The Lazy Parent's Guide Essay

At first I thought of titling this article "The Lazy Parent's Guide" but then I realized that most parents aren't lazy, but they may have a slightly different philosophy about children and learning.

If you're a big reader yourself or if you're homeschooling, you're probably concerned about how to teach your child to read. Reading is one of the most important skills a person can learn, and a great joy in life.

My laid-back methods of teaching a child to read:

1) Be a ...

Keywords: child rearing, teach kids read, education, homeschool

Article Body:

At first I thought of titling this article "The Lazy Parent's Guide" but then I realized that most parents aren't lazy, but they may have a slightly different philosophy about children and learning.

If you're a big reader yourself or if you're homeschooling, you're probably concerned about

We would sit for hours and read aloud together when he was only 5 or 6. Visit Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events for more information about these books.

These books were technically above his age level, but I advise you to forget all that.

John Holt, the legendary educator and author, has been quoted as saying:

"Itís nice to have childrenís books, but far too many of them have too much in the way of pictures. When children see books, as they do in the family where the adults read, with pages and pages and pages of print, it becomes pretty clear that if youíre going to find out whatís in those books, youíre going to have to read from that print. I donít think thereís any way to make reading interesting to children in a family in which it isnít interesting to adults."

So let your child pick books from the library or bookstore and don't concern yourself about whether the titles are "age appropriate".

5) Strictly limit TV and other electronic