the pages and looking, looking at the words. She wants it so bad! Keep on working, Rosie girl!data:post.body