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Teach a Child to Read With Children's Books: Combining Story Reading, Phonics, and Writing to Promote Reading Success

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A 1999 Parents' Choice Approved Seal Winner! Combining story reading, phonics, and writing, this book offers an anjoyable, integrated approach to learning to read. Topics include preparing children for success before formal lessons begin, using books to promote learning anjoyment, and where to find the right books.

232 pages, Paperback

First published December 12, 1996

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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
Profile Image for Maria.
306 reviews5 followers
September 5, 2021
I am a homeschool mom, and I’m not going to use this method as written out, because I believe that 30 minute lessons are too long for small children. However, there are many strategies to help your child problem solve and take the initiative in learning how to read. I found those very helpful and plan to use some of the activities and strategies.
Profile Image for Laura Stiller.
287 reviews3 followers
April 30, 2016
recommended by Kacie Axsom

"The key to how well a child can learn new things is whether she can connect new learning with what she already knows." - pg. 115

"Remember, this is not a step-by-step program. You must look for creative ways to make helpful connections with your child." - pg. 128



I really enjoyed this book on teaching your child to read. It's a little more organic than most "reading programs" and encourages saturating your child with lots of read-alouds and great books. He's big on informally introducing concepts and even phonetic generalizations and teaching your child to use context and previous knowledge to decipher new or hard words. Everything is taught in the context of reading. I LOVE that! He does give a simple four step outline for a more "formal" reading plan that includes: rereading familiar books, working on a specific letter/word, writing/dictating a story and then introducing a new book.
Profile Image for Natalie.
27 reviews
December 19, 2017
Highly recommend for a very balanced approach. I pair parts of this with parts of Montessori Read & Write. Effective + happy child. What else can you ask for? Better cover art? Yes, well, you'll just have to get past the 90s Desktop Publishing cover art.
159 reviews2 followers
January 23, 2019
Great book! This is a great reference book and a guide to make your own reading/ phonics curriculum for children to make reading enjoyable and meaningful! It includes record keeping forms and lesson plan sheets as well as a sample lesson.
Profile Image for Maggie.
109 reviews7 followers
June 20, 2014
There are a couple of emergent readers at my house, and we've tried several phonics reader sets. My little girl would start out feeling so enthusiastic, but we never made it past the first book in each set, because she was so turned off by them. Can you blame her? They're devoid of plot, contrived, and boring. I saw this book on Cathy Duffy's website (it's one of her top curriculum picks), clicked through to the corresponding website, and decided to order the book.

This is the program for us. I've worked so hard to develop a love of books and reading in my children, and this program will continue to foster that love.

My only criticism is that there were some areas where I would have liked some more specifics examples (like writing exercises for the earliest lessons), but otherwise I love this program and the spirit of this program.
Profile Image for Rebecca The Files of Mrs. E, .
399 reviews1 follower
June 14, 2013
This is such a great resource! It really put into words our attitude and approach to reading in our family. I loved all the ideas, information, and studies to back up what they said (because I'm a dork like that). If you are a family considering buy a reading program or wanting to teach your child to read at home, read this first.
Profile Image for Alissa Faust.
674 reviews
March 2, 2011
Easy read. It sounds a little bit time consuming and advanced since Ava can't write yet, and it is a point of frustration if I push it. So, I am going to implement what I can and see where we end up! I like the book list at the back and think that will be useful.
116 reviews3 followers
June 16, 2015
Some very good ideas. Provides a no fuss way of naturally introducing children to reading. Appreciated the view point and ideas for developing a child who loves reading and learns from variety.
Profile Image for Bernice Seward.
Author 24 books32 followers
September 6, 2016
This book was chock full of great information and tips. Very clear, usable information in how to teach a child to read.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews

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