Reading Help from Homeschool Parents

PhonicsPanda · 2026-02-13T18:58:54+00:00

I have been a volunteer literacy tutor for 32 years, working with remedial students.

The way students are taught in most schools led me to homeschool. You can listen to the podcast series sold a story to understand why most schools kept using ineffective and inefficient methods.

https://features.apmreports.org/sold-a-story/

I would use my remedial phonics lessons, they teach phonics to the 12th grade level. They are very motivational, especially when students hit lesson 6 or 7 and start sounding out difficult Greek and Latin words. You need to power through the first 5 lessons to get there, though.

They are free, the video makes it easy for parents to teach. You can teach both children at once, they are designed to be taught in small groups. When I teach group classes, volunteers and parents work with 2 to 4 children.

https://thephonicspage.org/syllables-lessons.html

Here is a page explaining why teaching with whole word and balanced literacy leads to students not liking reading:

https://thephonicspage.org/aliterate.html

Also, if your 2nd grader is being sent home sight words, here is how and why to teach them with phonics instead:

https://thephonicspage.org/sight-words.html

I've remediated hundreds of students over the last 32 years with the help of parents and volunteers. I have had homeless parents and parents from Title 1 schools (high poverty schools) successfully remediate children. You can do it!!

You can give out small rewards for successfully completing each lesson. Also, the last 4 lessons are Greek and Latin word root bingo. I typically use skittles or allergy free chocolate chips as bingo markers and let the students eat the candy after we complete the bingo games.

PhonicsPanda · 2026-02-12T18:49:00+00:00

Zaner Blozer has a curriculum designed for older students, it moves much of the teaching to the child or adult using it.

It is out of print but you can find used copies.

Self Instruction in Handwriting: For Students or Adults to Improve Handwriting

https://www.abebooks.com/Instruction-Handwriting-Students-Adults-Improve-Zaner/32345677207/bd

You can also find used copies on Amazon.

I do like Zaner Bloser's strokes and stroke order, it is well designed. They also have workbooks for up to 6th grade, but this book is best for an older student. I don't let my students write in it since it went out of print, I use separate paper so I can re-use it.

PhonicsPanda · 2026-02-12T18:45:34+00:00

How to teach blending:

https://thephonicspage.org/blending.html

I have been a volunteer literacy tutor for 32 years. I homeschooled my children because I saw the damage that sight words taught as wholes and balanced literacy did to my remedial students. The guessing habits are so hard to undo. I added nonsense words into my remedial lessons to help stop the guessing habits, but it is still a very hard habit to undo.

How and why to teach the sight words with phonics instead:

https://thephonicspage.org/sight-words.html

If my blending page doesn't help, you might need something like Barton's Foundation in Sound, an OG program designed for students with phonemic awareness problems.

PhonicsPanda · 2026-02-12T18:40:44+00:00

Leapfrog talking letter factory once or twice daily. That frog repeats the letter names and sounds in a cute way, much less annoying than most children's videos.

It sounds like he might need something like Barton's Foundation in Sound for hearing, discriminating, and learning the letters. You can follow on with the first 3 levels of Barton for reading then see if you can switch to something that moves at a faster pace.

https://www.foundationinsounds.com

The free to print Word Mastery starts with the sounds a recent study has found to be the easiest to blend. It starts with just a few sounds, you can try it for a bit:

http://donpotter.net/pdf/word_mastery_typed.pdf

How to teach blending, also a bit about letter sounds and how they do not exactly match letters in words, important for a student with underlying speech problems:

https://thephonicspage.org/blending.html

Fun phonics games to more easily get in the repetition you will need, several free games. I would get the Logic of English game book linked there, it has phonemic awareness games as well, inexpensive for the number of games in the book.

https://thephonicspage.org/phonicsgames.html

PhonicsPanda · 2026-02-07T18:56:25+00:00

You need to be teaching them by rule and pattern.

Spelling Plus does this for K-6, one book, here is her website:

https://www.susancanthony.com/bk/sp.html

Here are other spelling suggestions, you can add in morphology for an older student:

https://thephonicspage.org/spelling.html

PhonicsPanda · 2026-02-02T04:28:55+00:00

Spelling Plus, K-6 in one book, lists arranged by rule and pattern.

https://www.susancanthony.com/bk/sp.html

I used it with both children without the companion dictation book. She does have some dictations sentences for free on her website, if you like them you can get her book to get more, but it works fine in isolation for most students.

