Back to Tutoring for Mastery
PART 1: READING
Introduction
ACTIVITY 1: READING TO THE LEARNER
ACTIVITY 2: ASSISTED STORY READING
Scripts for Assisted Story Reading
ACTIVITY 4: INDEPENDENT READING
PART 1: READING
ACTIVITY 1: READING TO THE LEARNER
ACTIVITY 2: ASSISTED STORY READING
Scripts for Assisted Story Reading
ACTIVITY 4: INDEPENDENT READING
There are many millions of native born adults who failed to learn to read and write well enough to hold a decent job. The main reason is that the schools have been mired in various "faith-based" ideologies rather than research-based methods. (See below for "Some Background on Reading Insruction in the U.S.") It takes a lot of time and determination for the typical adult to learn to read and write, and it takes a lot of effective tutoring. Most of the activities in Tutoring for Mastery are also applicable for adult instruction, and a suggested tutoring plan is given.
"He" and "him" are used hereafter in their gender-neutral sense, so don't think that I am a sexist. (See Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, for the second sense of the meaning of "he": "2 used in a generic sense or when the sex of the person is unspecified." The politically correct "he/she" is unnecessary and cumbersome.)
I have tried to minimize the use of "edspeak," but I have used some technical words for the sake of clarity and brevity. I think I have defined all of them, but if you need to learn more about some of these terms, go to Glossary of Reading Terms.
Your feedback will be welcome. Please send an e-mail message to me, Bob Parvin: bandcparvinXhotmail.com (Substitute @ for X. I'm trying to hide my address from those evil-doing spammers.)
Before getting into the specifics of Tutoring for Mastery here are some general suggestions:
To read and write a child needs to learn quickly the following: 1) the concept that speech consists of individual sounds that are joined into syllables, words, and sentences, 2) the sound/letter correspondences or phonics and syllable patterns, 3) letter formation, 4) the ability to identify instantly a growing number of sight words, some of which have unpredictable spellings, 5) a basic vocabulary of words that can be recognized, used, and spelled and how to use a simple dictionary, 6) using context to help identify words, 7) the reading mechanics of following the words from left to right and returning accurately to the line below, 8) self-monitoring with insistence that the text make sense, 9) appropriate phrasing, expression, and response to punctuation, 10) story appreciation.
Reading fluency and good comprehension require instant identification of the basic vocabulary words so that the reader can devote his full attention to meaning. Until this skill is adequately developed the learner needs to have effective word attack strategies including phonics.
The developing reader needs to build his knowledge of the meanings of affixes, combining forms, words, names, idioms, figures of speech, and general knowledge. These are best learned by doing lots of reading of a variety of material and through life experiences.
Reading fluency and good comprehension require good phrasing. How often have you stumbled on a sentence and found that you had to rephrase it in order to get the meaning? Other factors are the ability to recognize main ideas and organize them in the mind, to read between the lines, and to concentrate and stay connected to the story.
It is very important at the early stages to make available stories that the learner enjoys and wants to comprehend. Reading a lot of such stories and funny poems helps to get him in the habit of staying connected to the story and expecting the text to make sense.
We all recall teachers asking factual comprehension questions that simply test comprehension rather than teaching it. Poor questions require the learner to recall factual minutiae or to read the mind of the questioner. A good question might trigger recall of his experiences or check on his understanding of what is implied but not directly stated. A good exercise is to occasionally ask the reader to locate certain information that is useful in understanding the story.
We need to help the learner develop the habit of monitoring his comprehension. If the passage is not making sense, a good reader stops and asks himself what is wrong. Is it an incorrect phrasing of a sentence? Is something being missed that the author is "saying between the lines?"
After the reader understands the message, he needs the skills to evaluate it. We live in the information age, and the problem is that we are constantly exposed to commercial, political, and ideological propaganda, magical thinking, unsupported assertions, tastelessness and raunchiness, and just plain lies. The freewheeling Internet is a good example of what children must learn to deal with in the information age. The Internet is like having a fantastic library in your home, but since there is no librarian to filter out the trash, every child should learn to browse discriminatingly and to question, analyze, and evaluate the information.
