This article describes the Mother Phonics program as implemented at the Augusta University Literacy Center. A description of the program as well as the Center's facility is offered. The daily schedule and instructional techniques are highlighted. The instructional design embraces the unique learning styles and preferences of struggling readers.…

This paper explores the question of whether the ability to spell depends mainly on visual perception and visual imagery, or on other equally important auditory, cognitive, and motor processes. The writer examines the evidence suggesting that accurate spelling draws on a combination of visual processing, visual memory, phonological awareness,…

Girls consistently outperform boys on tests of reading comprehension, although the reason for this is not clear. In this review, differences between boys and girls in areas relating to reading will be investigated as possible explanations for consistent gender differences in reading attainment. The review will examine gender differences within the…

Traditional methods of teaching spelling emphasized that pupils might write each new spelling word correctly and repeatedly from a weekly list in the spelling textbook. Some weaknesses in this approach are that rote learning is being stressed without emphasizing application of what has been learned, and that there is nothing which relates the…

After informally studying his first grade class, a teacher tentatively concluded that some students are phonetic learners and some are not. A faster method of identifying phonetic and nonphonetic learners is needed. No study that fails to consider differences in learning styles can possibly yield valid results except by chance. (MLH)

Using a nationally representative sample of 13,609 kindergarten children in 2,690 classrooms and 788 schools from the base year of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999, along with three-level hierarchical linear models, this study investigates the impact of early literacy instruction on kindergarten children's…

Most educators agree that an approach balanced between phonics and whole language is the best method of teaching beginning readers. Marie Carbo (1996) discusses the importance of focusing on a balanced approach to reading, because different students have different learning styles. Children who learn best with phonics instruction have analytic and…

When poor and normal reading second and sixth grade students received treatment in one of three methods of teaching word identification, the whole-word/meaning-based method fostered a global processing strategy, while the phonics method fostered an analytic strategy. A combination of both methods fostered the use of both strategies and generally…

A "national cry" has gone out that phonics and phonemics awareness must again be taught. True literacy involves much more than merely reading. Students need to be equipped to think, write, spell, and express themselves orally and on paper. This helps them to clarify their own thinking. The English alphabet is a sound/symbol system, not a…

Neither remedial nor nonremedial readers indicated willingness to skip words but remedial readers were less willing to skip over letters in a word. Remedial readers also showed a heavy emphasis on phonics. (Author)

Although learning to read well is essential for future success, many children are neither proficient nor avid readers. There is no single "right" approach to reading instruction; teachers should abandon the phonics/whole-language debate and adapt strategies to children's preferred reading styles. Principals should model reading behavior…

There is much more to a learning disabled (LD) child's successful learning than part-to-whole or whole-to-part instruction. Among the many factors to be considered are his/her learning style, interests, abilities, aptitudes, health, and parental support. Instructional programs for learning disabled children should be based on the students'…

Describes an action approach to teaching reading to black children which matches a black learning style. (MKM)

Assesses the extent to which 30 third graders employ phonetically-based spelling strategies in representing synthetic words with high and mid front vowels. Finds spelling of good readers rule-governed and derived from judgement about language while that of poor readers showed less awareness of written language patterns. (LFL)

A study investigated the relationship among reading style, instructional method, and reading achievement. Subjects were 213 second-grade students attending a large school in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area, with 84 students using a basal reader series with a phonics emphasis, 90 students using a basal reader series with a mixed emphasis, and…