Quick & Easy Less Than 10 Min Assessment To Find Where Your Child May Be Falling Behind
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Free Reading Lessons for Kids
Free reading help for your child, starting today
Hi, I’m Dr. Nancy Barker, Ed.D. I’ve spent 49 years in education, as a reading specialist and teacher of deaf and hard-of-hearing children. Every family deserves simple, proven ways to help a child read. So here is a free place to start: short lessons you can do at the kitchen table in 10–15 minutes, read-aloud Rocky stories with audio, and answers to the questions parents ask me most.
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Start here: find out exactly where your child is with our free reading assessment.
📚 Free Sample Lessons
Step-by-step mini-lessons for parents. Each one takes about 10–15 minutes.
Word Detective! Figuring Out New Words from the Sentence
⏱ 10-15 minutes · Ages about 7-11 (children who can read simple sentences on their own)
Does your child read right past words they don't know, or stop and wait for you to tell them? In this lesson your child learns to act like a detective: when a new word sh…
Chunk It! Sounding Out Words with Word Families
⏱ 10 minutes · Ages about 5-7 (beginning readers who know some letter sounds)
Does your child say every sound in a word and then get stuck putting them together? In this lesson your child learns to see a word as two parts: the first sound and a "ch…
Say It, Build It, Read It: Making Sight Words Stick
⏱ 10 minutes · Ages about 5-8 (beginning readers who know most letter sounds)
Does your child know a word one day and forget it the next? In this lesson your child hears a word, builds it from its sounds, and reads it back. Linking every sound to i…
Three Reads to Smooth Reading
⏱ 10 minutes · Ages about 6-9 (readers who sound out most words but read slowly)
Does your child read one slow word at a time? In this lesson your child practices a few tricky words, hears a short passage read smoothly, and then reads it three times. …
Ball or Duck? Telling b and d Apart
⏱ 10 minutes · Ages about 5-8 (beginning readers and writers)
Does your child mix up b and d when reading or writing? These two letters are mirror images, so the mix-up is common. In this lesson your child links each letter to its s…
Stop, Sketch, and Tell: Reading for Meaning
⏱ 10 minutes · Ages about 5-9 (beginning and developing readers)
Does your child read every word and then say, "I don't know," when you ask what happened? This lesson helps them slow down and notice what the words mean. Your child read…
Echo Reading: Read It Like Me
⏱ 10 minutes · Ages about 5-9 (beginning and developing readers)
Does your child groan when you ask them to read out loud? Echo reading takes the pressure off. You read a sentence first, and your child reads the same sentence right aft…
The Sound Train: Blending Sounds into Words
⏱ 10 minutes · Ages about 4-7 (pre-readers and beginning readers)
Does your child know letter sounds but get stuck putting them together? Putting sounds together is called blending, and it's the bridge between knowing letters and readin…
Read Every Word: The Finger-Slide Reading Game
⏱ 10 minutes · Ages about 5-9 (beginning readers); works for older kids who skip words too
Does your child leave out little words, or jump ahead when reading aloud? This quick game helps children slow down, keep their place, and read every word. All you need is…
Want to know which lesson fits your child best? The free assessment will tell you.
🎧 Free Rocky Read-Aloud Stories
Listen to the story together, then let your child read along. Great for ages 5–8.
🐶 Rocky, Jacob, and the Lost Duck Trail
Listen together, then read along. Free audio read-aloud for ages 5–8.
🐶 Rocky, Hunter, and the Midnight Mitt
Listen together, then read along. Free audio read-aloud for ages 5–8.
🐶 Rocky, Jamie, and the One-Day Town
Listen together, then read along. Free audio read-aloud for ages 5–8.
🐶 Rocky and Jacob: The Woods That Moved
Listen together, then read along. Free audio read-aloud for ages 5–8.
🐶 Rocky and Hunter: The Last-Inning Club
Listen together, then read along. Free audio read-aloud for ages 5–8.
🐶 Jamie and Rocky: The Town That Forgot Saturday
Listen together, then read along. Free audio read-aloud for ages 5–8.
🐶 Rocky and the Last Signal
Listen together, then read along. Free audio read-aloud for ages 5–8.
🐶 Rocky and the Ninth-Inning Rule
Listen together, then read along. Free audio read-aloud for ages 5–8.
🐶 Rocky and the Town for a Day
Listen together, then read along. Free audio read-aloud for ages 5–8.
🐶 The Story We Told
Listen together, then read along. Free audio read-aloud for ages 5–8.
💡 Help for Parents: Common Reading Questions
- How Can I Build My Child’s Vocabulary at Home? Simple Daily Habits That Help
- Why Does My Child Guess Words When Reading? Reasons and Simple Ways to Help at Home
- Why Does My Child Read So Slowly? What Helps at Home
- Why Does My Child Forget Sight Words? How to Make Them Stick
- Why Does My Child Reverse Letters Like b and d? What Helps at Home
- Why Can My Child Read Words but Not Understand Them? What Helps at Home
- Why Does My Child Struggle to Sound Out Words? How to Help at Home
Want to see how a full lesson looks? Try a lesson.
Ready for a plan made for your child? Take the free reading assessment now.
About the author and sources
Written by Dr. Nancy Barker, Ed.D., a deaf and hard-of-hearing teacher and reading specialist with 49 years in education. Doctoral dissertation: Barker, N. (2011), Pepperdine University, digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/etd/173.
Research sources:
- National Reading Panel (2000). Teaching Children to Read. NICHD. nichd.nih.gov
- Institute of Education Sciences, What Works Clearinghouse (2016). Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in K-3. ies.ed.gov
- Reading Rockets, WETA. readingrockets.org
This article is educational and not a medical or clinical evaluation. If you are concerned about a learning difference, talk with your child’s teacher or a qualified professional.
Quick & Easy Less Than 10 Min Assessment To Find Where Your Child May Be Falling Behind
Fill out the form and we’ll send you a free assessment to help you identify your child’s strengths and possible areas for growth.