We must help learners become critical, creative, and independent thinkers that read actively or thoughtfully rather than passively. For a definition of critical thinking see Defining Critical Thinking. Critical thinking skills have never been more important than they are now. The critical thinker insists that claims be supported by credible evidence and sound reasoning.
Young readers need to develop an appreciation of a good writing be it fiction or nonfiction. They need to be able to identify with characters and appreciate a good story. They should develop a sense of humor and appreciate whimsy, absurdity, and word play.
We need to teach even young children that people who write stories have a point of view, and their life experiences, culture, and times shape that viewpoint. They usually have a theme or message that is not directly stated. We need to consider what the message is. What, for example, is the point of view of the author of "The Three Little Pigs" concerning wolves?
To sum it up, we need to teach learners to read accurately, fluently, thoughtfully, and eagerly.
Back to the Beginning
Part 1 of Tutoring for Mastery includes four activities for teaching reading. Three activities focus on hearing and reading stories, and one focuses on word attack skills. The Part 2 writing activities supplement the reading program with a systematic phonics/writing/spelling activity and a "story" writing and reading activity.
Reading Aloud to Children
At some point the child becomes interested in the print. You then start moving your finger or pencil under or over the words as you read. The emphasis in on the child's enjoyment of the story. As you read, talk a little about the characters, the plot developments, and the meaning of words. You may encourage the child to "outsmart" the author by guessing what is going to happen next and to think about the "moral" of the story.
After you start the Spelling Script 1 exercises in Part 2: Writing, and have finished Challenge 1 in Section 2 (closed "a" rimes), read the story once for his enjoyment, and you point to the words. On the second reading have him "help" with the reading. You tap your pencil on words he has learned, and his says them. He will see immediately how the spelling exercises help with his reading. This technique is especially good for parents to use because they can have the children choose simple but real story books that appeal to them, and there are many such books available in the libraries and used book stores. The same books may be used in assisted reading later.
When the child is able to, have him point to the words on your second reading. This glues his attention to the words being read.
Begin a book by reading the title and introducing the author who is going to tell a story. Then have the child turn the pages, look at the pictures, and speculate on what the story is about. Try to relate the story to the child's experiences.
When reading to your child, observe these points:
The interactive storybooks on CDs can supplement your reading aloud. The animation, which is often very good, may distract him from watching the text, so you may want to have the child listen and watch the animation until he knows the story very well. Then you can point to the words or help him point. The CDs may be used to supplement Reading Activity 2.
Reading to the child in every session should continue as long as he enjoys it.
It is especially important to use this activity with adults. It is better to ask them to "help" with your reading of interesting material than to have them try to read infantile decodable books (books with a very simple vocabulary with regularly spelled words). Share pieces from newspapers or magazines that might be of interest to them. Also share short pieces such as poems, jokes, etc.
Back to the Beginning
When the learner has completed all of Part 2: Writing, Activity 1 through Spelling Script 1: Onsets, Rimes, and Endings and most of Spelling Script for Instant Words, he is ready to begin reading text with assistance.
You may start with short verses and stories that he has heard many times, has "helped" with the reading, and has especially enjoyed. As he progresses in attacking words, you can gradually help him with more difficult stories that he likes. This activity does not entirely replace Activity 1, which should be continued until the learner becomes a fluent reader.
Set up a log and enter each story or poem that he has learned to read with satisfactory mastery. Celebrate each entry.
A classroom teacher may begin reading instruction with some version of Shared Reading. First, a story is introduced and discussed. New words and ideas are explained. Then the story is read aloud to the children, and the teacher points to the words. Then the children may take turns pointing to the words as they are read. Then they may read along in unison with the teacher who may gradually turn the reading over to them. In Tutoring for Mastery what I call "laddering" is a similar idea.
The first step in the reading "ladder" is to read a sentence or paragraph to the learner to provide a reading model for him, and he points to the words. The final step is for him to solo read the passage satisfactorily as you point to the words. You may add intermediate steps such as having him read it silently to work out his problems. The need for more than one intermediate step indicates that the material is too difficult and that he may need more work on word attack and instant words. The laddering approach makes it possible to use more interesting stories, which are usually more difficult.
You may wonder about all of this pointing. One reason for it is that you want to make sure that he is tracking, i.e., looking at the word being read. He may have memorized the story, and that's okay if he's tracking. When he reads and makes a mistake that should be corrected, you need only tap the word with your pencil.