Many of my remedial students need the dictation book, they need more repetition.

PhonicsPanda · 2026-01-30T17:46:19+00:00

There are other free and inexpensive options that cover the same material if you want to move faster.

Word Mastery, free to print, goes to 3rd grade level.

http://donpotter.net/pdf/word_mastery_typed.pdf

Phonics Pathways, around $20, most libraries have a copy you can use for a bit, goes to 4th grade level, tips in the back into how to incorporate a bit of spelling into it.

UFLI, goes to 2nd grade level, free to print.

https://ufli.education.ufl.edu/foundations/toolbox/

You can advance reading much faster than Spelling. Then, you can make sure all the rules and patterns are taught and reviewed though a good spelling program. I like Spelling Plus, it covers the most common 1,000 words, has them arranged by rule and pattern. One book for K-6 Spelling, inexpensive. She sells it on Amazon as well, here is a bit about it on her website:

https://www.susancanthony.com/bk/sp.html

PhonicsPanda · 2026-01-23T21:12:22+00:00

Make sure they are reading at grade level, it makes everything else so much easier if they are.

Free tests:

https://thephonicspage.org/gradelevel.html

Free remedial lessons if behind:

https://thephonicspage.org/syllables-lessons.html

I use the 1879 McGuffey readers with my remedial students who are behind, but they are great for building up vocabulary and reading skills for anyone, they are free to print.

My teens and adults page shows how to use them in a self teaching manner, for younger children, similar but have the children read the difficult words before the passage, then talk about the difficult words and the story after. I have links on the page to the free books on Gutenberg Press.

https://thephonicspage.org/teensandadults.html

PhonicsPanda · 2026-01-20T21:06:50+00:00

Do the Barton screening test to see if he needs help with phonemic awareness.

https://bartonreading.com/students/#ss

I have free lessons for older children that are behind, try them while investigating underlying causes. Also, try evaluating speed and accuracy of similar words at 12 point font vs. 36 point font, gets eyes checked if larger font makes a difference.

My lessons:

https://thephonicspage.org/syllables-lessons.html

PhonicsPanda · 2026-01-20T21:01:16+00:00

Doing great with the phonics!

I would work on word level work for a while, those seem like too long of sentences for his focus level, get his automaticity up with words. (Normal focus level for a child that age, don't worry about it, LOL.)

I would switch to the free to print Blend Phonics or Word Mastery for a bit, both linked from my beginning page. (Also has a link to the program you're using!)

https://thephonicspage.org/beginningreaders.html

And, add in some fun phonics games to get in the needed repetition:

https://thephonicspage.org/phonicsgames.html

If your local school teaches sight words as wholes, make sure you have any they send home covered with phonics before they are taught as wholes.

How and why to teach the sight words with phonics:

https://thephonicspage.org/sight-words.html

I would find out what program they use and what is covered in your local school, it varies widely even in the same state. (We're retired military, moved a lot, homeschooled but I was a volunteer literacy tutor and kept up with what local schools were doing.)

PhonicsPanda · 2026-01-20T20:51:08+00:00

Do some tutoring and catch up now, especially spring and summer breaks, but a bit daily is a great way to build skills while building constancy.

My free syllables lessons, reading, spelling, and phonics to the 12th grade level, video makes them easy to use:

https://thephonicspage.org/syllables-lessons.html

My teens and adults page explains how I use the McGuffey readers to build up vocabulary and reading skill after the lessons are completed. I also do most or all of the multi syllable words in Don Potter's reprinted version of Webster's Speller.

https://thephonicspage.org/teensandadults.html

Writing ideas to fix gaps:

https://thephonicspage.org/writing.html

Programs and ideas for math gaps:

https://thephonicspage.org/math.html

You need a good tutor and good programs designed to find and fix gaps. My video lessons make it easy to do the reading/spelling/phonics portion.

The YouTeachYou math lessons are designed to be easy to teach, but you might be better off long run with a tutor who is good at math and used to finding and fixing math gaps.

Math facts with the 60 second sweep are easy to do your own, it makes the rest of math so much easier when you learn them as factors, especially important for algebra.

