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Reading
Therapy
Phonological Processing
"Unless Someone Guides Me"
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Acts
8: 29 - 31 Then the Holy Spirit said to Philip, "Go near
and overtake this chariot." So Philip ran to him, and heard
him (the Ethiopian eunuch) reading the prophet Isaiah, and said,
"Do you understand what you are reading?" And he said,
"How can I unless someone guides me?" And he asked Philip
to come up and sit with him. |
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This scripture
describes a spiritual problem that needs spiritual guidance. But, it
also highlights a very real problem for many students in school who
do not understand what they have read. The child/adolescent may have
been diagnosed as Dyslexic or Reading Disordered or even ADHD. He may
be able to read a story aloud, yet when asked what does it mean, he
cannot relate or restate the story. The child may even struggle so severely
that he will not even read the story aloud. He cannot decode the printed
message and does not want others to see this weakness.
There are certain skills that should be acquired by children at specific
ages/grades. A good general rule is that by the end of the third grade
a child should have the literacy rules so well understood that he has
learned how to read. So, by the fourth grade the child, will make the
transition from "learning to read" to "reading to learn.",
The child will be expected to read and understand narratives in various
content areas such as history and science. For the child to make this
jump into "reading to learn" the child should have progressed
through these various specific skills by the end of:
| Grade
Level |
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| Pre-Kindergarten
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- Distinguish
words, pair rhyming words
- Understand
simple stories
- Understand
picture book stories
- Know
some letters and shapes
- Sing
nursery rhymes
- Know
numbers 1-30
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| Kindergarten
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- Know
the names and shapes of the alphabet
- Use
the proper motor pattern for writing letters and numbers
- Be
aware of the sounds in words
- Recognize
upper and lowercase letters
- Retell
stories
- Relate
actual events
- Sing
and play rhyming games
- Know
10 poems and finger plays by memory
- Know
the days of the week.
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| First
Grade |
- Read
independently on a daily basis
- Identify
all letter names and shapes
- Retell
stories with logical progression
- Predict
the end of stories that are read to him
- Spell
basic words and attempt harder ones
- Relate
personal stories in logical progression
- Use
words with suffixes, prefixes and contractions
- Count
and write 1 to 1,000
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| Second
Grade |
- Read
grade level books independently
- Mastered
the basics of phonics (vowels, consonants and syllables)
- Begin
to read more difficult words and use them in his writing
- Formulate
questions about readings· Write stories and letters
- Alphabetize
words
- Telling
Time
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| Third
Grade |
- Read
independently grade level fiction and non-fiction
- Have
a knowledge of spelling rules and patterns
- Write
paragraphs with good punctuation and spelling
- Summarize
and analyze more difficult readings
- Have
discussions on readings by drawing on previous learned information
- Read
aloud to others with good inflection and intonation
- Recognition
of simple subjects, nouns, verbs and adjectives
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What
if your child or adolescent is delayed? What
is a parent to do? The first step is to find out if the child
has any acuity and/or processing problems. Go to Checklist for Signs of Auditory & Visual & Motor Processing Deficits.
If the child has several symptoms, then pull down the Questionnaire
and call us to set up an Auditory &
Visual Processing Screening.
If there is an acuity problem, that must be addressed first. But, if there is no acuity problem or the problem has been corrected by the optometrist or audiologist, then the specific Processing Disorder must be addressed. For example, as the Visual Processing Disorder is remediated, we at Merritt Speech & Learning actually begin work on laying a foundation in phonics. Once those visual processing weaknesses are remediated, then you can purchase a good phonics program and continue to work with the child to acquire the basics in reading. Or, if you want more specific "guidance," we have developed a program we call "A Time for Phonics." Through our program we use the "eye gates," the "ear gates," and the "motor gates" to build the foundation for phonological processing that is critical to successful reading.
We want every child to reach his/her full potential and progress from "learning to read" to "reading to learn."
If you decide to purchase a phonics program, several key issues
that are beneficial in successful teaching strategies are:
- Stressing
phonemic awareness
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Blending sounds is critical
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Explicit phonemic instruction is more helpful than implicit
instruction
- Using
different strategies for expanding word meanings
- Giving
children prerequisite/background knowledge for new stories
- Providing
questions before, during and after reading stories
- Teaching
analogies
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Merritt
Speech & Learning
Dana M. Merritt, M.S. CCC-SLP, IMT
904-721-4122
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