It’s the late 1990’s. Too many American children are failing to learn how to read. The situation becomes so desperate, Congress asks the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) to form the National Reading Panel to investigate and determine the best way to teach children to read.
How did our nation get to this point? For years, teacher colleges taught teachers the “look-say” or “whole language” approach. If a child was reading and came to a word he didn’t know, the teacher told the child to look at the picture. Decoding an unknown word was de-emphasized in favor of context or picture clues. Phonics instruction was considered outdated, boring, and void of comprehension instruction.
The National Reading Panel found that the best instruction in reading has four components:
- Explicit phonemic awareness instruction
- Systematic phonics instruction
- Fluency practice
- Ways to improve comprehension, such as summarizing
The Nashville Dyslexia Center uses the Barton Reading & Spelling System because it has all four components. Call us today to learn more!