My Struggle With Teaching Reading

When I began home schooling ten years ago I was not quite sure what this journey would look like or where it would lead me.  I knew I would tech my children the basic subjects that all children learn at school, but I could not imagine what it would be like to teach these subjects.  Through the years there has been many moments of both triumph and failure in every subject I have taught, but teaching my children to read has been the most challenging.

When we began home schooling my oldest daughter in the second grade she was a confident reader that understood phonics and needed very little help from me.  I considered this to be a great relief because I had little knowledge or understand phonics.  We both just did the best we knew how and we got along quite well.

A few years later it was time to start teaching my next child how to read.  When I began researching phonics curriculums and talking with fellow home schooling moms I realized I had a lot to learn.  I remember having a phonics conversation with another mother, she was telling how her child was struggling with all the different sounds an “a” can make.  I just smiled and listened because I was clueless!  I had no recollection of learning phonics as a child and the knowledge of phonics I did have was not going to be enough to teach another person to read.  This was clearly going to be an uphill battle for me and I was not feeling hopeful.

Over the years I have read many books on educating children, researched and used many different curriculums, acquired countless hours of on the job training and even take a few college courses on teaching.  After all this hard work and dedication, I can now say that I have taught my three youngest children how to read using phonics and have helped my oldest daughter with some remedial phonics work.  Teaching my children to read has often felt like an endless marathon with no one on the sidelines to cheer me on.  (Though my husband has always been there to cheer me on and help me.)  About two weeks ago as I was doing reading time with my youngest I realized he knew how to read and he needs very little help from me.  At that moment, a burden lifted from my shoulders and I felt like doing cartwheels through the yard!  Oh, happy day; my three youngest children can read and I am the one who taught them!  I am still working on strengthening their reading skills but the hardest part is in the rearview (or so I hope)!

In my eyes this is one of my greatest accomplishments.  I started with limited knowledge on a subject, then I educated myself on the matter and passed my knowledge on to other people.  As a result, my children can now read thus opening countless doors of opportunity and adventure to them.  I feel like I have given them a priceless gift that was paid for through my hard work and determination.  Words cannot express the joy I have in my heart when I see my children reading.