I’ve been homeschooling since my oldest daughter was five years old (she’s in college now, which still feels unreal some days). Going into homeschooling, my BIGGEST fear was that I wouldn’t be able to teach her to read—and since reading is kind of a big deal, the panic I felt seemed reasonable.
That fear quickly vanished. It was Day 4 of homeschooling when she picked up one of the books we had been working on and read it from beginning to end. You know, no big deal. I immediately thought, WOW, clearly I am a natural at this. Although in that moment it was tears streaming down my face when I realized I could teach her how to read and maybe I wasn’t going to be a complete failure at this homeschool thing. Her reading skills continued to grow, and she turned into a wonderful reader, which did nothing to humble me.
Then came daughter #2.
Reading did not impress her in the least. She was a professional at playing with toys, dancing and singing. Phonics? Not her thing. She had little interest and even less enthusiasm. After trying multiple approaches (and questioning all my life choices), I finally discovered books she actually enjoyed. Once that happened, things slowly clicked, and she began reading around age seven—on her own timeline, not mine.
Enter daughter #3.
For the past three years, I’ve been working with my youngest on reading, and she’s been much more like daughter #2—except with even more struggle. She would look at a word, then immediately look away (usually straight at me), and start guessing like it was a multiple‑choice question. Her focus—or apparent lack thereof—started to worry me. I began suspecting ADHD and talked with her doctor about what I was seeing. Unfortunately, testing for ADHD is a process that happens through the public school system, which meant we were about to jump through all the hoops.
Then – plot twist.
The week after our visit with the doctor, me, daughters #2 and #3 had eye exams. I was confident this wasn’t the issue. She had passed every previous vision screening, never squinted, never complained of headaches—nothing. I even let the eye doctor know she had no trouble with her vision. So, imagine my shock and embarrassment when the eye doctor announced that she needed glasses. And not just any glasses.
Bi‑focals.
Yes. My child needed bifocals, the kind of glasses worn by old people (I should know because I wear bi-focals).
So many times, I had told my child to quit looking at me because the words were written on the page not on my face.
The good news? Once she got her glasses, everything changed. She is finally starting to read—and not just starting but progressing faster now than she did in the three years combined before we corrected her vision. Turns out, being able to actually see the words helps. Who knew?
And the reason why she would take her eyes off the page and look at me was due to eye fatigue. Apparently, the eyes tire quickly when they are constantly trying to focus on a bunch of words on a page.
Again – Mother of the Year!!
Enter child #4 – our son.
I know he’s only 4, but getting this kid to sit down to learn any letter is likely going to be the single biggest test of my patience ever. I really shouldn’t complain though because if you ask him how to spell his name, he will rattle off the spelling in record time.
And, just for good measure I took him to get his eyes checked too – just in case.
worldofweeks 