Nothing is more exciting or more important than helping a child learn to read! One of my very favorite parts of homeschooling has been the chance to actually be there first hand as my children were learning to make sense out of letters, words, and sentences. The process of reading is the culmination of several diverse skills.
Time4Learning uses the Reading Skills Pyramid to help explain the patterns that children follow in 
acquiring reading skills.
The foundation of the pyramid includes a language rich environment in which each of the following are stressed:
- Print Concepts, such as books and stories
- Phonemic Awareness, or paying attention to sounds and letters
- Vocabulary, both in context and independently learned
- Comprehension, such as making story predictions and following instructions
- Fluency, which comes later as children are making faster connections between sounds and letters
(to see the full visual representation of the Reading Pyramid, click here)
By building on each of these main skills, children are paving the way for reading success. Fortunately, Time4Learning provides a comprehensive reading program that does just that. The structured reading instruction of the Time4Learning curriculum interweaves listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
In a sequential fashion, children who use Time4Learning build reading skill upon reading skill in a creative, interactive way. The online lessons were developed by experts and are correlated with national standards. If you would like to learn more about how Time4Learning can help your child build a successful reading foundation, click here.
Posted under homeschool curriculum, learning to read, online reading, reading curriculum
This post was written by Kerry on October 9, 2008
