Last week, I updated a free pdf download that I had created called the Top 3 Mistakes You Make with Your Reader (and how to fix them). It wasn't easy for me, but I had help from entrepreneurs who had gone before me. I knew I can do hard things...and you can too!
Maybe you're wondering what this has to do with you. (I have the gift of being able to relate anything to reading, lol.) Here's your first mistake.
Stop blaming yourself!
I get it. I felt that way, too. As an avid reader, I believed that my son would love reading just as much as I did. I thought it would be as easy as finding a book he loved.
I didn't think that he might struggle with reading and I would start to question everyithing. You are not to blame for your child's reading struggles and neither are they. Give yourself grace; you can learn to read together. You might feel overwhelmed, but there are so many educators and parents who have gone before you. Connect. Learn togther. You can do this! You can do hard things!
Solution: Listen to Sold A Story podcast here (or wherever you get podcasts)
In October 2022 (on my birthday, funny enough), award winning education reporter Emily Hanford brought the science of reading into the spotlight with her documentary podcast that exposes the truth about why our kids are struggling to read. The answer will shock you! This podcast is essential listening for parents, and it's what is making the science of reading a movement.
This wasn't the first time she'd talked about the science of reading, though. Hanford began investigating how children are taught to read in 2017 with a series of reports and articles. The most famous being At A Loss For Words (how a flawed idea is teaching millions of kids to be poor readers) from 2019.
She wrote, "For decades, reading instruction in American schools has been rooted in a flawed theory about how reading works, a theory that was debunked decades ago by cognitive scientists, yet remains deeply embedded in teaching practices and curriculum materials. As a result, the strategies that struggling readers use to get by — memorizing words, using context to guess words, skipping words they don't know — are the strategies that many beginning readers are taught in school. This makes it harder for many kids to learn how to read, and children who don't get off to a good start in reading find it difficult to ever master the process."
I encourage you today to listen to her podcast series. I promise it will open your eyes. Then let us know your thoughts below.
Want to learn more? Learn the top 3 mistakes you're making with your beginning reader and how to fix them by clicking here.