Why Reading Isn’t Clicking?
You’ve done the flashcards, the workbook pages, maybe even a curriculum switch or two (this curriculum wasn’t working, so you ordered yet another one), and your child still stumbles over simple words? You’re starting to feel frustration creep in, and maybe even some mom-guilt when reading doesn’t magically ‘click for your child.
I know how hard you’re working over there to help your little reader, and how hard your child is working to read the next word. When reading isn’t ‘clicking’, this is not a reflection on your effort in teaching your son or daughter to read, nor is it an accurate reflection of your child’s true ability to read.
Prompting your child to sound out some words is normal. BUT, if you find yourself prompting your child to sound out almost every word on the page, it’s time for a different approach. Let’s talk 5 phonics hacks YOU can use with your child today when reading isn’t ‘clicking’ for your child.
5 Reading HACKS to Try NOW
- HACK #1 — Multisensory Letter Sounds Learning— When reading isn’t clicking, start involving more than your child’s visual sense of looking at a letter in print form and quickly saying it’s sound. Start this early – a Pre-K activity if your child is in the 3-5 year-old age range. Start pairing letter names and sounds with movement and touch (examples: tracing letters in sand, air-writing letters, forming letters using play-dough, touching magnetic letters to feel the shape, using bingo daubers to form large version of letters correctly). These multisensory letter sounds activities are FUN and helps letter sounds learning stick!
- HACK #2 — “Sound Chunking” Instead of Sounding Out Every Letter — Teach common phonics patterns (like “-at,” “-ight,” “sh,” “ch”) as units instead of letter-by-letter decoding. This is a HACK you can use for 1st and 2nd graders, when reading isn’t clicking. It works wonders for reading words with long vowel team spellings.
- HACK #3 — Micro-Lessons Over Marathon Sessions — 5–10 minutes of focused practice instead of long sit-down lessons (huge for busy homeschool days)! When creating TEACH YOUR K-2 CHILD TO READ: From CVC Words to Confident Reader, each phonics lesso has 6 core phonics drills. Do one or 2 phonics drills, then provide your child a quick movement break. Help another child you’re homeschooling or attend to your toddler. In ‘TEACH YOUR K-2 CHILD TO READ: From CVC Words to Confident Reader!’, there are 6 phonics skills video tutorials modules for homeschool moms, and the complete K-2 printable phonics curriculum. Each lesson having a super-hero sounds drill, blending sounds to read words drill, word chain spelling activities to lead your child through, a four-in-a-row word fluency grid (using the exact focus phonics skills for that lesson), and a decodable story for your child to enjoy reading out loud.
- HACK #4 — Decodable Stories Matched to Each Phonics Lesson — Decodable stories that only include phonics skills already taught, so that kids build confidence in decoding, instead of guessing. Small decoding wins to read words lead to more decoding wins to read more words in more decodable stories. Now, your child stops guessing at words, and is actually reading simple sentences. Your son or daughter can draw in the picture box for a little cognitive ‘down-time’, while you step in and help another child or tend to your toddler.
- HACK #5 — Playful Repetition — Turning phonics review into games! Inside each phonics lesson in ‘TEACH YOUR K-2 CHILD TO READ’, is a word-fluency grid that doubles as a Four-in-a-Row game! Do the fluency grid reading first, then play the game — a perfect partner game for you or your child and a sibling. The game strategy that kids love? Blocking your partner while trying to win yourself!! Another phonics game kids love is Phonics BUMP — natural competition built in here by bumping your partner off the board! Once a player rolls or spins the same word twice, they stack a 2nd cube on top locking that space, and can no longer be bumped off. I’ve tucked in a spelling sheet for extra practice. The player with the most towers at the end of the game is the winner!!
So, if reading isn’t clicking, which READING HACK will you try today?
Your phonics guide,
Melanie Jeffrey
