Teach your child to read with The StoryBook

Review of The Reading Lesson by Terrie Bittner, Homeschooling Host

by Michael Levin M.D. and
Charan Langton, M.S.
ISBN 0-913063-02-9
$27.95

Terrie Bittner
is BellaOnline's HOMESCHOOLING Host

Review: The Reading Lesson
Review: The Reading Lesson: The Intelligent Reading Program for Young Children
Authors: Michael Levin, M.D. and Charan Langton, M.S.
Publisher: Mountcastle Company

The Reading Lesson was developed after the authors ordered a reading program for their four-year- old daughter that didn't work. She was bored by the cassette tapes and she made a mess with the flash cards. Next they tried software programs, but found that they didn't work either. Finally, they decided to make their own curriculum, researching about reading instruction and talking to others. This program is the result of their work.

The book is very thick and contains twenty lessons. However, this is not a book that promises to teach your child to read in twenty days. Each lesson is designed to take a number of days, depending on the age of your child, and is for children ages four to eight. It can be used in classrooms or homeschools and is written as if a parent were using it. You can also buy a computer program and video tape to complete the package, but the book can be used alone.

The book begins with a good chapter on how to teach your child to read. You do not need any experience or training to use this program, beyond what is included here, nor do you need any special equipment. It is an ideal program for a parent who is new to teaching reading and is nervous about what to do. You are even given the words to say so that your child will learn the material in the way the authors intended.

The Reading Lesson uses a combination of phonics and sight reading, introducing about 500 words. The goal is for children to be reading real words within a day or two, instead of making them wait months to work through the alphabet. The print is large, gradually shrinking in size, and is written in a clear, easy-to-read font with minimal distractions. The simple black and white line drawings keep the child's attention on the lesson rather than on flashy illustrations and also allow the child to color the picture as a reward at the end of the lesson.

One interesting aspect to this program is that it uses simple symbols to help children learn to read quickly. Blends are underlined to help children remember to read them together. Each word has the letters lightly underlined by sound group. For instance, the word that is underlined so that TH is underlined together, and the a and final t are each underlined separately. The letter b has a small, pale circle inside it to help a child distinguish between the b and the d. Many of the vowels also have symbols to tell the child what sound the letter is making in that particular word. I wondered if this would cause a child to become dependent on the symbol, but a teacher I showed the book to felt the symbols were discreet, and would simply speed up the learning process. She felt these cues would also be helpful to learning disabled children.

The first lesson proceeds as follows: The first page introduces the letter C. The child is given the name of the letter and the information that it has both a sound and a name. (You are given the exact words to say.) Then the child is shown the word cat and told that it is a word. Next, the child is shown the sentence, "cat sat." (Capital letters are not introduced until much later in the book, so initially all sentences are written using lower case starting letters.) The period is explained. On the second page the child is introduced to five letters and the animal pictures that demonstrate the sounds. For instance, the short o is introduced, so the picture is an octopus. Other sounds made by this letter are introduced later with different pictures. The third page has three columns of the introduced letters. The children are asked to say the sound of the letter. (Remember that the focus is on the sound, not the name.) Then they are asked to circle specific sounds. On the fourth page, they match letters to the pictures introduced earlier and on the fourth page, they begin to combine two letters. On the fifth page, children work on the names of the letters and on the sixth page, they again work on combining two letters. The seventh page introduces the first words, made entirely of the five letters introduced in this lesson. Page eight practices reading the words. By page eleven they are reading two words on a line and on the following page they read their very first story.

The first lesson ends with a review of the three words that are most important. By the end of the first lesson, the child is reading short stories and knows several words. It is recommended that children under five read one page per day, meaning it will take about two weeks to finish a lesson. Children five and six can do two to three pages per day, and older children can do three or more pages a day. By the end of the book the stories are longer. They are illustrated with a single picture, so the child isn't tempted to read the picture instead of the words.

Concerns:
The stories are still not very exciting, but I suppose there is little you can do with a limited phonetic vocabulary. The sentence structure of the stories bothers me as a writer and teacher.

Positives: The book is very easy to use, even for a parent with no training.
The pace is easily adjusted to the child's needs.
The emphasis on phonics is very strong, while still recognizing a need for sight reading.
The pages can be inexpensively photocopied for the child who needs to use them more than once.
The line drawings allow for interaction by coloring.
The drawings are appealing.
Concepts are introduced systematically and are clearly explained to the child.
The supplemental materials provide a well-balanced program.