If the learner often does not respond to punctuation marks, tell him they are "traffic signs" for the reader, and they must be obeyed. When he reads aloud, tell him to drop his voice and say STOP when he comes to a period. After he does this for a while, have him read again normally to see if he responds to the punctuation. If he doesn't stop for a period, tap it with your pencil to signal him to say the last word again dropping his voice.
Unless you are testing, don't ask the beginning reader to read something aloud alone he hasn't seen before, as you may have been required to do as a child in "round-robin reading." As one reading instruction specialist said, "Round-robin reading is for the birds." The learner should hear the story read or at least have a chance to practice before he is put on the spot to perform. Furthermore, oral reading is tiring, so you should take turns reading aloud.
Check the suggestions in Obtaining Reading Material which includes material for children and adults.
It is a common practice to start instruction with very simple predictable picture books using a very limited vocabulary, and that is fine if the learner enjoys the stories. It is suggested that after you have covered all of "Spelling Script 1: Onsets, Rimes, and Endings" and some of Spelling Script for Instant Words in Writing Activity 1, you start assisted reading with very simple stories that the child has heard many times and "helped" with in Reading Activity 1. If appropriate, you might start at the level of Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham. It uses about 60 different words, but that is a lot for a beginner. Later you might use The Cat in the Hat if he enjoyed it. It uses 223 different words including about 80 glue words and uses words with a variety of vowel patterns. Therefore, he needs to be very familiar with the story and to have helped with the reading and to have completed all five sections of Spelling Script 1 and most of the instant words. Incidentally, the story ends with an excellent example of a good discussion question. You might then offer such Dr. Seuss books as The Cat in the Hat Comes Back and I Can Read with My Eyes Shut.
In between books you might work on some appealing short, simple, rhymed poems that you read in Activity 1 and that the child enjoyed. Read the poems with good expression and with a sense of joy.
Interactive storybooks on CD-ROMS were mentioned to supplement Activity 1 and 2. They may be used before this activity in order to familiarize the child with the story. The words are usually read so rapidly and the highlighted words or phrases fly past so fast that it is difficult for the child to follow them until he has already learned to read the story. After you have worked on the story with the laddering technique, he can try following the words on the CD. Interactive books such as The Cat in the Hat may be used to help the child become a more fluent reader.
When you start a new story that the learner hasn't heard, there is an important new step in the reading process: the pre-reading step. Thumb through the story looking at pictures and headings and have the learner speculate on what the story is about. See what the learner knows about words, ideas, places, etc. in the story. For example, if the story is about a pirate, you should find out what the learner knows about fictional pirates and their peg-legs, hooks, eye patches, parrots, and bad deeds.
The adult may have something he especially wants to read that may be too difficult for Activity 2 but all right for Activity 1. One adult asked me to read aloud a love letter he received. Funny rhymed poems and song lyrics are especially good because they are short and enjoyable.
Many third graders are "word callers." They sound as if they are reading the phone book instead of a story. They work so hard at identifying the words they don't get the phrasing right and don't get the message.
The first step in improving fluency is to read a passage the learner just read in the same way he read it and ask him how it sounds. Then read the passage with good phrasing and expression and see if he can tell what you did differently.
The next step in improving fluency and comprehension is for the learner to select stories he enjoys and can relate to and for you to use appropriate techniques for assisting him. Some of those techniques are listed below and some have been incorporated into the reading ladders in this program. Although the script offers specific techniques, you are free to try other techniques or make your own variations. Here are some of the basic techniques:
The reading on commercial tapes is usually too rapid, so you may want to record tapes yourself. In the beginning check the learners reading rate and record a little faster than his reading rate. Then have him point to the words as he listens to the tape to see if he can keep up. If he needs a rate of 50 or less words per minute, you may find it quite difficult to read that slowly. You can slow your reading by emphasizing intonation and stress, reading in distinct phrases, holding some sounds in the words (e.g., bi---g bear--- ), and making a full pause at the end of each sentence. At the end of a page, say, "Go to page__." In this way he can quickly find what page he should be on if he gets lost.
