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DYSLEXIA BEGONE!
The format of this newsletter is altered somewhat in order to feature in its entirety a thought-provoking article we've received from Reading Specialist Don Potter (http://www.donpotter.net), taken from his widely-distributed newsletter. An analysis follows:
*Dear recipient of this e-mail,
*Do you find it interesting that such a massive problem with so-called
dyslexia could be completely cured in a single year with pure phonics?
*I recently finished tutoring a third grader with Dolores Hiskes'
Phonics Pathways. At the end of second-grade at my school he was
barely on a 1st grade level and had severe whole-word dyslexia.
We went straight through the program without repeating a single
lesson. We met only two or three days a week, often for not more
than 15 or 20 minutes.
*The results, as always, were dramatic: At the end of second grade
he was reading on a first grade level and had massive whole-word
dyslexia. On Miller's whole-word dyslexia assessment, he had a
dramatic slow-down of 45%! After he finished half of Phonics Pathways
by the middle of the year, his slow-down was reduced to 24%; and
he was on grade level.
*By the middle of the year, Dewey got him up to grade level, but
he still suffered with some lingering whole-word dyslexia. By the
end of the year he was totally cured. Totally cured! No signs of
whole-word dyslexia remain. Yesterday, he finished Phonics
Pathways; and I gave him his end-of-year assessments. His slow-
down on Miller's test was only 2% (actually nothing! - indicating a
total cure of his whole-word dyslexia), and he was reading on an
independent fourth grade level (one year ahead of grade level).
To see whole-word dyslexia cured is amazing. Even my respected
authority Geraldine Rodgers thinks that it is possible to improve
whole-word dyslexia, but not cure it. One year with Phonics
Pathways and he is CURED!
*I believe this is the "missing key" to understanding dyslexia.
Whole-word guessing is created by sight-word instruction, and it
is cured by intensive phonics. It could have been prevented if
explicit phonics would have been taught in the first place.
*This can happen with students in every school in America when
this simple phonics program is taught. Dolores does not have a
single sight-word in her whole book, not one! (Note: There are a
few introduced later on, by pattern.) There are no stories to
create whole-word, context driven guessing, not one! She has
completely decodable sentences for developing fluency, but not
stories. Dolores did her homework when she produced Phonics
Pathways.
*He has overcome an enormous hurdle in his academic develop-
ment. I can only imagine how he might have fared if he would have
started learning to read with Phonics Pathways. He was taught
Spalding's Writing Road to Reading in kindergarten and first grade,
and some of the new Open Court in second.
*He was one difficult student to teach. He was always dancing
around, leaning back on his chair, looking around, making random
noises, etc. He was driven to distraction and caused me plenty
of stress. But I just stuck with the program, page-by-page with
dogged determination. Dewey never gave up on him; although
I think he must have felt the strain from time to time. Just give
Don Potter a copy of Phonics Pathways, and he will take on the
toughest cases! Life just keeps getting better.*
*Gratefully yours for ever,
Don Potter*
AN ANALYSIS
Don's description of his student could have perfectly described our dearly beloved youngest child, who was severely dyslexic, had ADD, hearing challenges, severe allergies, and eight hospitalizations his first two years of life as well. Phonics Pathways was written as a result of my teaching him how to read, incorporating all of the special techniques I had learned and developed along the way. He ended up graduating in Microbiology from U.C.Davis with a minor in Geology, and today teaches climbing and First Responder Medical Rescue classes worldwide, and reads a book every other day.
The programs Don refers to in his letter are generally well thought of and have helped many people learn how to read. Why, then, did they not work with this youngster? I have received many similar letters with similar stories, and thought it might be useful to analyze some of the reasons why Phonics Pathways often succeeds with these difficult-to-teach students:
(1) Short vowel sounds are introduced first, with multiple pictures
that begin with this sound illustrating each vowel. In the beginning
many children are quite simply unable to hear these sounds within
a word. And multiple pictures much more accurately and clearly
depict the subtle range of sounds comprising and delineating each
letter -- similar in effect to that of a 3-D hologram. This is especially
helpful to ELL or students with hearing and speech challenges.
