Beginning Reading

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DI and Reading

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We believe that all children can learn to read beginning in kindergarten. The main purpose of reading is to understand. Yet, to understand, all readers must be able to easily and quickly translate words in a printed alphabetic code into understandable speech. This process of deciphering printed words is often the source of children’s reading difficulty.

The most recent research indicates that the best way to approach this problem is directly, explicitly and systematically. This involves strengthening a child’s sensitivity and skills with speech sounds and linking these sounds to the printed words. This is phonics.

Making this connection must become automatic so a child can focus more on understanding what is read. If a child has to spend a lot of effort simply translating print to speech, he or she will be less able to understand what is read.

The Reading Mastery program uses a phonics-based approach. Children learn in sequential steps and can keep track of their own growth towards becoming good readers.