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Welkum to tha Caledwell Reeding Prograhm. Kree-eighted bi Tom
DenKnee, Ed Calldwell, end uhsoceeits. Learning to read is difficult in part because of the lack of consistency of American English, particularly the vowels. Although consonants are pronounced fairly consistently, the inconsistency of single vowels (the vowel "o" makes 17 sounds) greatly undermines the effectiveness of a phonic approach. Attempts to compensate for such inconsistencies in our language have included the whole word approach, use of rules, finding little words in big words, and the "linguistic approach". Unfortunately these attempts have not been particularly successful. The Caldwell Reading Program (CRP) is based on a computer analysis of the most frequently occurring 44,000+ words in present day American English. This analysis was used to identify frequently occurring and consistently pronounced higher-order units (letter combinations that include at least one vowel). The CRP takes advantage of the natural consistency of our language by teaching vowels only in units that are at least 90% consistent. For example "ake" is pronounced as in"take" at least 90% of the time. The bigram "at", however, is less than 50% consistent and therefore is not taught. The CRP enables many non-readers to learn to read a brief but meaningful story after only about a half hour of instruction, by blending consonants and units to make words and by learning two whole words. The length and sophistication of the stories and reading vocabulary increase rapidly, even though all words in the stories consist only of units blended with consonants, and a few selected whole words. The high level of consistency of the program instills a great deal of confidence in the learner. The CRP is easy to use. Paraprofessionals, parents, senior citizens, and even sixth graders have used the program, and very successfully, to teach others to read, after minimal training.
"As a special education teacher I have tried every program I have found to try to help students learn to read. Until I became acquainted with the CRP, my only comment was, 'I will do my best to teach your child to read,' After using the CRP, I now say, 'Your child will learn to read.'" from a Resource Room Teacher: "I used to say to teachers who made referrals, 'I may not be able to teach this one to read. I don't say that anymore.'" from A Parent Using the CRP (who was told in February that her son would have to repeat his grade because of his reading deficiency). "I have seen much progress in my son's reading ability since starting this program." He did not repeat his grade and when tested in the Fall, he was reading above grade level." To learn more: |
