You do not need to buy a curriculum yet
Jordan talks new homeschoolers down from the curriculum panic, explains what the first month should actually look like, and shares the simple weekly rhythm his family settled on after a chaotic start.
Teaching reading when you are not a reading teacher
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Show notes
Reading, from someone who knows
Jordan admits reading was the subject that frightened him most. Dr Amara Osei, a literacy researcher and former primary teacher, explains the science of reading in plain terms and what a parent at a kitchen table can realistically do.
- How reading actually happens in the brain, briefly
- Phonics, sight words and the arguments you can ignore
- Fifteen minutes a day: what a session looks like
- Free and cheap resources Amara recommends
- Signs of dyslexia and when to get an assessment
Amara's starter list is linked in the show notes.
Transcript
Welcome back to Kitchen Table School with me, Jordan Whitfield. I will be honest with you. When we started homeschooling, maths did not worry me at all. Reading terrified me. I had no idea how a child goes from knowing letters to reading a sentence, and I was afraid I would get it wrong in a way that lasted. So today I have brought in someone who knows. Dr Amara Osei is a literacy researcher and spent ten years teaching five and six-year-olds to read. She is going to explain how it actually works, what phonics means and what it does not, what fifteen minutes a day should look like, and the signs that mean your child needs more than you can give at the table. Amara, thank you for this. You are listening on Witspeak Podcasts.
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