Education & Language Update (Homeschooling: Reading)

As I've become more and more interested in incorporating preschool activities in our day to keep us busy, break up our day, provide learning opportunities for Natalia, and homeschooling practice for me, I started to wonder about one skill in particular that is one of the first to be mentioned among preschooling families: reading.  I hadn't really thought about the fact that I was going to have to teach Natalia to read when I decided to homeschool.  I thought of all the different content areas (subjects) that we'd explore together, and I sort of took the reading bit for granted.

So I frantically researched what the options were.  I keep hearing about phonics everywhere, as if it's God's gift to literacy, but I've always despised flashcards and never utilized them in my own studies, and I certainly didn't see myself using them to drill phonics.  Nor did I envision drilling anything.  Memorization was not part of my goal for homeschooling, period.  The whole-language alternative seemed to be essentially the same thing - flashcards and memorization - but of entire words instead of parts of words.  I kept thinking, there's got to be a better way.

I googled "can kids teach themselves to read", and imagine my delight when I realized why I had a hunch that everyone seemed to be making it sound much more difficult than it needed to be.  I had previously read a book by John Holt, considered the father of unschooling, where he describes how young children pick up reading and basic math skills on their own, without formal teaching.  I had actually recently left a facebook group for unschooling preschool because I decided I didn't see myself utilizing the approach broadly to all of Natalia's education.

But here I was, back in unschooling, and I realized that when it comes to the basic skills that Natalia will inevitably learn, unschooling is the most natural alternative, and the path of least resistance.  As I read this article in Psychology Today on the subject, I was instantly reminded of how simple it was for Natalia to gain 90% potty independence at the age of 18 months.  I certainly don't consider us as having taught her how to go on the potty instead of in a diaper.  Instead, we had observed her, noticed she was showing signs of readiness, and provided an environment conducive to going on the potty. Within weeks she was sleeping diaper-free and staying diaper-free at home all day.  When we're out and about, she usually goes on the toilet,either prompted or when she announces she has to go.  We keep her in a diaper on longer trips outside the home (we call this her "backup system") because accidents do happen once in a while, especially when she's engrossed in some activity, and it's a lot easier to clean up at home than elsewhere!

But anyway, as I was reading the article on kids teaching themselves to read, I saw the parallels between that and potty independence.  I thought, my job in regards to Natalia's reading is the same as it was with potty "training".  Watch for signs of readiness, surround her with the written word, have her see me reading, read to her, point out letters and numbers, practice writing them, but do all of these things in bits and pieces as part of a larger play time, with no particular set goal in mind, and certainly no drilling!

She is already showing some of the early signs of reading readiness.  She has a book area in the room where books are displayed and rotated, as well as a bucket of books next to her potty that she utilizes frequently throughout the day.  She knows which way to hold the book (turns them when they're upside down), she knows to turn the pages from left to right (though she's browsing, so she goes back and forth as she studies the pictures - truth be told, I read magazines from back to front or middle to wherever, so it's not that strange!), she follows text with her finger (from left to right, might I add), and pretends to read.  These are all signs of early reading readiness.

But, unlike what some advice givers would have me do, this doesn't mean that I should step in and ruin the process for her by introducing formal academics, drilling, flashcards, memorization, worksheets, what have you.  Why do people not see that if she's managed to get this far all on her own, the most prudent thing to do is to keep doing what we're doing, namely not interfering, but rather guiding and encouraging!