An Open Letter on Reading Instruction and the Magic Penny Reading Program From: Daniel Schneider, Au.D., Doctor of Audiology It might not seem obvious for an audiology practice to include a reading program. Actually there is a logical connection. We have identified and treated auditory processing disorders since 1981. Children with auditory processing disorders have normal sensory hearing, but they do not quickly and efficiently process the sounds of speech. This causes academic problems - especially problems with reading. We have worked with children with auditory processing problems to develop the phonemic skills necessary for success in reading. Unfortunately, correcting the auditory processing disorder was not sufficient - if children continued to work in ineffective reading programs in their local schools, they continued to experience failure. Our research into this problem revealed that there is an unbelievable failure rate with regard to the teaching of reading in our schools. It appears that, at best, only 70% of our children become good readers. The other 30% experience reading failure and consequently... academic under-achievement. This often leads to problems with self-esteem, turmoil at home, and behavioral problems. These children are usually referred to remedial reading programs that cost millions of dollars and use the same techniques that failed in the first-place. This failure is unnecessary. Other Western countries have a 99% literacy rate. Fortunately, my wife, Sandy, is an elementary school teacher, and by the year 2000, Sandy had combined our auditory processing therapy with a reading program... our Summer Literacy Institute. We used the most appropriate reading materials that we could find, but they were not satisfactory. In 2003, Sandy accepted the position of "Literacy Specialist" at the elementary school where she had worked previously as a classroom teacher. With her experience working with children with central auditory processing problems, and with the objective of early prevention of reading problems, Sandy again researched early literacy reading programs hoping to find a program that would appropriately develop the skills needed by all children. Unfortunately, she found them to be unsatisfactory and, therefore, began to develop a phonemically-based reading program and started using it in the three kindergarten classrooms at her elementary school. Sandy began to develop the program intuitively based on experiences working with children with auditory processing problems and her vast experience as a classroom teacher. She developed a strong phonemic awareness program and a strong phonemic basis that runs throughout the program. She discarded many of the developmentally inappropriate techniques used in traditional, rule-based, phonics programs and developed a program that uses a logical hierarchy of skills - from simple to complex. The program is easy to use as well as research-based. It is sequential, systematic, and explicit. The program utilizes parents as partners in their children's early reading development. Classroom instruction is differentiated so that all children work to master skills with other children at their level. Children quickly move from mastering phonemic awareness skills to their first decodable readers (early reading story books). They progress quickly through the early readers because they have developed the requisite phonemic awareness. By the end of kindergarten or early in first grade they are ready for their first chapter book, The Adventures of Peanut Butter and Jelly. The accompanying skillbook, Magic Penny Reading Secrets, Book 2, is a powerful teaching tool that improves reading and comprehension skills, as well as writing, critical thinking, and test-taking skills. An Open Letter on Reading Instruction and the Magic Penny Reading Program Our reading program is now being used in several elementary schools and clinics with excellent success. Sandy continues to work directly with children in our Summer Literacy Program, in individual sessions with children, and as a literacy volunteer in school classrooms. She has had amazing results even with children as young as four and as old as seventeen. We believe that we can achieve a 99% literacy rate with the Magic Penny Reading Program. We have tracked all the test scores to date -- for the last three years -- and our scores support this. Many of our kindergartners are even reading at the second to fifth grade level by the time they enter first grade. All of the children know the sound/letter relationships, can decode three sound words, as well as write creative stories and answers to comprehension questions by the time they leave kindergarten. Reading research is improving thanks in large part to national initiatives that are trying to improve the quality of reading research... but there are still plenty of bad research studies and journal articles that can be used to support almost any reading approach or technique. One has to look no further than the "Whole Language" approach to teaching reading that was very prevalent in the 1990s. This was a horrible reading system that was well-supported by academia and left a record number of American children with dismal reading skills. At this point in time, most of our reading teachers are not fully informed as to the implications of the new research. In our experience, most classroom teachers and reading teachers take a eclectic approach to reading that employs a variety of teaching techniques and approaches; unfortunately many of these approaches will be counterproductive and will only serve to confuse children. This is what they have been taught in college, and, we are aware of college teacher training programs that continue to confuse our future educators by not teaching scientifically-based reading techniques to teachers. Brain research into the neurophysiology of reading using PET scans shows that all good readers use the same brain structures when reading. Poor readers, on the other hand, display various patterns of more diffuse brain activity - consistent with their poor/inefficient reading skills. With appropriate intervention poor readers can improve their reading skills, and, subsequent PET scans reveal changes in brain activity that more closely reflect the brain activity seen in good readers. All good readers read the same way. Reading is not a mysterious process that requires an endless variety of techniques for different children and different learning styles. On the contrary, there is one way to teach reading and lots of ways to confuse children. Change does not come easily. There is incredible resistance within school systems to change the status quo....but the Magic Penny Reading Program can change lives. We can now prevent reading failure by providing a developmentally appropriate early literacy program that will empower teachers and parents to work together to enable every child to develop all of the skills necessary for literacy success before the end of kindergarten. We can also take 99% of our reading failures and turn them into good readers - children who feel good about themselves and their achievement in school -- children who now have bright academic futures. Correcting this problem can not only change lives in a very positive way -- it can also save our school systems billions of dollars and raise property values in school districts that achieve academic excellence. Change will not come easily, but it is definitely worth the effort. Daniel Schneider, Au.D. Doctor of Audiology Please visit our other web site: MagicPennyReading.com |
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