How to Teach a Child to Read

How do you teach a child to read? This question is big. It has been my very favorite part of homeschooling/parenting so far. There is something SO magical about teaching your child to read. I cannot even begin to describe the pride you will feel when you know that you are the one who taught your kid to read, and not someone else. My son is 5 and is reading so well and any time he sounds out new words and surprises me I just get giddy! I want to start by saying, obviously every child is different. What works for one child may not work for another. That being said, this book guys... this book The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading: This book is amazing. It is so perfect. We started this book last year before I had my baby. My son was four and he sped through it. He was reading in no time! He learned to read so fast. It is such a simple book and it is all scripted so you know what to say. You don't need a fancy program or an expensive program. This is so simple and it WORKS! I cannot say enough good things about the Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading. We stopped doing the book after I had my baby and I think we were on lesson 40 or so. But even at that point he was reading so well. Now that we are doing Kindergarten, we started the book again. We started a few lessons before 40 to review. Now we are at lesson 80 and I'm so amazed. The book progresses so nicely. I highly recommend everyone at least TRY this book if you are trying to teach your child to read. Maybe there is a copy at the library? I have no idea! It is so inexpensive! Let me know if you've tried it and love it (or hate it?). I will try to post a video tomorrow of my five year old and his (current) reading skills, thanks to the Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading.

Learn the Short Vowel Sounds Song for Kids

Learn the Short Vowel Sound of U Song for Kids

Learn the Short Vowel Sound of O Song for Kids

Learn the Short Vowel Sound of I Song for Kids

Learn the Short Vowel Sound of E Song for Kids

Learn the Short Vowel Sound of A Song for Kids

Learn the Five Vowels Song for Kids

Learn the Alphabet Song for Kids

Learn the Consonants Song for Kids

Learn the Hard G Phonics Rule Song For Kids- Learn to Read Series

This is a song to teach kids the hard g rule for phonics. Learning when a g is hard and soft is an important step in learning to read. This is a part of my Learn to Read Series.



Hard G is usually followed by an a, o, or u or a consonant. There are a few exceptions to this rule, which we will go over in a future video.

Learn the Hard C Phonics Rule Song For Kids- Learn to Read Series

This is a song to teach kids the hard c rule for phonics. Learning when a c is hard and soft is an important step in learning to read. This is a part of my Learn to Read Series. 

Hard C is usually followed by an a, o, or u or a consonant.

Learn the Soft G Phonics Rule Song For Kids- Learn to Read Series

This is a song to help kids remember the soft g rule. Soft g is usually followed by an e, i, or y as in gem, ginger, or gymnastics.

Learn the Soft C Phonics Rule Song For Kids- Learn to Read Series

Here is a song to teach kids the soft c rule. Soft c is usually followed by an e, i, or y. Soft c says "sss" as in cell.

Four Oceans Song for Kids

This is a song to each the kids the names and locations of the four oceans. I also have a video for the five oceans, which includes the Southern Ocean.

Five Oceans Song for Kids

This is a song to help kids learn the names and locations of the five oceans of the world. Some people teach that there are five oceans while some still teach just the four (Atlantic, Arctic, Pacific, and Indian). I have a video for the four oceans as well. But if you want to teach five, then this video is for you!

Learn the States Song for Kids- Northern Border of the United States

This is a song for kids to learn the names and locations of the states on the northern border of the United States.

How to Use Songs to Teach Children

Each child learns differently. This is so important to remember. And what works for one child may not work for another child. I am learning this with my own children right now. But so far, one thing that does help all of my children remember things easily is making up a song. I am a highly musical person and so this works to help me remember things as well. But music may not be what helps your child remember things and that is quite okay! You will find what works best for you and then utilize that! I am homeschooling my kindergartener as well as my three year old. I have a ten month old as well, so we stay quite busy. Songs make everything a bit more fun. We can dance around as we review whatever we are learning. We can sing the songs in the car, at bath time, outside playing, ANYWHERE! We can take the learning with us! So what I like to do is make up a little song about whatever it is we are learning at the moment, and just include the basics of what we are learning. Then the children memorize that song and then we can elaborate on the facts later. If the song is about planets, for example. We can memorize our planet song so the kids know the names of the eight planets. Then throughout the week we can get books from the library about the planets, print out coloring pages about the planets, make planets from play-doh, etc. You get the idea. Take the song, and then learn more about that throughout the week, but then your child will have that basic knowledge from the song stuck in their heads and will be able to recall the information they know more easily. That's how it works for us, and I hope it can work for you too! I'm not a fan of too much technology. I don't really like children learning by playing electronic games or ipads and computers or watching movies. That's basically why my videos that I am making are more for the parents to watch and learn and then teach to the child. That's why I try to keep them simple. I hope you will have fun learning with us!

Learn the States Song for Kids- Southern Border of the United States

Do you want to teach your child the names and locations of the United States? Start here! We will work our way through the 50 states in small chunks, with a song for each chunk. This is just the southern border of the United States here. I will add more parts later. Let your child master each part before moving on to memorizing the next part. After we go through each state, we will work on state capitals together. Exciting! Geography is so important and children are able to absorb all of this information so easily! So here are the southern border states California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida!

Five Senses Song for Kids- LONG Version

This is a longer version of the five senses songs with an example of each sense.

After the children has the senses memorized you can go into each sense more in depth.

Five Senses Song for Kids

A super short tune to help kids remember the five senses. Quick little songs are great for their memories. Their brains are like sponges when they are young and they will soak up that information. Then once they have that information memorized you can elaborate on each of the five senses and discuss the topics more in depth.

Planets in our Solar System Song for Kids

Here is a catchy little song to help kids remember the names of the eight planets in our solar system. It's short and easy which is important to help kids remember the information. You can point to pictures of the planets as you sing along!

Seven Continents Song

Here is a very short and catchy tune to help your children remember the names of the seven continents. Geography is so important!

Teach Your Child to Spell His or Her Name

One important thing for a child to learn while she is young is how to spell her name. I have a little song that I sang with my children that helped them learn how to spell their name in just one day. It's a cute little familiar tune that you spell their name out with. It can work with long names or short names with some modifications. I have not found any name that it can't work for, but if you have an exceptionally tricky name that you can't figure out how to make it fit, email me! I will be happy to help you!

Teaching Children With Songs

Who doesn't love music? I don't think I know one person that doesn't like music. I believe that children are sponges just waiting to soak up information. I also feel that they are capable of memorizing almost anything! My intent with this page is to create little jingles to help children memorize a variety of facts. If you have a suggestion for a topic for us to cover, please let me know!