The Reading Tool I Wish More Homeschool Families Knew About
If you already have a reading curriculum you like, I am not here to tell you to throw it out.
In fact, one of my favorite literacy resources isn't really a reading curriculum at all.
It's Secret Stories®.
Secret Stories is designed to work alongside the phonics or reading curriculum you're already using. It gives children memorable stories, sounds, pictures, actions, and language that help them remember the phonics patterns they encounter when reading and spelling.
And for homeschool families, I think there is an especially powerful way to use it:
Learn the Secrets together.
Why Secret Stories Works So Well in a Homeschool
One of the great advantages of homeschooling is that learning doesn't have to stay inside a 30-minute reading lesson.
When the whole family knows the Secret Stories, they become part of your family's shared language.
Your child is writing and gets stuck on a spelling.
Someone notices a phonics pattern while reading a library book.
A younger sibling hears an older sibling working through a word.
Instead of Mom having to stop everything and launch into another phonics lesson, someone can say, "Wait! Remember the Secret about those letters?"
That's where I see the real magic.
The phonics instruction starts following the child outside of the reading lesson and into actual reading and writing.
Start With the Better Alphabet®
For younger children—or older students who still aren't automatic with letter sounds—I especially love the Better Alphabet® Song.
Most of us grew up singing the traditional alphabet song. It's great for learning the names of the letters.
But knowing the names of 26 letters isn't what allows a child to decode a word.
They need to connect those printed symbols with sounds.
The Better Alphabet pairs letters with their sounds and uses music, movement, articulation, and visual cues to reinforce those sound-symbol connections.
And it takes only a couple of minutes.
Sing it together at breakfast. Put the cards somewhere everyone can see them. Let siblings join in. Make the sounds with your mouths. Point to the letters.
It doesn't need to feel like another subject.
It's a tiny addition that can support the reading instruction you're already doing.
👉 Better Alphabet® Digital Resource
Then Let the "Secrets" Become Part of Everyday Reading and Writing
English is a complex written language.
Children quickly discover that letters don't always behave the way they expect them to.
That's where Secret Stories becomes especially useful.
Instead of expecting a child to memorize another abstract phonics rule, the Secrets give them memorable explanations and cues for phonics patterns.
The important part is that we don't want those connections living only on a worksheet.
We want children to use them.
When you're reading together, notice the patterns.
When your child is writing, refer back to a Secret.
When you encounter a word during science, history, Bible, or a trip to the grocery store, make the connection.
The more the family knows the same language, the easier that becomes.
But Is This Actually Science of Reading?
This is an important question because "Science of Reading" has become a phrase attached to a lot of products.
Secret Stories isn't intended to replace systematic, explicit phonics instruction. It is designed as a supplement that layers onto existing reading and phonics instruction.
That's one of the reasons I like it.
The resource uses mnemonics to strengthen children's memory for grapheme-phoneme, or letter-sound, relationships. Secret Stories reports that its research base has received an ESSA Tier 1 "Strong Evidence" rating, the highest evidence tier under ESSA. Its published research summary includes studies examining Secret Stories and the Better Alphabet alongside structured literacy instruction.
That doesn't mean stories replace explicit phonics instruction.
They help children remember and access what we're teaching them.
That's an important distinction.
You Don't Need Another Reading Curriculum
This is probably the part I most want homeschool parents to hear.
If you are using a solid reading curriculum, you don't necessarily need to switch.
Keep teaching.
Keep explicitly teaching children how our written language works.
Secret Stories can simply become another tool in your toolbox—a memorable way to reinforce phonics knowledge throughout your child's day.
Secret Stories itself describes the resource as a tool that can work alongside an existing reading or phonics curriculum rather than requiring families to replace what they're already using.
For homeschool families, that makes it particularly easy to incorporate.
What I Would Buy for a Homeschool Family
If you're starting from scratch and want the easiest all-in-one option, Secret Stories offers a Parent & Homeschool Bundle specifically for families using the resource at home. Remember this is a supplement, not a complete curriculum.
👉 Secret Stories Parent & Homeschool Resources
If your biggest need right now is simply mastering letter sounds, I would start smaller with the Better Alphabet®.
And if you're already using a strong phonics curriculum but want the Secret Stories available as another way to reinforce tricky phonics patterns, explore the full Secret Stories resources.
👉 Shop Secret Stories® Products
Make It a Family Language
This is the piece that I think homeschool families can do exceptionally well.
Don't make Secret Stories something your child only "does for reading."
Learn them together.
Let Dad know the Secrets.
Let the older kids learn them.
Let the preschooler listen in.
Refer to them while you're reading.
Refer to them while you're writing.
Point them out in real books.
Because ultimately, the goal isn't for children to complete a phonics worksheet correctly.
The goal is for them to recognize the code when they actually need it—while reading and writing in the real world.
That's when a supplemental resource stops being one more homeschool thing to do and starts becoming a genuinely useful teaching tool.
Reading isn't caught. It's taught.
And sometimes one memorable little "secret" is exactly what helps the teaching stick.
Not sure how Secret Stories would fit with the reading curriculum you're already using? I'm also available for Choice Navigator sessions, where we can look at what you're currently doing, talk through your child's needs, and figure out practical ways to use resources like Secret Stories without feeling like you need to start over or add another entire curriculum.
Sometimes you don't need more curriculum. You just need to know how to use the tools you already have more effectively.
Affiliate disclosure: Some links in this post may be affiliate links. If you purchase through one of these links, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. I only share resources that I genuinely believe can be useful to homeschool families.