After the learner is able to read but needs a little help with a new book, record just the first part of the book. This will give him a running start on the story, and it will help him with many of the new words and names that are used in the story.
Provide the learner with a sturdy desktop portable tape recorder such as the Sony Pressman Desktop Cassette Recorder(SON TC-M929) sold by Circuit City with an AC adapter. Add the battery pack and an earphone.
"Word attack" is an old fashioned term for word identification, but I like the suggestion of going after words aggressively and confidently. There are two major strategies for attacking words. The first is "breaking the code" with phonics and structural analysis (recognizing endings, affixes, syllables, and root words) using our knowledge of English sound/letter correspondences and spelling patterns.
In this program phonics, writing, and spelling are taught together in Part 2: Writing. The student learns how to "write the sounds" in words, and this knowledge will also enable him to "sound the writing" in attacking words. After the learner has completed all of Part 2: Writing, Activity 1 through Spelling Script 1: Onsets, Rimes, and Endings and most of Spelling Script for Instant Words, he is ready to begin working on Script for Word Attack, Level 1: Attacking Short Words., which teaches special strategies for identifying words in reading. When he is ready to tackle multisyllabic words, start on Level 2: Attacking Long Words. Finally, work on Level 2: Affixes and Combining Forms.
A second strategy for attacking words is the use of the context of the story and the sentence to provide word clues. If the reader gets in the habit of insisting that the story make sense, he will automatically use context clues, and he will look for the meaning of unknown words. The result will be that he will read with comprehension.
The beginner needs to learn to use story clues and phonics clues at the same time. When he reads "horse" for "house" and doesn't stop to try to correct it, he is not following the story. If he says "home" for "house," he is trying to make the words make sense, which is what reading is all about, and you need not correct the error unless it is repeated. Then you may praise him for finding a word that makes sense, but he should look again at the word parts.
There are three levels of sounding out words. The first level is to sound them out grapheme by grapheme (one or more letters standing for one sound in a given word such as "b" or "igh"). In Activity 1, Part 2: Writing, the learner is taught to write the individual sounds in the early exercises. He is then able to sound out words like "stop" sound by sound, /s//t//o//p/, but this has limited utility. One problem for the reader is that some of the letters represent more than one sound. The duplicity of the vowel letter pairs are especially troublesome for the beginning reader. The l-e-a-d spelling is an extreme example of the problem. The reader can't even pronounce it without seeing it in context. The accompanying script, "Level 1: The Troublemakers," deals with some of the major duplicities. The second problem is that the word is chopped up so much that it is difficult to retain all of the sounds and put them back together to make a word.
The second level and most effective way to sound out short words or syllables is to sound small chunks called the onset (the beginning consonants) and the rime (the vowel and any consonants that follow it in the syllable.) He learns to identify rimes in Part 2: Writing. He should learn to sound out "stop" in two parts, /st//op/.
The third level of sounding out words is to sound larger chunks, which may be whole syllables (but you can't always tell in advance where the syllable boundaries are), endings such as in "stopping," affixes as in "stoppage," combining forms as in "photography," base words as in "stoplight," or other combination parts such as "ation." The idea is to teach the learner to sound out a word chunk by chunk in basically the same way skilled readers do when they don't recognize a word. How would you sound out "disestablishmentarianism?" It would be appropriate to sound these five word parts: the prefix, dis, the base word, establish, the first suffix, ment, the second suffix, arian, and the third suffix, ism.
A word is much easier to identify and remember if one sees and "hears" in his head familiar patterns in the word, and it is easier to spell if one hears patterns and can remember their spelling. Which of these two "words" that you have never seen before would be the easiest for you to remember, "flimbunting" or "tuhsdxiwp?" For the person who knows no common spelling patterns they would be equally hard to remember.
The problem of sounding out words of more than one syllable is usually addressed by teaching syllabication rules. However, the rules have too many exceptions and require the reader to turn his attention from the story to trying to remember the appropriate rule and how to apply it. An alternative "chunking" strategy is explained in the script--"Level 2: Attacking Long Words."
Some learners may "spit and sputter" when trying to articulate some of the individual sounds. If your child has this problem, the first thing to do is to make sure you can explain how to articulate the sounds. To learn more about it, you may wish go to Articulation of Speech Sounds. For a look at speech norms for children and for some general advice on helping your child speak clearly go to Articulation.
