phonographix

I was first introduced to Phono-Graphix on this board a couple of years ago. I was trained and certified last year. I had researced reading programs fairly extensively. I chose PG because it is research based and teaches ONLY the essential skills needed to learn to read, no memorizing of rules, etc. It is not perfect, but it is the best and fastest remediation method to my knowledge. In addition, the book, Reading Reflex, can be used by parents at home.

Janis

I love PG and just wrote a letter to every school in my district. Here is my follow up letter I sent them if they asked for more information. I also send them a PowerPoint I found on PG. If you want it email me at the above link.

I think that PG is a “diamond in the rough”. Great little program, you might even think of it as more of a strategy but it yeild very good results usually teaching a kid to decode in weeks instead of years..

Hello,

Thank-you for inquiring about PG especially at this busy time of year.

Informational Links:

http://www.belmont-school.org/pages/press1.htm

http://www.iser.com/phonographix.html

RESEARCH FINDINGS:
http://www.bdainternationalconference.org/presentations/fri_p2_a_13.htm

More Research:

http://www.bristol-lea.org.uk/teaching/sen/pdf/knowle_park.pdf

Here is a great pdf handout with nice 23 page
summary on PG:

http://www.devon.gov.uk/dcs/speceduc/phono/phono.pdf

Converted teacher using PG:

http://worksoflauren.com/Tutoring.html

School using PG:
http://www.moonhall.surrey.sch.uk/Curriculum.htm

Another school in CA using PG

http://www.echs.org/aboutus/programs/program-lac.htm

A handout with teacher testimonials at the end:
http://www.readingcentre.co.uk/teacher%20training.htm

Another tutoring center using PG:
http://homepages.tesco.net/~didsburyreadingclinic/home.html

ldonline.org …do a search under PG or Phono-graphix to see lots of talk about PG:

http://www.ldonline.org/bulletin_boards/tr.html

Let me tell you a little more background on this book Reading Reflex. Instead of teaching like a typical “phonics” program where a letter makes a sound, in this program the concept is taught in the reverse. A letter or group of letters stands for a sound. (a letter doesn’t make a sound) This book calls this a sound picture. For example, “ough” is a picture of long /o/. The book will go into reasons why neither phonics nor whole language works. It is a “HOW TO BOOK” that shows a parent or teacher how to take the absolute minimal amount of information needed to decode and teach a kid to read quicker than any program I am aware of. In fact, you don’t even need to teach letter names in this program. (just like Montessori) as sometimes it takes up unnecessary memory space and for some kids who get confused. The author gives this example in the book about you going to a new place where you meet 26 new people, (26 new letters) If you met and had to remember these people you would meet Mary, but call her Macy. You’d meet Henry, but call him Harry. This is the sound /w/ but you can call him ‘double u’. This is the sound /m/ but you can call me “em”. Many kids don’t have a problem but for some kids this is too much initial information and as I now see is not needed initially to decode. Later it can be taught, but not initially.

Basic Concepts of PG:
1) Letters are pictures of sounds.
2) A sound picture can be represented with one letter or with two or more.
3) There is variation in the code- a sound can be shown with more than one sound picture
4) There is overlap in the code-a sound picture can represent more than one sound.

Code Knowledge:
1) English is phonetic (a sound/symbol system) with variation and overlap
2) The approximately 44 sound (phonemes) are shown by about 140 common sound pictures (graphemes)
3) Most of the sound pictures need not be learned explicitly
4) Rules about code knowledge are mostly unhelpful or detrimental, a waste of memory space. (phonics rules)

There is a big emphasis on error correction. With this concept students can and do sound out just about all words in English (maybe not about 100 words or so)

EXAMPLE
LONG 0
o-e as in note
oa as in boat
oe as in toe
o as in most
ow as in grow
ough as in though
ou as in soul
oo as in door

/n/
n as in no
nn as in sinner
kn as in know
gn as in gnat
pn as in pneumonia

/e/
e as in bed
ea as in bread
ai as in said
a as in about

Lousia Moats, a reading expert I admire, once was quoted as saying this is one of her favorite programs. She mentions Phono-graphix ( PG ) in her research from time to time.

Another book that goes into even greater detail on this philosophy is the book entitled…Why Our Children Can’t Read and What we Can do About it. by Diane McGuinness. This doesn’t tell you how to teach it but it will tell you why PG works in more detail than you probably even want to know and where other programs fall short. Her book recommends LindamoodBell Lips and Phono-graphix as programs that work.

More on PG:
So you have the about 44 phonemic sounds and only 26 letters. Phonographix shows the kids how the sounds are represented with a letter or letter group also called the “sound picture.” This is a huge AHA for many kids who come to remedial who mistakenly think that there is one sound made per letter. Now, many readers pick this up on their own but this concept breaks it down and shows them. Kids quickly see there is a “secret code” to reading using PG. I have heard teachers who use this concept have students who get darn right mad and ask why didn’t anyone ever show them this before.

I have been reading Internet posts from parents who also just don’t understand why our schools won’t use these effective programs. They wonder why they can teach their own kid who has been in special ed for years in a few weeks to read. They wonder why the special ed teachers haven’t even heard of some of these effective programs like Wilson, Orton-Gillingham, LindaMoodbell, and Phono-graphix. So, I wanted to share this cool program as a kind of awareness to teachers in my little corner of the world who might not have heard about this program yet. Again, I’m not an expert but I have the desire learn and share.

