Third grade has been identified as important to reading literacy because it is the final year children are learning to read, after which students are “reading to learn.” If they are not proficient readers when they begin fourth grade, as much as half of the curriculum they will be taught will be incomprehensible. [1]
Vulnerable children are those living in poverty, with disabilities, in detention centers, refugees or those living in any setting which labels them as incapable of academic achievement. One skill that assures all children a life with possibilities is the ability to read. Negative labelling often precludes access to this wondrous skill. A means to ensure that vulnerable children learn to read is to start the instruction prior to first grade or even kindergarten.
The children in a North Philadelphia day-care center were described as “at risk” academically because of their community, parent’s education, and salaries. Before they ever entered a formal classroom, they were expected to fail. However, the day-care director and the president of the non-profit under which the center operated had a different view of the children. They began dialogue with the community associates of a major bank in the city to explore possibilities for giving these children optimal opportunities for academic success starting with their time in the day-care center. In meetings with parents, the project was enthusiastically approved. A credentialed reading teacher who was already in the Philadelphia School System was hired, and she did additional training in reading at an institute for children who learned differently and were succeeding. Parents and guardians attended training, because their participation was critical to the success of the program which involved cross-setting commitment. Not only would the reading program be presented daily to the children during day-care hours but also 2-3 times in the home setting. Presentations to the children were five minutes or less and rich with hugs, compliments, and play at the center and at home. Throughout the day and evening the toddlers were learning to read and being praised and hugged for having such fun. There were no right and wrong responses; just fun and repetition and hugs! If parents/guardians could not continue the work at home, older siblings did the fun sessions. Everyone in a family played the reading game.
The result of this cross-setting schooling was phenomenal. Older siblings began to perform better in their academic work because they were at-home-teachers. Some of the parents were inspired by the learning growth of their toddlers, and they completed GEDs and/or enrolled and completed degree programs. The toddlers? When they graduated from the day-care center, they skipped kindergarten and went straight to first grade as a group with an excellent teacher. Many went on to college and skilled employment when they became adults.
Cross-setting learning began in the classroom and was reinforced by immediate family or extended family beyond day-care hours. This reinforcement beyond the school environment is a critical learning factor for children with physical and mental differences and for those who are labeled “at risk” academically.
The program can be done at home. Read the rationale and details of the project in the text by Dr. Glenn Doman, How To Teach Your Baby to Read.[2] The program is designed for brain-injured children. Community and corporate leadership in the above day-care program speculated that if the program had amazing results at Dr. Doman’s Institute for the Achievement of Human Potential, what might it do for children who were labeled “at risk” intellectually? The program works academically, and it gives children a sense of stability and affirmation in hostile and fragmented times. It gives them and their families hope for their future.
[1] https://www.ncsl.org/research/education/pre-kindergarten-third-grade-literacy.aspx
[2] Doman, Glenn. How To Teach Your Baby To Read. New York: Dolphin Books edition, 1975.
Recent Comments