There is a basic vocabulary of about 200 words that has been called "instant words." Since they make up over two-thirds of the running words in all written material, it is essential for the beginner to learn early on to recognize them instantly as whole words on sight. (They are often called "sight words.") Some are regularly spelled and many are not. Many of them have the function of "gluing" the content words together and are called glue words, function words, or service words (pronouns, conjunctions, prepositions, some adverbs, and auxiliary verbs). See Introduction to Content/Function Words. Since many of them have little meaning and some of them such as "of" and "was" are oddly spelled, they are difficult to remember. Consequently, these words are taught as a side benefit of having the learner follow the text as you read to him and the use of the laddered reading technique.
I suggest starting to teach instant words systematically in the Part 2: Writing, Activity 1, Spelling Sript for Instant Words after completing the Closed Rimes, Section 2. The instant word exercises may also be used to check the learner's ability to recognize instant words. The exercises start with the simplest and most common words. It is better for words to be learned in some sort of meaningful context, so in the instant word exercises these words are imbedded in phrases. The instant words are taught in a writing exercise in order to benefit from the added sensory advantage of writing the words to strengthen the mental image.
Content words have meaning, which makes them easier to remember, but most appear too infrequently to be easily learned quickly as sight words. Also, the learner's memory is soon overloaded. Therefore, he needs to have sufficient word attack tools to aid in their recognition. Using context will help, but the rub is that the content words carry the meaning forming the context.
If the story is a little difficult, help the learner get into it by previewing it. Look at pictures and headings and encourage speculation about what is going on. If it is nonfiction, discuss topics he might learn about. To get him off to a good start, duet read the beginning paragraphs and discuss words and concepts that he might not know. Monitor his progress and ask what it is about.
Provide him with a small notebook for new words and a dictionary. He can write a sentence or phrase containing a word he is not sure about and write the meaning of the word in that sentence.
If a child sees his parents reading, he will want to get into the act. Therefore, you should have a daily family reading period when each person chooses his reading material, reads silently for a certain period starting with about 20 minutes, and may share what he reads. If parents don't do personal reading, it says to the child that reading and learning is just a school thing that isn't important in the real world.
The child may start by "reading" books he has memorized from Activity 1. After he starts to read, you can tape his favorite Activity 1 books that he hasn't memorized. He can then listen and follow the words with his finger or pencil.
Make a big deal out of taking the child to the library to get a library card and to check out books. Don't hesitate to ask a librarian where to look for books at his level on subjects of interest to him.
Parents with children who have learning problems would do well to read A Mind at a Time by Dr. Mel Levine. To read an excerpt from the book go to Review, A Mind at a Time. Dr. Levine says that all of our brains are wired differently resulting in our being able to do some things better than others, but we expect children to do well in everything in school. We need to help them see their strengths and weakness, which in some cases requires professional help, to assure them that they don't have "defects" just differences, to emphasize their strengths, and to help them strengthen functions that are weak and/or work around them. Dr. Levine thinks that we shouldn't view these differences as pathologies; therefore, he thinks that labels like dyslexia and attention deficit disorder (ADD/ADHD) are not helpful. To read a good interview with Dr. Levine go to All Kinds of Learning. This will give hope and help to parents of children of so-called Learning Disabled children.
The parent of a child with a reading problem may often wonder if he has "dyslexia." It is possible that he has some sort of problem with one or more mental functions, but the problem is more likely to be "dyspedagogia," which is inappropriate teaching. If you would like to know more about dyslexia, go to Dyslexia Parents Resources. Of special interest is the link to "Multisensory Teaching Methods," which is what my program is. For information on learning disabilities go to National center for Learning Disabilities.
Some children have a problem of inattentiveness, which may be due to boredom, but in a few cases it may be a problem with one or more of the attention control functions. The problem is often diagnosed as ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). The most common characteristics are inattention, distractibility, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and academic underachievement or behavior problems in different settings over a period of at least six months. After reading Dr. Levine's book parents with children in this category should talk to a pediatrician, one that doesn't reach too quickly for his prescription pad. In some cases he might recommend referral to an ADD/ADHD specialist or pediatric neurologist.