If you want more information, I will be happy to show you my notebook at my school. I am not an expert on this concept but I spend hours each week honing my skills and talking to others that use this and other programs.

When I first read the book, I was a bit skeptical I must admit. The authors kind of come across as “this is the only way”. Well, it is very powerful nonetheless. It wasn’t until I went to ldonline.org reading chat board that I was sold on the idea enough to give it a shot. Teachers and parents go on and on about “PG this, and PG that” Testimonial after testimonial of parents and teachers alike who used this program after their child was in special ed for years who had never gotten past 3rd grade and multi-syllable decoding. Then I found a listserve of users of effective reading programs and the rest is history. I love PG. I have now gone over 4000+ old posts on tips and ideas about effective reading programs if anyone ever cares to see a few of them. The Phono-graphix company has a terrible marketing plan, and they are not astute business people from what I can see, but the program works for many, many teachers successfully nonetheless. Sometimes the special ed parents have to go in and educate the special education teacher after learning about effective programs. Special ed. could be doing so much more if we were given better training and resources. I’m hoping that if some teachers in our district get interested, we might ask for training by special ed. If anyone one reading this email is interested please let me know. Call xxxx to tell her you are interested or for that matter, anyone who has an “in” on making things happen.

Phono-graphix is another tool, for the teacher tool box. Programs don’t teach, teachers teach but it sure helps having solid research based programs which have been so successful in other districts and so many successful tutoring clinics.

Michelle,

That was great!

I have to agree with you about the marketing aspect of things.They are not very good at selling this program.

I gave the book to my son’s first grade teacher. She didn’t agree with their ideas. When it comes to PG I have found people get it or they don’t. There is no convincing those who are unconvinced.
It takes an open mind and an understanding that simple isn’t always bad.

They took something that has always been quite complex and taken out all except what has been proven to work. It makes it that much more simple to understand for the child.

You can always go in and add more later once the child can decode. They need to learn to decode first, plain and simple.

This program saved my child.

I gave the book to my son’s first grade teacher. She didn’t agree with their ideas. When it comes to PG I have found people get it or they don’t. There is no convincing those who are unconvinced.
It takes an open mind and an understanding that simple isn’t always bad.

your above statement is sooooo true, you put it better than most Linda

libby

My daughter graduated from High school 2002 reading at the 6th grade level–she was tutored under the Lindamood program previously and made two years gain but with Phonographix after 16 weeks went from the 6th grade to 12th grade. She was tested at the community college for Reading and was at the 100th class level or college level. She continued on with the tutor to learn writing skills. Her dreams to go to college are a reality–she finished her 1st year of community college and looking forward to graduate school after her BA degree. She wants to help other children like herself–her dx dyslexia, auditory processing disorder, visual perception disorder, a functional left hander (switched hands due to her language deficits) which turned into anxiety and depression. She just called after her academic counseling at the community college to plan her academic future. What a change—before all she thought she could do is welding–-This program works and is very fast–Jeanette

[%sig%]

Hello,

I recently finished Reading Reflex. I would like to know an easy way of setting this program up so it is nice and organized. Please help!!! :) Thanks!!!!

Hello,

I recently finished reading Reading Reflex and it sounds great. I am anxious to start using the program. I would like to know an easy way to set it up so it is nice and organized. Any suggestions? Thanks.. :)

oops, sorry I thought it didn’t post the first time. I would love to know how to organize this program. Thanks

Denise,

If you are using it as a mom, you just basically take each page as it comes. I made envelopes for every set of manipulatives and they fit nicely in one of those Rubbermaid shoe boxes. Each envelope has the Reading Reflex page number on it and title of the activity.

But if you are a teacher, you need to order the Word Work kit so that the whole thing is organized in a binder for you. And this kit contains reproducible activity sheets. I bought the colored manipulatives which I think are $19 now. You have to cut them up, but I laminated some of them and placed them in the envelopes like I described above.

Hope this helps!
Janis

Thanks Janis…I think I will order the word work kit. I do teach but it probably won’t be worth it to make tons of copies from the book. :D

I just found out I will be tutoring a 6th grade student who currently reads at at K-1st grade level(supposedly level F guided reading). Plus he will be in my class in the fall. I have 10 hours of summer tutoring and I’m looking to make the most of it. Based on the postings, this approach seems like it might be the best use of our time as it would potentially give him some tools (and little cheat type sheets) with letter combinations for ssimilar sounds. Is there a website out there that contains more than the examples Linda gave or another source of similar information? :?:

Well you will probably do great with him. I think that words like “guided reading” (actually that might be a block of the 4 Block method), “balanced”, etc. are code words for whole language. The kid has no real explicit systematic phonic instruction and that is probably his trouble.
It seems interesting that there are so many codes for “whole language” perhaps someone somewhere has gotten the idea that maybe it doesn’t work so they have to code name it?

—des

Amen, to that re: whole language renamings, des!

qaw, if you only have 10 hours, I can’t think of anything better than PG. I’m sorry I can’t direct you to anything online other than the Read America web-site, but it is not very informative. There was an article published in the IDA journal a few years ago, and that information was enough to verify to me that it is an effective method. However, the many positive testimonies here on LD Online were what really sold me. The sad thing is, this child will need a lot of help to catch up on all that he has missed the last 5 years. I am glad you are willing to try and help him over the summer!

Janis