Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
By Darlene Lewis, Academic Interventionist, More to Grow Cognitive Development Training
Shockingly, the ABC song we all learned as children is unnecessary for learning how to read and for some students even complicates the process. Say aloud the letter C. Do you hear the /s/ sound? Try G, H, W. Do you hear other imbedded letter sounds? G has /j/, H has the long /a/, W has the letter u in its name. When only letter sounds are necessary to learn to read, why add 26 letter names to remember to a naive learner? Concentrate on teaching the letter sounds and soon consonant-vowel-consonant words will be slipping off your little one’s tongue. Let me share a program that builds upon the fact that we are sound to print language.
This is the program that worked for children who were not successful with classroom or tutoring in traditional or even Orton-Gillingham reading instruction. One by one the children who could not rhyme or blend after months and years with talented teachers, would succeed with this program’s one-on-one instruction. I had the privilege of helping the reluctant stressed parents became confident and equipped. They were learning how to teach, as their child was learning how to read. I had the best seat in the house watching this magic.
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (DISTAR) was the top performing program in the single largest comparison conducted by the US Office of Education. Over ten thousand K5-3rd grade children from cities, rural areas, poverty, middle class, and every ethnic background consistently proved it as the outstanding curricula. The results lasted for four years after the instruction was given providing reading and language achievement and improved self-esteem. This program is simple enough it can be started with 3 yr olds.
Things to remember:
- Refer to letters as sounds: “What sound is this?” Or “Write the sound /m/.” Letter names are unnecessary.
- Follow the scripted researched method for correcting a child’s mistakes.
- Cover the pictures so the child is decoding words for understanding, not using pictures as cues.
- Reading begins with knowing letter sounds (phonemic awareness). Use flashcards to teach letter sounds.
- Give yourself the gift of intuitive flexibility. 100 Lessons does not mean they have to be 100 consecutive days. You may need to review and practice letter sounds on days in between. If you have an unproductive lesson that wants to make one or both of you want to cry, Stop! Practice the same words featured in the lesson with games, refrigerator magnets, bath foam letters or create a homemade book together featuring those words. Have fun. Be creative. Take as much time as your child needs to feel successful and keep reviewing the letter sounds to develop phonemic awareness, the basic tools needed. Then start again the next day. You’ve got this.
- Get cheerleaders: Re-read lessons by making a video to share with grandparents.
- At the completion they’ll be on a 2nd grade reading level which facilitates moving to short chapter books such as Magic Tree House or Boxcar Children.
- If you want a more traditional approach, an amazing strong program is ABeCeDarian. You always have a choice.
- If reading is slow and laborious and creates many discipline issues or you have tried tutors for years you may need to be more curious. Could your child have a few foundational weak cognitive skills that make reading difficult?
- Cognitive Development Training seeks to identify and strengthen the areas of the brain that are weak. Imagine the task of lifting a heavy couch. If six people lift the couch the task will be simple, but if only one person lifts, the task will be nearly impossible. For example, if visual processing and working memory are weak, then the other parts of the brain are burdened and overworked while trying to accomplish tasks (lift the couch). Cognitive development seeks to train the brain in working memory, visual, auditory & language processing, attention, logic, comprehension, vestibular system, and primitive reflexes by using fun brain games that strategically increase in difficulty. These will connect with the classroom and workplace.
A good follow up book to enhance reading skills is Recipe for Reading.
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The mission of More to Grow Cognitive Development Training is to improve learning ability and function through cognitive exercises that meaningfully transfer to all educational and everyday life situations so individuals maximize their potential.
Darlene Lewis, darlene@moretogrow.com, https://moretogrow.com/