Readamerica in Special Ed.

Hi Laura,

I’m not familiar with your particular situation, because I see kids one-on-one, with the parents paying for my services, but I’ll try to suggest a few things anyway.

1. Don’t assume that the child with the lowest reading level will progress at the slowest rate. I see no correlation between where they are when they start with me and how fast they progress.

2. Be prepared for kids that willingly digest what you’re throwing at them. This curriculum, properly presented, will work for every child….and they realize that something is finally working for them and they eat it up. (I have had kids assign themselves homework when I’ve missed a page in the workbook I use, and virtually all of them come every session with almost all of their homework completed. I have no slackers, and most of the kids I work with are one to four years behind in reading.)

3. Pacing will be tough for you, because each kid is different. The original version of Reading Reflex over-emphasized the “12 hour” phenomenon, that is, in 12 hours every child can learn to read. I have kids that take 8 hours and kids that take 30 hours. Over the past three years I’ve learned that you can bore them by going too slow or frustrate them by going too fast. They can learn to read “a lot” faster than you’ve been led to believe, but if they get frustrated, you’ve accelerated beyond their capabilities…for the time. Back off with the frustrated child and make sure they are ready for the next level.

4. Move to multisyllable work as soon as a child can blend a “chunk” with reasonable automaticity. If they are still saying “r…o….k….rock!” when they see the first chunk in “rocket” then they probably need more time in single-syllable work before adding multisyllable work. Some of your kids will be ready for multisyllable almost right away, but you need to spend the first few lessons making sure they have learned the skills and know how to map properly.

5. Proper mapping is essential! They should say each separate sound as they write it. I tell them that this way they learn faster because they are saying a sound, hearing a sound (from their voice,) seeing a sound and writing a sound all at the same time. It is also helpful to point out to them when they are having a difficult time writing a sound picture, such as writing the “wr” in “write” while saying /r/, that they need to map this sound picture properly a few times so that “wr” simply becomes another way to write the /r/ sound. Then, later, when they can easily do so, make sure and comment to them that they have accomplished it, and that proper mapping made it happen.

6. Most of the kids I work with are not dumb….they just can’t read. In fact, because some of them are actually quite smart, they learn to read quite rapidly with this method and appreciate knowing that someone actually realizes, and acknowledges, that they have a good head on their shoulders.

7. I’ve never tried this, due to working one-on-one, but I’m convinced that with this method, kids can teach kids. Instead of the usual word wall filled with sight words, or rhyming words, build a word wall with sound pictures for the
particular sounds. If a kid wonders whether “gn” in “gnaw” is a picture of the /n/ sound, or if it’s unique, put it on the board under a ?-mark. Ask them “Is this a sound picture for /n/?” Pretty soon some enterprising kid will grab a dictionary and tell you that “gnat,” “gnome” and “gnu” are in there (What’s a gnu,he’ll wonder.) Another one will come up with “sign” and before you know it the whole class will have decided that “gn” is another picture of the /n/ sound. Also, when properly prepared, most of the class should be able to correct the one kid who still thinks that “st” is only one sound (having diligently absorbed the 2nd grade teacher’s lesson on initial blends.)

8. This is important…and somewhat controversial. In my opinion, even though I’ve never met your kids, about half of them have an undetected vision problem which has kept them from learning to read in the first place. You will be able to easily determine most of these kids with a question to Mom. The question is simply this: “I think vision might have something to do with your child’s reading problem. Does anyone else in your family have difficulty with reading or have a vision problem beyond needing glasses?”
I work closely with a vision therapy department and so most of the kids that I see have had a diagnosed vision problem. However, almost all of them were previously seen by optometrists who did not detect the problem later addressed by vision therapy, and almost all of them have one or more siblings or a parent who either had trouble learning to read, or had an obvious vision problem, such as “lazy eye,” etc.
I am now convinced that undetected vision deficits involving binocular vision are behind the majority of the severe LD-reading kids and that schools are way behind the curve in even knowing of such problems, much less addressing them. I also think that if teachers were as aware of this issue as they are of the effects of Ritalin, etc., that prescriptions for Ritalin, etc., would drop precipitously. I’m sure at least half of the kids that I work with would qualify for meds at some point, but I can’t honestly tell which ones they are among my clients. Once a kid gets instruction that works, they settle down and learn. I know this sounds idealistic, but this is what I’m seeing. Sure, some kids fidget, but it isn’t stopping them from learning. A vision problem, however, will definitely stop them from learning, and it’s usually genetic, so check the siblings and the parents.

Hope this helps some…I could go on for a lot longer…..Rod

Thanks so much for the info. It was very helpful. I’m trying to get a hold of someone so I can become certified. It’s tough finding someone in NE Ohio. Again, I really appreciate the information.

Laura

You may want to also join the ReadNOW list at http://www.groups.yahoo.com. Quite a few of the list members have experience with Phono-Graphix in one or more settings — individual tutoring, small group, classroom, even whole-school programs. The list hasn’t been very active lately, but perks up periodically during the year. The archived messages can be helpful too.

Mary