Be aware of two things: 1) Pinning down the attention problem is tricky. For example, it has been reported that a child that snores heavily may get inadequate rest that may cause the symptoms, and the treatment in some of these cases is the removal of the adenoids. 2) The treatments for ADD/ADHD are controversial. Check out ADHD Information Library.
We should be on the lookout for hearing and visual problems. Sometimes a child has good distance vision but poor close-up vision. For more on this go to Learning Related Vision Problems. One specific visual problem that is not caught in most eye examinations is the Irlen Syndrome. Common symptoms are that the print may appear to move or blur or appear double.
If your child "hates reading," one reason may be that it is so difficult for him that he can't tolerate the frustration. I hope that this program can make it easier for him because you will start where he is, show him how to do it, and assist him in doing it. He will use four senses to cover all learning styles. Also, you need to proceed at his pace with adequate repetition and practice to achieve mastery of each lesson. You should be especially patient, laid-back, and encouraging. You have a powerful advantage as a parent/tutor because you can devote all of your attention to one learner and his particular needs and keep him focussed on the task.
A second reason for hating reading is that the child may have no interest in the reading material that he has been required to read. The answer for this problem is to help him find material that does interest him and let him make the choices from among suitable books.
If your child has a reading problem and if you decide to use this program, you need to sit down with him and have a heart to heart talk. You might say, "I know that reading is hard for you, but we are going to work on it together with a new program that makes learning to read easier. You will have a fresh start, and you can and will gradually improve your reading and writing so that you can get an education and then get a good job and have a happy life."
Some people may be wary of tutoring adults, but in most cases those who try it have a rewarding experience. However, it is a good idea to have a trial tutoring period so that both you and the learner can see how well you work together before making a longer-term commitment. You don't have to work with someone that you don't feel comfortable working with or someone that you don't feel you can help.
Find out how much time and effort the learner is prepared to devote to learning to read. Unless he is able and willing to do homework on a regular basis, it will probably not be worth his time or yours to take on the project. It takes lots of time and commitment for most adults to learn the basic skills.
The face to face seating arrangement referred to above is especially good when working with adults. It won't take you long to be able to read and write upside down.
One must remember that although a person may be illiterate and a slow learner, he may be basically intelligent and experienced. You must relate to him on an adult to adult basis. Avoid a schoolmomish attitude and give constant, sincere encouragement.
Illiterate adults often have many problems, but you may want to make it clear that your role is that of tutor. You are not his social worker, banker, or spiritual counselor. Of course, you may assist him in finding qualified help for his other problems.
Reading instruction theory and practice go in cycles like ladies' hemlines. In the Twenties, when I learned to read in a one-room schoolhouse, reading instruction began by drilling phonics. Although there was no pre-school or kindergarten and very few parents read to their children, all children were definitely expected to be taught to read in the first grade, and some of them like myself were five years old.
Then we had "reading reform" in the early Thirties, and the vogue became "reading for meaning" using the "whole word" or "look-say" method with the "See Spot run!" type of inane basal readers. Reading and spelling problems became common, and in 1955 Rudolph Flesch's Why Johnny Can't Read fired up a back-to-phonics movement. However, many of the subsequent published reading programs were a mishmash of methods and teaching materials.
Of course the reading experts and the publishers learned from this bitter experience about "why Johnny can't read," right? Wrong! In the Eighties we saw the widespread use of "literature based reading programs," which again required children to read the words as wholes using context and picture clues in reading real stories in basal anthologies. But this time the educators had a fancy theoretical rationale for the whole word method, which was the Whole Language Philosophy. Its unverified assumptions were that children can learn to read in much the same way as they learn to talk if they are immersed in reading and writing; they don't need to be taught subskills such as phonics since they will discover what they need.
The Whole Language Philosophy was implemented in all major English-speaking nations, and the results were just what any reading expert worth his salt should have predicted. Stories of reading problems came from everywhere. A New Zealand press release said, "The New Zealand House of Commons Select Committee has just reported on its inquiry into the teaching of reading (end August 2001). For the country that is credited with starting the trend to the failed 'whole language' methods, the recommendations are a shock. Schools are now being told to incorporate successful phonics programmes in the classroom."
