Photo taken by Ester Schlimper
The process of becoming a good reader is one that is nurtured over several years, but most especially during the 'critical stages' of a child's development. A dedicated, loving, and supportive parent will begin that nurturing at birth.
They do so by reading to their children, playing and singing nursery rhymes, engaging in conversation, and stimulating their environment through age appropriate toys, games, computer introduction, and most importantly, through individual attention. These activities help children build skills necessary for more formal reading instruction in their elementary years. Yet, as we find more and more children entering pre-school and kindergarten at rates that continue to increase, one has to question if whether these pre-reading skills will continue to be developed in a fashion that will ultimately result in a good reader?
The reason is that these pre-k and kindergarten schools tend to focus on a collective group lesson of either phonics or whole word instruction instead of treating each child as an individual learner. Moreover, as children move to first grade, instruction can become even more varied dependent on the school. Many times, the only individual instruction a teacher may have the time to give is that which is provided by a software supplemental reading program that may be found in the classroom. Thus the once individualized attention that these youngsters received at home is being replaced by institutionalized lessons that no longer foster critical reading interaction. Struggling readers are usually only identified when they are no longer able to keep up making it that much more difficult for them to succeed.
Evidence of our poor reading instruction in the school system is seen in the literacy scores published in the Department of Education’s 2009 Condition of Education Special Report. The PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) scores of 4th graders showed the U.S. ranked 10th among 45 participating countries, a decline from 2006. Clearly, the current system does not work.
In contrast to a regular school setting where individualized instruction is lost, a parent can find tremendous benefits of homeschooling their beginning reader throughout their pre-k and elementary years. These benefits can help give homeschoolers an edge in ultimately developing good readers.
Among these benefits are:
- Reading Instruction selection: unlike a public school or traditional private school, a parent will be able to decide what reading program and curriculum will most benefit their children.
- Individualized instruction: parents will be able to set the pace of instruction in a manner that will allow the children time for practice and mastery.
- Daily evaluation: as parents work with their children on a one on one basis, they will be able to identify areas where their children may be struggling such as phonemic awareness, phonics, and fluency.
- Comprehension and retention: through use of narration practices rather than computerized tests as seen very often in public schools, parents can ensure retention of materials read.
- Vocabulary and Spelling Instruction: a recommended phonics based curriculum can help parents ensure their children have mastery of vocabulary and spelling rules.
- Literature selection: homeschooling parents can help children choose books that will enrich their instruction such as those found in a classical curriculum.
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