|
In short, yes. But it's much more than phonics. A program can claim to teach phonics if it teaches letters and the sounds to which they
correspond. That kind of instruction is not enough. With my instruction, a student is taught not only sound-symbol correspondence, but also syllabication, word parts, roots, prefixes, suffixes, and how to
blend the sounds together. The focus is for the child to be able to break the code of letters, to "decode." The method that a reader is taught to decode is crucial. My instruction is systemically taught in an
explicit and sequential way. Furthermore, sounds that are taught are practiced with controlled text. Using
controlled text
is another crucial element of instruction for readers who are struggling. Usually in schools, a child is expected to read "authentic literature." While this is indeed the end goal, it is not the means for some readers. Even early children stories have a lot of different and complex phonetic elements that can quickly turn reading into a losing guessing game for a child who doesn't yet understand the decoding process. This "guessing" technique is the most important habit to break. Unfortunately, many young readers have been encouraged to "figure out" words from context. This jeopardizes the entire decoding process. A child may learn some frequently repeated words but will not have the skills to attack new words. When working with controlled text, the reader is constantly applying decoding skills because no words are above the student's level. The guessing is eliminated. The reader begins to see that there is a system to our alphabetic language. As new sounds, syllables, and concepts are learned, they are incorporated into the controlled text. Lastly, instruction must be
multisensory. Learning "phonics" by doing a worksheet is not the same as having
explicit, systematic, sequenced, multisensory instruction. Instruction is multisensory because it incorporates the different learning channels: visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic. Often, instruction
in regular schools tends to be either largely auditory (when the teacher is presenting) or largely visual (when the student does independent work). This is not enough for students with processing
difficulties. My instruction is based on the well-documented principle that students with learning deficits must have multisensory instruction. Orton-Gillingham based programs are utilized. |
