My journey from young educator to the year 2020, and why I decided to create Beginning Phonics…

I’m glad you’re here.

Right out of college, at the fresh, youthful, nothing-can-stop-me age of 22…I was ready to teach!  Ready for those middle-schoolers! (insert eye-roll, and how old were you?) I already had a few years of preschool experience under my belt, so what was the difference? Aren’t they just little kids in big bodies?!

Well, as the years went by and I encountered more children of all different ages (teaching in Kindergarten, 4th, 6th, and more middle schoolers) I began to realize that pieces were missing.  What started out as a vibrant, eager preschooler ended up as a reluctant, self-conscious pre-teen who couldn’t read fluently and had numerous spelling mistakes in his work.

I continually asked myself and other fellow teachers, “How does this happen?”

How can a child get this far in their education and not know how to read or spell?

Every time I dug deeper into answering that type of question, I came across difficult and time-consuming programs that weren’t solving the problem.

Why does it have to be so hard?

Fast forward to March 27, 2020.  Two weeks after our schools closed and every parent was home with their family.

The holes in my own children’s education were coming to light as they read and worked on computers in front of me.  The sadness, fear, and frustration I felt came bubbling to the surface.  I had to survive the next few months with these questions brewing in my mind…

Why is my Kindergartener only reading books out loud that he has memorized?

How come my 2nd grader is terrified of a simple chapter book and refuses to read alone?

My 4th grader has poor handwriting, can’t spell to save her life, and no one is saying anything?

My 6th grader admits that he is uncomfortable with his spelling, hates reading, but will spend hours playing a video game if I let him.

How did this happen?

I am an educator, but where am I going wrong?  And what about everyone else who isn’t a teacher?  What are they noticing?

The mom-guilt was in full swing and there was no sign of school opening back up.  What was I going to do now?  I needed to see those teachers and get them to fix my problems!  Right?!

Wrong.

After fighting with myself and quickly realizing that my kids were the ones suffering, I decided to take the road less traveled, go against “the norm”, and turn to my own God-given talent.  I was going to give homeschooling a shot.

I began teaching classic language programs to my kids.  The same ones I had when I was their age many years ago.  The same method that has been around forever, but not many people remember it or know about it.  Phonics was my launching pad, but it lacks something now (in my opinion).  The books and manuals are so complicated to figure out.  It took ME about 2 months!

Who has time for that?

It’s hard to teach four kids of varying abilities, let alone 30 in a classroom setting! So, my Beginning Phonics website started to take flight!

And, here I am.

Trying to combine traditional, necessary reading skills with the modern day busy family…is what’s driving me.  Reading does not have to be hard, but we do need to get back to what works and adjust it for our time.

Allow me to help with that!

Best wishes to you and thanks for stopping in,

Erin

My journey from young educator to the year 2020, and why I decided to create Beginning Phonics…

I’m glad you’re here.

Right out of college, at the fresh, youthful, nothing-can-stop-me age of 22…I was ready to teach!  Ready for those middle-schoolers! (insert eye-roll, and how old were you?) I already had a few years of preschool experience under my belt, so what was the difference? Aren’t they just little kids in big bodies?!

Well, as the years went by and I encountered more children of all different ages (teaching in Kindergarten, 4th, 6th, and more middle schoolers) I began to realize that pieces were missing.  What started out as a vibrant, eager preschooler ended up as a reluctant, self-conscious pre-teen who couldn’t read fluently and had numerous spelling mistakes in his work.

I continually asked myself and other fellow teachers, “How does this happen?”

How can a child get this far in their education and not know how to read or spell?

Every time I dug deeper into answering that type of question, I came across difficult and time-consuming programs that weren’t solving the problem.

Why does it have to be so hard?

Fast forward to March 27, 2020.  Two weeks after our schools closed and every parent was home with their family.

The holes in my own children’s education were coming to light as they read and worked on computers in front of me.  The sadness, fear, and frustration I felt came bubbling to the surface.  I had to survive the next few months with these questions brewing in my mind…

Why is my Kindergartener only reading books out loud that he has memorized?

How come my 2nd grader is terrified of a simple chapter book and refuses to read alone?

My 4th grader has poor handwriting, can’t spell to save her life, and no one is saying anything?

My 6th grader admits that he is uncomfortable with his spelling, hates reading, but will spend hours playing a video game if I let him.

How did this happen?

I am an educator, but where am I going wrong?  And what about everyone else who isn’t a teacher?  What are they noticing?

The mom-guilt was in full swing and there was no sign of school opening back up.  What was I going to do now?  I needed to see those teachers and get them to fix my problems!  Right?!

Wrong.

After fighting with myself and quickly realizing that my kids were the ones suffering, I decided to take the road less traveled, go against “the norm”, and turn to my own God-given talent.  I was going to give homeschooling a shot.

I began teaching classic language programs to my kids.  The same ones I had when I was their age many years ago.  The same method that has been around forever, but not many people remember it or know about it.  Phonics was my launching pad, but it lacks something now (in my opinion).  The books and manuals are so complicated to figure out.  It took ME about 2 months!

Who has time for that?

It’s hard to teach four kids of varying abilities, let alone 30 in a classroom setting! So, my Beginning Phonics website started to take flight!

And, here I am.

Trying to combine traditional, necessary reading skills with the modern day busy family…is what’s driving me.  Reading does not have to be hard, but we do need to get back to what works and adjust it for our time.

Allow me to help with that!

Best wishes to you and thanks for stopping in,

Erin