Reading Before “Reading Time”
Reading begins before decoding. It begins in a home where language is plentiful, where words are spoken clearly, where stories are heard again and again, where names are attached to things, where memory is fed by rhyme, cadence, repetition, and delight.
Learning to Read as You Live
Reading By The Way will be about preparing that ground without hurrying the child into abstraction before the child is ready.
- Tell the same stories often enough that the child begins to carry them inwardly
- Read aloud at predictable times so books belong to the daily rhythm
- Notice letters on signs and packages without turning every outing into a quiz
- Fill the house with good language before expecting formal reading habits
- Let rhyme, recitation, and remembered phrases do their quiet work
Reading should come by way of speech, memory, affection, and repeated encounter with good words.
Infant
The infant guide will begin with naming, singing, rhyme, and hearing good language often enough for it to take root.
Toddler
The toddler guide will turn toward memory, recitation, story, and the first delight in marks, signs, and repeated phrases.
Elementary
The elementary guide will take up formal reading without severing it from affection, speech, and the life of the household.
Tell me which reading guides you want first
I want the reading curriculum to keep faith with childhood and with the home. If you tell me where you most want help first, I can build in that order.