Of all the teaching to read methods, Children of Color, especially Black children's reading scores often excel national averages when first taught to read using Direct Instruction. A child introduced to this program at age 4, by the end of kindergarten, will have a 1,979 word reading vocabulary, which consist exclusively of words that he or she can decode, sound-out and comprehend; at a solid 2nd grade skill level! And struggling readers will have gained equally measurable literacy skills. 'Like Mike' Pre-Kindergarten report card copy available for review, please request: ReadingLady411 (at) gmail (dot) com. Teaching reading correctly takes time, patience, skills and tools. Most adults, including teachers, don't have two or more of the necessary requirements. It's a slow step-by-step process that in order to achieve success, and do it right the first time, there can be no shortcuts, multitasking or grouping of learning processes. The Letter Sounds Save Their Soul Series is a 5-book training to read series that uses direct instruction to progressively build upon the absolute last skill mastered. By the conclusion of the book 5, readers will have sounded out, practiced reading and learned the meaning of 3,913 words, and be able to read at a solid 3.5 grade level or better. This training teaches that the sounds inside of these 3,913 words, and any words, fit neatly into 1 of 7 possible spelling patterns or sound families. Reader guardians and their students will have learned to instantly recognize and sound out these patterns, which translate into their being able to sound out and decode 3 - 4 times as many of the words learned in the "Letter Sounds Save Their Soul," learning to read training. Level 1 / Book 1 Recommended for new readers, pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and all learners reading below grade level. DESCRIPTION: Introduction to slide sounds, which are 14 unique letters that naturally slide one sound into the next. Students develop an automatic sound-out reading reflex and learn how to isolate and smoothly blend letter sounds. Within the level 1 series, developing readers are introduced to 33 words and 88 possible letter sound blends. Reading Mastery Time Estimate: Starting with Level One / Book 1, depending upon the amount of weekly hours of practice devoted to learning to read, with a minimum of 2 hours per week, the entire letter sound out program could take up to 20 months to complete, ending with level five / Book 5. At which point a competent capable student who can easily read anything will have emerged. Each level series features; sound out strategies, reading, writing, games, fluency and vocabulary building activities. Complimentary 'reader skill level rulers' available upon request at: ReadingLady411 (at) gmail (dot) com. Enables reader guardians to know exactly what books will support their child's current decoding abilities. Why do Blacks thrive when taught Direct Instruction? Author Vanessa Peters' suggest it's because of their sense of rhythm. By tapping into their natural ability to connect rhythm and sounds, direct instruction teaches minority children how to hear, manipulate and identify the smallest unit of letter sounds and naturally connect those sounds into the process of reading fluently. Tragically for minority students rarely are new teachers trained in direct instruction. Instead during their college years, training is focused on popular research studies and opinions of biased experts who discredit the necessity and success of direct instruction for African Americans children. Opening with concrete evidence showing the meteoric rise and subsequent plummeting test scores of a model inner city school before and after DI, "Letter Sounds Save Their Soul" shows parents and guardians how to STOP the practice of turning Black children into illiteracy statistics.
About the Author: Vanessa Peters is a reading specialist, private tutor and homeschooling advocate. In 2005 she founded the Sweet Sounds of Reading children's tutoring program and its companion Parents Reading Training Classes. She is also the author of the reading training primer series, "Letter Sounds Save Their Soul: Direct Instruction Secret to Reading Success for African American Children."