Do You Have a Struggling
Reader?
The reading process is a simple one, but to a struggling
reader it can only signify to him that he is not "smart" enough. I
can remember my own primary grade memories as being so uncomfortable. I
did not know what the others seemed to know, so I faked it. I know
that remediating a struggling reader must be done individually. If some one
is helping two struggling readers, the better one has the advantage.
You must always strive to gain his confidence without anyone else around
because he will just worry about what that other person is thinking and not
even care what he is supposed to be doing.
Because I repeated fourth grade and school was difficult
for me, I could share that with my students. I needed that child to
understand that his inability to read was not his fault. And it isn't!!!
GOOD TEACHING IS MAKING A DIFFICULT TASK SIMPLE
and when the child fails to learn to read, it is because we have failed to
find out what he doesn't know and teach him how the process works.
We have so complicated this beginning reading process. When I began
to teach first graders, I was amazed at how some children "caught on" to
any kind of instruction. I was never that quick! I could relate
better to those who needed more time and a program that "made sense."
When I began to question
all that "stuff" that the experts said was necessary for children to read,
I began to teach children with a program that made sense. I threw out
"clutter" which was counterproductive to their learning. Clutter takes
time, doesn't work anyway, slows down the learning process and is confusing
to many children.
We cannot assume anything. I have had first
graders not understand the difference between a letter and a word. Why
should they understand that if we have not made it clear to them? That
is the instructor's fault. You must have a program that is constantly
looking for what the child does not know. He cannot be expected to
tell you, "I don't know this and I don't know that." He doesn't
know what he doesn't know. I didn't! I believe that a child who
goes into a second grade level not understanding the reading process will
continue to struggle. To get to a good second grade level is the most
important step to successful reading.
You must start at the beginning with the basics of
reading.
1. Teach the sound of lower case letters (we use a skywriting
technique that is effective and simple) - writing emphasized.
2. We then teach the child how those sounds form words, words
are written from dictation and read left to right using a blending box.
We cannot assume the child knows to go from
left to right without checking that over and over. We use nonsense
words to take the "guessing" out. If he is reading c a t,
he may say cat without even looking but if the word is cam, he has to know
those sounds. WE MUST BE ALWAYS SURE HE IS NOT JUST GUESSING.
3. After your child knows a-z and can blend those together, we introduce
sentences. After all, sentences are just made up of real words put
together and read left to right. All the phonetic skills are taught
as he reads these sentences. When he comes to a word that requires
a skill he has not been taught, he will say "What is this?" That is
the time you will instruct that skill.
YOU WILL HAVE HIS ATTENTION AND HE IS WAITING FOR YOUR
INSTRUCTION. We also write from dictation to find out what the student
doesn't know, because the WRITING HELPS THE READING. I don't
know why, it just does!
4. After the child has lots of experience reading and writing sentences,
we then give him the first book. After all, books are only sentences
written left to right that tell a story. Our 40 books are plain black
and white, NO PICTURE CLUES. The child needs to develop the habit
of focusing on print, not searching for picture clues.
We also have a creative writing section built into our
program, because I believe that WRITING HELPS IN THE READING.
After working with many students, I am convinced that
there is no such thing as different learning styles, but different "speeds".
We are so quick to label a child as learning disabled when it is our
fault for "faulty" instruction early on and not making it our goal to "find
out what that child does not know."
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