So here you are sitting down with your child for the first day of school. They want to read. They pretend to read. They want to hear books.

And then you start.  “What does this word say”  You point to the word “cat” with a great deal of expectation and excitement. Surely your little one remembers this from all the books you’ve read to them. If you are like me within 15 minutes you are not only questioning your ability to homeschool but you’re beginning to wonder if you’re even a good mother!

Of course, I’m kidding. But only a little. In our family my oldest child wanted to read when she was four. She would try to read books and then get frustrated and ask me to read them to her. So when she was a few months from her fifth birthday I finally relented and sat down with her. I hadn’t wanted to push her too hard, too fast. I knew horror stories about overbearing parents who tried to make all their children little geniuses. I never wanted to do that to my daughter.

But she didn’t learn to read that day. Or that month. Or that year. Or the next.

For more than two years we worked together almost every day. She knew all the sounds but combining them in to a word eluded her. Fortunately I had an aunt, actually my husband’s aunt, who had been homeschooling for more than a decade. She told me her daughter had been a slow started when it came to reading. She encouraged me to focus on my daughter’s strength: Math.

Once we took the pressure off of learning to read the words and focused instead on the phonics sounds everyone was happier. Then shortly after her seventh birthday, she suddenly could read. It was amazing how quickly she learned after that. Now she reads constantly. That battle she pushed through in order to begin reading has given her an appreciation for the skill she might not otherwise have had.

If you are concerned that your child isn’t reading, seek out professional advice but if your child is still only 5 or 6 and still isn’t reading resist the temptation to panic. Look in to various reading programs and curriculums at homeschool conventions or your local library. Talk to other homeschool moms, seek out homeschool help if you feel it is needed but allow yourself the option to follow your child’s pace. That is the great thing about homeschooling. We can adjust to your child’s strengths and weaknesses.

See these additional resources for homeschoolers.
ABC Reading Key Home schooled students can learn reading, writing, spelling and pronunciation through this animated video with little to no parent/teacher involvement! Lessons are taught in four to five years through workbooks, videos, reading books and flashcards. Students have fun learning how to read with fun stickers, a progress chart and graduation certificates!
Click N Kids Home school children are tutored by a nationally recognized professor.  Home school parents no longer need to be qualified reading instructors for their children to be taught by an expert reading tutor because Dr. J. Ron Nelson wrote every word the onscreen instructor says.
Flying Point Press Students will enjoy reading with these books that are filled with adventure and action. Based on historic fiction, Ancient and Medieval history, Colonial and Revolutionary America, The American West and so much more, students ages ten to fifteen will enjoy reading through this reading curriculum.
Heart of Dakota Publishing Teach your homeschooled students to read through Historical, Folk Tales, Realistic Fiction, Humor, Non-Fiction, Mystery, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Adventure and Biography books. Beginning at age 2, and continuing through Intermediate Level, your students can learn God’s Word and learn to read all at the same time with these creative and fun books, which will test their skills and challenge their minds.
Literacy, LLC Use this complete reading and language arts curriculum for beginning readers from Kindergarten to Elementary level. Teach your students to read by teaching colors and animals through phonics, comprehension and sound relationships.
Milt the Talking Musky Teach your students to read with this fun Sing Along Song DVD and coloring pages. Milt the Talking Musky sings with your student, teaching them Sight Words through story telling. Great for Pres-school to second grade level students.
Passport Learning Improve students’ reading skills in just ten weeks with this guided reading curriculum. Determine the child’s reading level and focus on areas where the child is having difficulty. The program is adaptable, allowing for the child to develop automatically and increased reading confidence.
Patria Press Your home schooled student will learn to read with books that are filled with Adventure, Heroes and Heroines in American History. Lesson plans, discussion questions, activities and web quests are available for each lesson.
Reading from Scratch With science-based teaching techniques, dyslexic students will learn to do work that reflects their ability, not their reading problem with this reading curriculum. This program is not geared by the child’s reading level; but by the child’s age. Workshops are available.
 Right Track Reading Lessons and Back on the Right Track Reading Lessons develop essential reading skills through targeted activities that integrate visual, kinetic, oral and auditory processes. Your home schooled students will learn how to read and while helping overcome reading difficulties.
Ring Around the Phonics This reading curriculum is disguised as a board game so students have fun while learning to read. Great for students that are having difficulty learning to read and it is great for all learning styles, especially hands on learners. Watch your students advance faster in reading and actually ask to play the game!
Teaching Treasures offers English teaching resources to assist with reading, writing, spelling, punctuation, nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, past, present and future tense, prepositions and conjunctions. Mathematic teaching resources that help understanding in number relations, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, time and space and much more. Also carefully graded and tested activities in Science and General Knowledge.
Total Reading is the only phonetic decoding reading and language arts program that teaches the young child to read and enjoy library books, to write creative stories, and to spell correctly.
The Phonics Road to Spelling and Reading Teach your homeschool students accurate speaking, spelling, writing, reading, grammar and composition with this video teacher training, which prepares them for The Latin Road to English Grammar. Students will learn the English language in this complete K-4 reading curriculum.
Valerie Bendt Learning to read is fun when you teach your students how to make their own books. Hard-bound, cloth-covered and hand-sewn books are taught with diagrams, instructions and a CD. Learn how to make puppets from Bible stories, in this 6 week reading curriculum.

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