**Some teachers recommend the three times reading method, which is often referred as the - to, with, by method.**

First you read the sentence or short paragraph twice to your child, that is the - to - bit. Now you both read the sentence or paragraph twice together, that is the - with - part. And lastly the kid

reads the part by himself, that is the - by - bit. Very effective, if you can get the kid to read the same sentence or paragraph five times. But what happens when the kid doesn’t want to read the same passage over and over again. Well I let the kid decide. It is his or her reading lesson, so if she doesn’t want to do that, that’s okay with me.

I do what she wants to do.

If that is to read aloud together first then we read together first. If the kid doesn’t want to read by herself I leave it, but first I still point to the word and wait to see if she will start. If not I will read it and then move on. I will stop reading before a word the kid should know, so he can hopefully say the word. If the kid doesn’t want to do anything, I just keep reading, still pausing to let the kid join in if he wants to.

I prefer to read the same passage, paragraph or book three or four days in a row or until the kid gets sick of it and wants a change.

I think that is better over the long term, as reading it five times in one sitting has more to do with storing the passage in the kid’s short term memory. I can nearly guarantee that if you read something five times, some kids can recite it word for word without looking at the book. But the next day they can’t read nothing. That is why I like reading the same book over three or four days because then you are storing the passage in the long term memory and that is where learning is all about.

For more information about phonics courses I recommend including a Montessori course see our Teach Reading page.