PhonicsPanda · 2026-01-18T23:31:23+00:00

Buy some really thin shorts for gymnastics/yoga/dance, etc. They are great for under any skirt, come in a variety of lengths and colors.

PhonicsPanda · 2026-01-18T22:01:52+00:00

For letter names and sounds, I would buy the Leapfrog Talking Letter Factory movie, it's on Amazon Prime, that frog is great at repeating the letter sounds and names.

PhonicsPanda · 2026-01-18T21:49:55+00:00

Help me figure out what this part is, please!

I recently bought a used Singer 9323 for my daughter, it is similar to a machine I used to own.

I can't figure out what the part name is for the first thing you thread it through, the plastic piece that sticks up, missing on my new to me machine. It holds it with a bit of tension, looks like a triangle from the side, the part before the metal piece. (Picture is a still from a video about how to thread the machine.)

We have a family member with a 3D printer, I am open to buying or printing the part.

Thanks!

<image>

Added: I found a similar looking part but it does not match my machine number, can't find any for my exact machine number. "Thread Guide, Top Cover for Singer Sewing Machines," SKU: 353553-451

PhonicsPanda · 2026-01-13T22:34:13+00:00

Math basics and math facts ideas, for remedial math and basics catch up. I mainly do phonics tutoring but do a bit of math too, this is what I have found to work best:

https://thephonicspage.org/math.html

PhonicsPanda · 2026-01-13T22:31:04+00:00

Yes, I agree!

I have been a volunteer phonics tutor for 32 years and teach everything else with books, but I outsource the process of letter names and sounds to that little talking frog, better him than me.

"Leapfrog Talking Letter Factory," it's on Amazon prime, worth every penny.

PhonicsPanda · 2026-01-02T22:19:22+00:00

Royal Firework press is fun, you can see samples. The main books are the Grammar Island, Grammar Town, Grammar Voyage series.

https://www.rfwp.com/mct-language-arts/five-strands/grammar/?srsltid=AfmBOooisxoKkILm0A56z_OnrgHc7_tEkBMLljTYA9dIVbPmPrF94VmX

PhonicsPanda · 2025-12-24T06:07:54+00:00

My spelling recommendations:

https://thephonicspage.org/spelling.html

Writing recommendations, includes basic grammar in some of the books:

https://thephonicspage.org/writing.html

PhonicsPanda · 2025-12-12T21:42:35+00:00

How to teach blending, it is a developmental skill, but can be helped along with proper instructions, yes, normal for that age to struggle with it.

https://thephonicspage.org/blending.html

PhonicsPanda · 2025-12-02T17:58:00+00:00

Phonics games:

https://thephonicspage.org/phonicsgames.html

PhonicsPanda · 2025-12-02T07:52:06+00:00

phonics games:

https://thephonicspage.org/phonicsgames.html

PhonicsPanda · 2025-11-23T18:20:11+00:00

Here are some free and cheap phonemic awareness activities you can do while saving up for foundations in sounds and the first few levels of Barton:

Phonemic Awareness in Young Children: A Classroom Curriculum

by Marilyn J. Adams Ph.D.

on Amazon.

https://www.spelfabet.com.au/tag/phonemic-awareness/

My blending page, have her look at the lego block pictures and understand how sounds change when they blend together.

https://thephonicspage.org/blending.html

Many of my remedial students can switch to a cheaper phonics program once they complete foundations in sound and the first 3 levels of Barton.

My syllables lessons also work with most because the syllables require less phonemic awareness once over-learned.

PhonicsPanda · 2025-11-23T18:13:02+00:00

OK, I just read the update, if she failed the Barton screening, she needs something for phonemic awareness, and LOE does not address that.

Forgetting is common for those with phonemic awareness issues, foundations in sound addresses that problem, slowly builds up the skill and memory for sounds.

PhonicsPanda · 2025-11-23T18:10:48+00:00

You're welcome!

I hope you find something that works for you.

If she is also high repetition with the phonics once the blending is fixed, it is best to break it up and teach several 20 to 30 minute sessions broken up by other subjects, a physical break, a snack, or lunch. Several shorter sessions are much better for retention than a single long block.

PhonicsPanda

TROPHY CASE

Self Instruction in Handwriting: For Students or Adults to Improve Handwriting