Reading Tutor: Tulsa, Broken Arrow, Bixby Areas
Reading Help for Kids
The Difference
We Are Not Your Typical Phonics Program
"What's the difference between the Academic Associates method and
other phonics programs? Aren't all phonics methods the same?"
- In the Academic Associates program, students learn decoding skills to unlock the 1,000,000+ words of
English, learn fluency, and master comprehension. Critical reading skills are taught. Most read several
books during the course and typically gain 2-5 grade levels (even many students who have been diagnosed
with learning disabilities).
- Academic Associates does not use visual, “meaning-based,” or counterfeit phonics, which are so popular
today. For example, we do not have students learn to substitute one consonant for another at the beginning
or ending of words to make a new word (or by using whole word analogies in “cut and paste” style such as
cat + mop = cop).
- Academic Associates does not use flashcards because this promotes memorizing rather than learning to
read phonetically.
- Academic Associates does not use objects or colors to represent sounds because that generates
informational overload and confusion.
- Academic Associates does not use pictures in teaching reading, because these prompt guessing. Students
should never have to guess at reading words.
- Our teachers do not incorporate writing into reading instruction. Reading and writing are completely
different mental activities which engage different parts of the brain.
- The goal of many first grade reading courses is to teach 200-600 words. In our very first lesson, our
students, including those with learning disabilities, read at least 300 words and are empowered to read
thousands more.
The Secret to Reading Success…
Many teachers assume they are using a phonics-based approach simply because they teach children to use
graphophonemic (the relationship between the symbals and sounds of a language) cues in word identification.
However, teaching a child to use context, picture, syntactic (symbals), configuration or phonemic (sound) cues in
order to “guess” at words is not the same as teaching intensive, explicit, systematic phonics, in which the child
learns to read phonetically (learning the sounds of speech) without the need for other cues. This is a critical
difference for those who have been diagnosed with some kind of learning disability.
One of the “secrets” we at Academic Associates have discovered about teaching reading is that there are
dozens of phonics sounds and rules that are never included in most phonics programs because they are thought to be
superfluous or inconsequential. However, those students who did not learn to read well will never
learn to read to their potential without being taught all 44 sounds and all the rules of phonics in a logical,
sequential and explicit way.
A Reading Method that Cooperates with the Brain’s Neural
Architecture…
The Academic Associates method cooperates with the brain’s own neural architecture. It streamlines the flow of
data into the linguistic part of the brain, simplifying and accelerating the process of learning to read. The brain
is retrained to read phonetically. This is one of the primary reasons Academic Associates has been so successful in
teaching children to read who have failed with other programs.
How the Brain Processes
Reading
The reason many children don't learn to read by the whole-word method, or typical "phonics" method
is because of the differences in the way human brain processes incoming data by a system that is largely
incompatible with the aforementioned methods.
The typical male, and some females, do not learn reading from inference. They must be told plainly
and directly exactly which letters make which sounds under what circumstances. In an only partially facetious
example, if you tell a male that a trash can is overflowing, he will assume you think the condition of the trash
can is an interesting topic of conversation, when you were actually asking him to empty the can. :-)
The reason males comprise 80% of poor readers is that they were never told in concrete
terms the rules for decoding words. Unfortunately, almost no one knows these simple rules any more -
not even reading textbook publishers.
But when students learn to read by a logical, sequential method that teaches them rules
they can follow, and exceptions to some of the rules that also make sense, they quickly and painlessly learn to
read. There is no significant difference in the reading abilities of males and females when taught by
the Academic Associates® method.
"If children and young people are to
successfully compete in today's world, it is imperative that they become successful
readers."
***CONTACT US TODAY! DON'T LET YOUR CHILD CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE!!***
Reading Tutor: Tulsa, Broken Arrow,
Bixby Areas
Reading
Help for Kids
* FREE reading assessment * No
contracts
*One-on-one
sessions *Secure, positive atmosphere
Rich & Polly Blackstock (918)
806-2778
Achieving a Brighter Future for All Ages
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