Teaching Kids to Read

Although I’m a certified teacher and have been “taught” to teach kids how to read, I’ve found that the  success to teaching reading,  whether I’m in a public school classroom, tutoring or homeschooling my kids, is to make it fun. Other teachers and parents tend to get stressed out with teaching reading because they focus so much on formal guidelines i.e state standards. They think, “This child should be reading by this age or grade”. That is true if your child is in public school. However, the stress and pressure can decrease student motivation and produce anxiety. These two are never a good combo for learning a new skill including reading.

When I teach kids to read I follow these simple steps and I have a 100% success rate with teaching a child to read in less than 6 months if they are 3+ and in 1 year if they are toddlers ages 2-3. Both of my boys were reading by age 3. My Kindergartner is reading one grade level ahead and my 3rd grader is reading at 5th grade level. These levels include fluency and comprehension based on the IOWA test of basic skills and the DIBELS reading fluency test.

Here are my 5 steps:

1. Read DAILY! 

2. Sing! Music is a natural mnemonic tool. 


3. Write daily! 

4. Play! In our home, gameschooling is a big concept. Kids learn when they are having fun and are engaged. 

5. Observe and Talk! Talking to your children about their day increases their vocabulary. 

Here are the basics skills that I believe should be apart of every beginning reading curriculum and that I focus on when teaching reading to children.


If you want to learn more about how I teach kids to read in less than 6 months, please visit my website and book a session with me. Your session will include 30 minutes of one-on-one consultation as well as a downloadable step-by-step guide to teaching your child to read in 6 months.