Teaching reading when you are not a reading teacher
Reading specialist Dr Amara Osei joins Jordan to explain how children learn to read, what phonics actually means, which cheap resources work, and how to tell a slow start from a real difficulty.
You do not need to buy a curriculum yet
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Show notes
The first month, without the shopping cart
Most families start homeschooling by buying a boxed curriculum and abandoning it by November. Jordan explains why, what to do instead for the first four weeks, and how to find out how your child actually learns before you spend a cent.
- Why the first month is for watching, not teaching
- Deschooling, explained without the jargon
- The three questions to answer before buying anything
- Jordan's weekly rhythm: mornings, afternoons and Fridays
- What a legal minimum looks like in most places
Next week, a reading specialist on teaching a six-year-old to read when you never have.
Transcript
Hey, welcome to Kitchen Table School. I am Jordan Whitfield, I taught middle school maths for twelve years, and for the last few years I have been teaching my own two kids at our kitchen table in Portland. This show is for families who are homeschooling or thinking about it, and today I want to talk to the people who are about to spend eight hundred dollars on a boxed curriculum. Please wait. In this episode I will explain why the first month should look nothing like school, what you should actually be doing in those weeks, and the three questions you need answered before you buy anything. Then I will share the weekly rhythm that saved our family after a genuinely chaotic first semester. You are listening on Witspeak Podcasts.
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