I'm not a teacher but it looks like I'm going to need to be

So my youngest already has his diagnosis of dyslexia although it was termed "mild" which I disagree with.  Dyslexia is dyslexia and it requires a different teaching methodology.

It was going to happen with a two generation family history and those early speech issues as an indicator.

So now it's time to start to learn to read only of course what is he getting pushed on him all day at school- Whole Language with a little bit of phonics thrown in.

I guess that incidental phonics is for all the parents who are like,

"What, is my kid supposed to memorize every word in the whole English language?"

He's coming home with these "books" and of course he isn't going to be able to learn to read that way. 

Bless his heart, he is trying to memorize, but really it's not going to work.

So our expensive private school doesn't have a kindergarten and this year it doesn't even have a first grade.  Which leaves us with what? 

Mommy. 

Only I'm no teacher. 

My mother was a teacher (she started in 1963) but she doesn't want to and wouldn't be willing to do this job.  Plus she's been retired for a long time and I doubt she remembers much.  She's got an active retiree life.  It's not fair to rely on a grandmother to teach your kid anyway (although plenty of them do it around the country when they realize that their grandchild isn't really learning to read).

My grandmother (her mother) was a teacher. She started sometime in the 1950's after her kids were mostly out of the house.  It was one of her non-picture books that started me on the road to really reading but that's a story for another day.

Nearly all my aunts were teachers but before the feminist movement how many choices did they really have anyway? 

These were smart ladies.  I think teaching was a valid (but tiring) option for a career back at a time when there weren't many other paths.

Thank God for the Internet and the public library.  Don't expect any miracles here,  I'm flying blind. 

Still,  I'm not going to let go of this time in his life by not doing anything at all to help him learn to read.  I'm going to try to figure out how to teach him as best I can using phonics.