Often first graders who are behind in a whole language program are given help with the expensive "Reading Recovery" one-on-one tutoring program. It is basically a whole language program, and where I come from, this is called "giving them the hair of the dog that bit them." See Reading Recovery: The Claims Versus the Facts. It does have the virtue of stressing early and intensive intervention. Too often schools fail to recognize reading failure soon enough and place them in remedial reading programs rather than to focus on preventing failure in the first place by adopting a more effective reading program. Schools that do a poor job of teaching children to read are likely to do a poor job with remedial reading instruction.
To get a second perspective on the history and causes of our illiteracy problem from a school psychologist, see Illiteracy: An Incurable Disease or Education Malpractice? To fully appreciate the disastrous consequences of failing to learn to read, go to Children of the Code.
Some state legislatures have mandated a return to phonics. However, do educators at the schools of education support the intensive, systematic phonics instruction recommended by the National Reading Panel and train people to teach it? In a 2006 study by the National Council on Teacher Quality, What Education Schools Aren't Teaching about Reading, it was found that in a representative sample of schools of education "phonics is still not taught in 6 out of 7 courses." (page 29) I don't find this surprising, but I do find it appalling! The schools of education influence the reading instruction textbooks and the basal reading programs for schools, so the teachers usually get poor training and are often required to use poor reading programs. If you would like to get an insider's perspective on basal core reading programs, go to The Muddle Machine.
Instead of the "whole language philosophy" we now have the "balanced reading approach" that may include "phonemic awareness training," some form of phonics lite, and "shared reading" for beginners followed by "guided reading." I am all for properly balanced reading instruction, but early, direct, intensive, systematic phonics/spelling instruction should be a basic part of the balance as confirmed by the findings of the Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read. Also see Whole Language Lives On: The Illusion of “Balanced Reading” Instruction.
Although our brains are wired for speech, reading is an unnatural act that usually requires direct instruction. Systematic phonics that teaches the sound/letter code is fundamental and usually necessary for good results, but it is not sufficient. There are many reasons (see below) to read suitable stories to the child, and later it is important to make reading easier and more fluent by using various assisted reading techniques. This program has activities to do all of these things.
An important thing I believe Whole Language people got right is using real stories for reading practice rather than "stories" written for reading instruction purposes such as those in decodable books, but I would make two important qualifications: 1) Use not only real stories but stories that the specific child can relate to. We must persuade children to love to read as well as teaching them to read. 2) Don't ask the child to read until he has adequate decoding skills. In the meantime read to the child and gradually increase his involvement in identifying words (Reading Activity 1). He gets decoding practice without having to read mind-numbing stories that might turn him off reading. One of my favorite beginning books is The Cat in the Hat, but the 23 words on the first page include too, play, house, and cold, which are not basic level words. So I would read the book to the child until he has adequate decoding skills to take the lead in reading it.
In some school systems kindergarten only prepares children for academic work, and in other systems it provides skill-based academic instruction. The North Central Regional Educational laboratory in Literacy Activities for Kindergarten says this: "The following literacy activities are appropriate for children at the kindergarten level:
Daily Reading: 'Ensure that children have daily experiences of being read to and independently reading meaningful and engaging stories and informational texts.'
Writing: 'Provide opportunities and teacher support to write many kinds of text for different purposes, such as lists, poems, stories, letters, and reports.'"
If you would like to see what children in kindergarten and all of the grades are to be taught in California, go to English-Language Arts. If you know what basal reading program is used in your school and want to check it out, go to Florida school districts for review of specific reading programs.
The goal of the Federal Reading First initiative is "ensuring that every child can read by the third grade." The third grade?! I will know that we are getting serious about education in this country when our goal is to have nearly all children reading at the end of the first grade and most children reading simple stories and writing very simple sentences by the end of their kindergarten year. We will give enough support during regular instruction that there will be little need for remediation programs. If this requires two teacher's aides in every inner city K-1 classroom, so be it.
Here is the bottom line: Since reading instruction is in turmoil and for other reasons, parents must monitor their children's progress starting in kindergarten and must give them all the help they need to learn to read and write. If I were a parent with a child in kindergarten who is not being taught basic phonics/spelling, I would teach it without putting too much pressure on the child. With any child I would continue with summer tutoring so that he can be in the top reading group in the first grade.