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1. Reading is really about identifying symbols and sounds
2. A child's enthusiasm to read must be entertained at the earliest year.
3. Any restricted methodology or grading system will hamper progress
4. Children though loves challenging themselves to conquer levels of achievements - a common feature used in computer games - which even adults are hooked on.
5. The above thus sets the stage for the holistic accelerated reading program, which encourages:
a. using single, hand-written reading levels combined with art - that which a child can easily imitate ( printed books cannot easily be imitated by children)
6. Start as early as possible - my experience is that children at 4years show an interest in reading and this is what made me start the accelerated program with my baby daughter who was then able to read the first levels within two weeks. She could read fluently when she entered Grade 1. Now restricted old school thinking teachers will say - "No, but the child will be bored in grade 1" that will only happen if the methodology is teacher-centred and not child-interest-centred. The advanced readers are a teacher's reading tutors for the new non-readers (peer-reading)
7. It is advised that teachers and parents who see this accelerated holistic reading program, should re-write the notes with a black fine-liner so that the child can imitate the structures. Use numbers so that children can identify their progress. Letters and words must be placed in blocks to allow children to develop their spacial skills. I unfortunately do not have the computer icons to do the program in type-set, but interested parents/ teachers can see it on a Google video on "ICS Intervention Juniors"
Reading Levels
It is good to make big posters that contain a Level on a poster - in black paint/ felt-tip. It leaves a large and lasting print on the brain.
Level 1 ( sound the letter do not use the name of the letter)
1. 'a' for apple ( replace the word with a simple drawing)
2. 'b' for ball "
3. 'c' for cat "
4. 'd' for dog "
5. 'e' for egg "
6. 'f' for fork
7. 'g' for gate
N.B. the child will be able to read 'for' after the first seven sound introduction
The child cannot go to level 2 if he/she did not master level 1
Level 2
1.'g' for gel and 'g' for grass ( because 'g' has two sounds - children must be introduced to it early)
2. 'h' for hat
3. 'i' for iron
4. 'i' for ice ( remember replace the word with a picture/ drawing)
5. 'j' for jug
6. 'k' for kettle
7. 'l' for ladder
Level 3
1. 'm' for mat/ man/ mom ( have pictures/ simple drawings to illustrate)
2. 'n' for net
3. 'o' for orange
4. 'p' for pot
5. 'q' for queen
6. 'r' for rope
7. 's' for saw
Level 4
1. 't' for top
2. 'u' for umbrella
3. 'v' for vase
4. 'w' for wheel
5. 'x' for xylophone
6. 'y' for yo-yo
7. 'z' for zebra
N.B. Children tend to want to now want to write their own letter and drawing. Let them and encourage them
Level 5
replace the nouns with pictures or simple drawings
1. in the box
2. in the hat
3. in the house
4. in the vase
5. in the kettle
6. in the packet
7. in the car
The child will familiarise and identify 'in the'
Level 6
1. on the table ( have a picture/ drawing)
2. on the box
3. on the house
4. on the stool
5. on the chair
6. on the fridge
7. on the desk
The child will recognise "on the"
Level 7
1. at the beach
2. at the table
3. at the desk
4. at the school
5. at the house
6. at the hospital
7. at the door
Level 8
1. go out
2. go in
3. go to the house
4. go over
5. go to the school
6. go to the desk
7. go to the table
Level 9
1. he is big
2. He is small
3. he is wet
4. He is good
5. he is bad
6. he is full
7. he is dry
The child learns small and capital letters
Level 10
1. She is at the school
2. She is at the house
3. She is at the doctor
4. She is at the desk
5. She is at the beach
6. She is at the garage
Level 11
1. This is a dog (Picture)
2. This is a cat
3. This is a hat
4. This is a cup
5. This is a pen
6. This is a rubber
7. This is a phone
Level 12
1. Where is the dog ? (pictures)
2. Where is the hat ?
3. Where is the cup ?
4. Where is the pen ?
5. Where is the cat ?
6. Where is the rubber ?
7. Where is the phone ?
Level 13
1. The pen is there. (pictures in the place of the noun)
2. The cat is there.
3. The mat is there.
4. The cup is there.
5. The hat is there.
6. The phone is there.
7. The rubber is there.
The child will master 'the', 'is', 'wh' and 'th' sounds
Level 14
- Now the child masters similar three letter sound words.
