Homeschool parents are highly invested in finding the best instructional materials. But what are the most important components of a highly effective reading program, and what are the best ways to implement it? These are important questions to consider, since a child's reading ability impacts all academic areas.

Many kids struggle to read, despite being bright. The literacy statistics are very concerning:

Only 35% of 4th graders and 34% of 8th graders tested as proficient in reading on the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress. Moreover, these results have remained steady year after year. School-based reading instruction, and many homeschool curricula as well, often fail to adequately build very important skills that students need to become fluent readers.

Phonemic awareness, phonics and decoding ability are critical for reading and spelling success. These skills are strong in fluent readers. Academic skills can only truly improve if these reading-related skills are intact. Phonemic awareness refers to the ability to:

* Perceive sounds that make up words (called phonemes)

* Make changes with sounds within words

* Blend sounds together to form words

Kids also need strong phonics skills, to quickly retrieve the sounds represented by graphemes (letters or letter combinations). When kids are explicitly taught how to blend sounds while decoding they better learn the process of reading. A child needs to be able to apply these skills quickly and automatically. Yet most programs don't teach the process of decoding and blending written words.

Your child can become a skilled reader by building foundational skills of phonemic awareness and letter-sound knowledge, along with learning how to decode words. When parents and teachers learn best practices to explicitly teach the process of decoding, their students make much greater gains. We need to give kids not just the key to the code, but instruction on how to turn they key! As they practice with teacher feedback, they develop the ability to decode new words on their own.

I also offer Homeschool Parent Coaching for parents of emerging or struggling readers. I guide parents on really effective strategies to help their child succeed in reading. I relay powerful instructional strategies that most teachers don't even know. You can sign up for just one session, or as many sessions you'd like to build your skill as an instructional guide. I coach parents, grandparents, other relatives, and general tutors. This can be a more cost-effective way to really help a student to make quicker gains in reading, which improves performance across all academic subjects. The strategies I teach are based on the science of reading.

Students make the quickest gains with a combination of student tutoring and parent coaching, but both aren't always needed. For students with mild reading difficulties, or for emerging/early readers, Parent Coaching can help create a learning environment where students make greater academic gains more quickly. The sooner a child learns to read, the sooner they can read to learn!

Reading programs often focus on context clues and reading comprehension strategies, but

if a child can't decode the words on the page, there's no way to comprehend what was read.

Many homeschool parents spend hours and hours trying to teach their kids to read, but many

children don't become fluent. The type of curriculum matters, and how the material is presented matters. Without training in reading instruction, it's difficult to be an effective reading teacher.

Some kids will pick up reading skills no matter how they're taught, as their brains rewire more

easily for reading, but many, many kids are left behind.

Building the foundation, paired with practice and meaningful feedback, makes all the

difference in learning to read. These collectively build fluency. The goal is to lift the words

off the page automatically.

Many curricula follow the science of reading, using a print-to-speech approach. While

print-to-speech approaches can be effective, they are still weighed down by certain features.

These programs typically present one phonogram at a time (such as 'ch' or 'ow'), which slows the process of learning. Further, they present many rules for reading and spelling, for which there are many exceptions. This confuses many kids, and taxes their working memory.

Kids learn to read much more quickly through more powerful curricula using a speech-to-print approach, which leverages a child's natural oral language ability. These programs do not rely on rules, but instead focus on sound-based language patterns. This type of instruction builds reading circuitry in the brain much more readily.

Using simplified, powerful, evidence-based teaching methods results in the quickest and greatest gains in reading. This allows kids to become more capable and successful in all academic areas, which enhances self-efficacy and self-esteem. Imagine how much your child can achieve when reading skills are more in line with true potential.

I offer:

* Parent coaching geared specifically to the homeschool community

* Many years of evaluating and diagnosing students with dyslexia and learning disabilities, which gives me insight into the different underlying reasons that students struggle. I can uniquely and holistically tailor instruction to your child's specific needs.

* Use of highly effective programs

I specialize in reading programs that:

* Use evidence-based direct instruction

* Have simplified designs that focus on key skills

* Use a speech-to-print approach that fast-tracks reading progress

* Teach decoding for words with more than one syllable (usually not taught in school)

* Give kids lots of practice and feedback

* Use engaging reading materials that reinforce learned letter-sound patterns

* Focus on handwriting, spelling and writing skills

* Include lessons in vocabulary and morphology (the study of meaningful word parts)

Using a simplified and focused design with engaging materials builds reading fluency more quickly than traditional phonics programs.

I use state-of-the-art platforms, apps and tools to complement my teaching, coaching and intervention services.

I personally conduct all learning sessions. My educational practice is focused on early emergent readers, struggling readers and students with learning disabilities. Additionally, I help homeschool parents to provide the best possible academic plan, based on individual student needs. You can speed up learning with better teaching strategies and more effective reading instruction. Student tutoring and homeschool parent coaching are a powerful combination, leading to accelerated achievement. It's supercharged instruction!

I curate high quality educational content by top-notch thinkers, educators, researchers, and psychologists, and my clients benefit from this knowledge.

Feel free to call me at 954 423 4231 to ask any questions you have about teaching your child to read. I provide in-person services in Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie and Broward counties, and online as well. I look forward to hearing from you.