As you can see, the positives well outweigh the concerns with this program. I found it to be a very appealing program that would be especially beneficial to homeschoolers. Many homeschooled children learn to read early, and this is one of the few programs I've seen designed for younger children that is not trying to create little geniuses. It is a warm and friendly reading program that should appeal to young children and to parents of special needs children.

Next week, I will review the software for this program. In the meantime, check my Amazon links. You can purchase the book today.

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Last week I reviewed The Reading Lesson, a book designed to teach your child to read with your help. This week I am reviewing the optional CD-ROM computer program.
The program is designed to work with the textbook, and lessons should be done first on the computer and then in the book. The program can be personalized to multiple users, so that each child can see his own name used throughout the program.

The program features the Giggle Bunny, an appealing Easter Bunny-like rabbit who giggles when clicked on. The opening screen allows you to select the lesson group to work in, which corresponds to the book. Since the screens offer no unnecessary words, I suggest you read the instructions carefully (click on the envelope) and practice moving through program before bringing your child to the computer. I found navigation to be a bit confusing at first, primarily because I seldom read directions and spend little time on games. Movement that might seem logical to those who often use educational software was confusing to me. Generally, nothing happens until you click somewhere. This allows you to work the programs at your own pace, discussing the material with your child and giving him unlimited time to answer. I found this to be one of the best features of the program. This program should not be used by a child alone-it is intended to be used with the help of a teacher/parent.

Each lesson offers several choices. Students should begin by learning the letters, sounds or words taught in the lesson. The first screen of lesson one shows five boxes, each containing one of the letters offered in the first lesson of the book, accompanied by the picture that represents it. Touching the letter C takes you to a new screen, where the letter c is drawn. A voice tells the name and sound of the letter, and a cat walks onto the screen, and is identified as being a word that uses that sound. You can work through each letter as often as you like. Next, you return to the initial screen and all five letters are shown. Click on the letter and it turns into the picture and the sound is given. Let's Read Words is the next section and you are taken to this as soon as you leave the previous screen. In this first lesson, the letters A and T move onto the screen, each letter separately underlined.

The narrator sounds out the word and then the underlines go away. You can now practice or discuss this word with your child. When you tap again, the lower-case letter becomes an upper-case letter. Click off the word and a C moves onto the screen and rests before the word at. This new word is taught in the same way.

Word Theater is the next activity in each section. In this section, children practice reading real words. There are a number of variations on this section. In the first lesson, the rabbit is a magician pulling words from a hat. The child is asked to read the word. The word will stay as long as you like while you help your child read the word. Generally, after the word is read, something interesting-a balloon or heart for instance, comes out as a sort of reward. In another, the rabbit is a juggler.

Next, the child can play a simple game involving the learned words. Usually, clicking the correct answer gives the child a visual reward. Clicking a wrong answer gets a simple "Try again," or nothing at all happens, so the child should not be too upset if he is wrong. A child can even guess his way through the game if you are just having fun. If the child gets at least ten right answers, he gets a trophy with his points on it. A few of the games may be too difficult for younger children, which is another reason to preview each section. You can easily skip a section you don't want your child to do. In one game, words fly across the screen, with a blend underlined. The child must click the matching blend below. The words fly by rather quickly, and I found it difficult to keep up. Other games are less difficult. One involves simply clicking letters to spell a spoken word. The letters do not have to be chosen in order and nothing happens if the child is wrong, so he never loses. He just keeps trying until he gets it right.

The final section allows a child to practice typing the words. The word appears on the screen and the child is able to copy the word in a large font. He can change a wrong answer by backspacing or by using the eraser. If the child makes a mistake, nothing happens, and the parent can instruct the child to try again. If he is right, the word changes color and is read to him.

If you are used to flashy, fast moving programs, you may be disappointed. However, if you want a program designed to teach, you will be very happy with the program. The drawings, as in the book, are simple, but appealing, with minimal detail, so as not to over-stimulate a child who is trying to learn. The focus is on the words. The games are simple, but entertaining, and a refreshing break from the workbook. Children can practice their reading skills while experiencing some movement, sound and interaction. The rabbit is appealing and the voices are those of children. The skills are presented intelligently, and in ways a book cannot, such as moving between the capital and lowercase versions of letters, and also sliding new letters onto known words.

My only real problem with the program was the challenge of moving through it. If I were teaching a little one to read, however, I would use this program to teach my child.. It has a thorough, commonsense approach to phonics that has a child reading very quickly and systematically. Used with the book and the video, you will need little else to teach your child the initial stages of reading.

I think the program will be welcomed by parents who are worried about their abilities to teach phonics, and also think that parents will be pleased with the speed a child will be able to read. By the time this program is complete, a child should be ready to move on to real books designed for early readers.