- The child cannot go onto the next number unless he/she has mastered the complete list back-to-front
1. bat,cat, hat, mat, sat, rat, that, fat, what, man, tan, van, ran, pan,
2. net, set, let, met,
3. car, bar, jar, tar, far, are
4. but, cut, nut. hut, tut, rut
5. pot, rot, not, hot, dot, lot
6. cool, pool, stool, noodle poodle, fool. tool, wool
7. door, pour, roar, snore, bore, store, more
Level 15
1. stand still
2. stood straight
3. still stiff
4. start stare
5. more to store
6. all the stalls
7. when, where, what, with, why ?
Level 16
1. state, rate, hate, wait, straight, date, spate, slate
2. make, hake, wake, rake, fake, lake
3. need, steed, weed, kneel, steel, wheel, reel, feel
4. stale, bale, hail, whale, sale, pale, nail, stale, mail, tail
5. dome, home, comb, stone, alone, come
6. follow, shallow, hollow, swallow,
7. shake, shook, shall, share, shave, shift, shack, shell, sure
Level 17
1. water, later, earlier, waiter, sailor,
2. should, could, would
3. mine, wine, shine, kind, line, fine
4. were, here, because, therefore, whenever, whatever, thereafter, before
5. think, thought, buy, bought, seek, sought, make, made, take, took, tell, told, go, went.
6. all, fall, tall, hall, mall, stall
7. lost, frost, toast, roast
Level 18
1. won-der-ful (wonderful)
2. fa-bu-lous (fabulous)
3. ex-cel-lent (excellent)
4. mag-ni-fi-cent ( magnificent)
5. in-cre-di-ble (incredible)
6. fan-tas-tic (fantastic)
7. mar-vel-lous (marvellous)
This allows the child an advanced level of reading syllables.
The aim is to allow the child now enough vocabulary to structure his/her own sentences from the many basic words.
Level 19
1. big, bigger, biggest
2. small, smaller, smallest
3. great, greater, greatest
4. weak, weaker, weakest
5. strong, stronger, strongest
6. new, newer, newest
7. little, less, least
This allows the child to deal with suffixes to form degrees of comparison - a needed feature for sentence structure
Level 20
1. The big boy has a small toy
2. The small girl has a big doll
3. The happy boy had a long stick
4. The sad girl had a very big bag
5. The lonely man had a smile on his face
6. The strong boy saw many pennies in the large bowl
7. All the marvellous men and women had a gorgeous time in the magnificent castle with many fabulous lights, candles, bangles and trimmings.
Allow the children to read everything backwards so that they are sure they are able to read well
Level 21
After this level the child will be able to read any Grade 1-6 text with confidence and will become a strong reader with lots of practice.
Each sentence that follows is developed to tell a story with the aid of similar sounds that will not only develop reading skills, but also comprehension and depth understanding of literary styles. The sentences also establish certain moral rectitudes that can be discussed with the child/children, opening doors for much deeper thinking and creative writing opportunities.
Parents and teachers can ask the child to explain in his/her own words what each sentence-story is about.
1. The famous star aimed to tame his hair before he gets the blame and becomes ashamed.
2. Would you, could you or should you mould those crowns from ground ?
3. They screamed for ice-cream and he screeched for bread, but she was quiet.
4. The horrible, terrible soldier sprayed and spewed fire from his machine-gun. Everyone dreaded his furious rage and angry mood.
5. He broke the brake with a stroke of intense power that made people shout out loud in a freak-like manner
6. The pain was too much for the slain fighter, who fought for the rights of people who suffer.
7. Which sprinkler sprouts water in the puddle in which children jump, scoop, tread, play and splash ?
8. We were shocked to see the smocked and crocheted, beautiful frock broken to shreds and thrown away.
9. Through the tunnel went the thug, but his thumb got stuck in the handle of a gate that threw him off balance.
10. Are you stunned to see how much fun we can have with gorgeous things that are expensive and rare, but good ?
11. The girl swirls around, while she stirs a mixture of stew that brew on the open fire.
12. It was fine that he drew on a cloth that was mine and on which we dine.
13. We saw an exquisite mountain view from a plain of lush grass, speckled with an extraordinary array of wildflowers that represent the heritage of Cape Town's colourful peoples of various religions and cultures.
Parents, teachers and children can challenge themselves to create new sentences using the words that developed this foundation phase reading development program.
Happy reading and writing.
