Posted in Literacy Tips

"Don't teach many different ways.   Do teach the one best way."

Many parents I've talked to have taught their children to read on a trial and error basis. They start with one program, end up with another, and sometimes with a few other programs in between as their children struggle to learn to read.

We must start with the fact that English is an alphabetic language. This essentially means that there are arbitrary written symbols that represent the sounds of speech in each word. Therefore, it is important to avoid teaching reading any word in a wholistic manner based on the visual physical configuration of the entire word, but rather consistently teaching reading any word by parts beginning with the letters or combination of letters that represent the elemental sounds constituting the word.

In addition, we must teach a complete foundational cadre or framework of letters and letter combinations that represent the elemental sounds of English before words are formed from this essential parts.

This is just the beginning; but it is a good start that must be consistently followed for all our children to become successful readers (and spellers)!