I am a teacher and a tutor. A lot of moms lately have asked me about help getting their children up to grade level in reading. Reading is a skill just like anything else and all kids need is breaking it down into easy to remember sounds (phonics), sight words (words that can't be sounded out but have to be memorized) and lots and lots of repetition...both with and without an adult.
Parents can do so much to establish good reading skills with their children.
Three things I would recommend:
1. Leap Frog "Letter Factory" and other videos (a lot are already on Netflix) I'm not bragging, I'm just telling you this is possible if you start early: My 5 year old knew 26 letters by sight at 18 months old. She knew all of the phonics (letter sounds...the A says "ah" the B says "buh") by 2 years old. It's not rocket science...it's repetition.
2. Free apps on your Droid, iPad, iPhone, etc. Grade level appropriate apps are out there. Again...some skills and things kids learn just require repetition (drill and practice). If they can memorize characters from favorite shows or mascots from chain restaurants, why can't they remember what a D looks like? They can!
3. Spending time with them. If you don't know how to help them (if you're not a teacher), pick up a program like Hooked on Phonics. Go to Christmas Tree Shops while you are out today and get 2 packets...each are $5 which is ridiculously low (I would have paid $50 for each of them) One breaks down reading and writing skills for toddlers and the other is for K-2.
Even if your kids are 3 grade and up, the building blocks of reading are the same. If you help them become stronger readers they will have another tool in their success box to make it through the other levels of school.
Think about it. Did you ever go a day of school without reading?
Just wanted to throw it out there that you can do so much to help your child.
I want to put what I know to good use to help you help them for free! :)
Add on:
There are lists of sight words for each grade level (K teachers send them home) There are also flash cards you can buy or you can look up lists online that you can make your own flash cards out of. We used birthday and Christmas money we saved over a few years and bought our girls (3 and 5) $70 tablets (droid) There is a free app that locks everything out except for age appropriate learning and creative programs (you enter your child's birthday). The app on droid is called Zoodles. FREE. It also sends you a report each week to tell you how much time they spent on learning math, reading, etc. and sends you any pictures they draw on their tablet