(2) Consonants follow, one at a time, also illustrated with multiple
pictures beginning with the sound. But most importantly, each
consonant is only read in combination with a vowel in the form of
a two-letter blend. When consonants are read in isolation, there
is an extra sound that does not appear when read in conjunction
with a vowel. For example, in the word *cat* *c* in isolation is
pronounced /cuh/, so the word literally sounds like /cuh-a-t./
However, when pronounced together with a vowel *ca* is simply
read /ca/ so it simply sounds like /ca-t./ The extra sound resulting
from consonants read in isolation is totally eliminated.
(3) Two-letter blends are integrated into real words as soon as
possible. Phonograms are not taught first as a separate set of
disconnected skills to memorize prior to being applied. Mnemonic
experts have long known that it's easier to remember something
new if we can connect it to something already known. It also helps
prevent the *reading-without-understanding* syndrome sometimes
seen when phonograms are learned in isolation. Many children find
it too daunting a task to memorize all of the phonograms prior to
*real* reading.
(4) Graduated blending-and-building techniques are embedded in
every lesson throughout the book, to establish strong left-to-right
eye tracking skills. This will help prevent or correct any tendency
to reversals. Syllables become words, words become two-word
phrases, phrases become sentences of gradually increasing com-
plexity. Many children find it just too difficult to jump from reading
a word to reading a whole sentence -- even a short one. A gradual
approach bridges that gap. It's a gradual stretching, like that of a
rubber band.
(5) All practice readings are 100% decodable until reading is well-
established. A typical sentence is *Gus went in his hot tub as well.*
Simple sight words such as *I* and *A* are introduced gradually, by
pattern, a few at a time. Even the word *the* is not introduced until
the *th* digraph section later on in the book, along with *they.*
This is an extremely important feature, and is not typical of most
programs.
(6) The typeface is very large -- 24 point. It's so much easier for
students to learn from large print -- once they are able to read
they can then more easily move to smaller print.
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This whole approach to teaching reading amounts to build-in physical
therapy for the eyes -- I call it *eyerobics.* The Mayo Clinic has found
that reading difficulties such as those described above often result
from *convergence insufficiency disorder,* whereby eyes jump around
or drift when attempting to focus, students develop eyestrain, tire
easily, and have short attention spans. They found that many children
having 20/20 vision are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, and until it is
properly treated with vision exercises will continue to experience
reading difficulty. Tutoring or special education will not usually help.
The good news is they found that simple vision exercises can fix
the problem in most cases, and my own experience is that using
*eyerobics* when teaching reading is often sufficient in itself to
correct or prevent the problem. It's simply preventive medicine. In
the back of Phonics Pathways there are two extra pages of vision
training exercises for those desiring additional help.
Many phonics programs are a mixture of phonics and whole-language,
despite much rhetoric to the contrary. They may have titles like
*balanced literacy,* *embedded phonics* or *scientifically based,*
etc., but you must dig beneath the surface and scrutinize the actual
contents of the programs, not just peruse the titles!
An excerpt of a wonderful report by Louisa Moats called *Whole-
language Wolves In Sheep's Clothing* is in the March 2007 issue of
Education Matters, the publication of the American Association of
Educators (http://www.aaeteachers.org). The entire report, called
*Whole-Language High Jinks,* can be found at the Thomas B.
Fordham Institute website, http://www.edexcellence.net.
Perhaps no one described this kind of obfuscation better than
our beloved Mark Twain:
*There is nothing in the world like a persuasive speech to fuddle
the mental apparatus and upset the convictions and debauch
the emotions of an audience not practiced in the tricks and
delusions of oratory!*
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That's it for this newsletter! We hope you have enjoyed it, and will feel free to share it with others who might be interested.
Next time: More on dyslexia. Coming soon: information about Legal Compliance, Reading First funding, and how your school can qualify for each.
Enjoy your day -- I hope Spring is as lovely where you are as it is here in California. Last weekend we thrilled to the fully-blossoming dogwood trees in Yosemite Valley, with snow gently falling over each tender blossom and the mighty Yosemite Falls roaring in the background. Incredible!
Cheers to all,
Dolores
Copyright 2007 Dolores G. Hiskes
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