It is unfortunate that some children develop serious reading problems quite unnecessarily. The cause can be the design of the early reading books that they use. As a parent or teacher, it is important to know the pattern of symptoms you will see when this is happening. Luckily, we have found it quick and easy to fix. How To Spot The Problem The children we help have often seemed to do well in the early stages of reading. The alphabet is not a big problem for them and the child has often learnt a few words quite easily. As the child starts reading simple books, a habit of guessing develops. Usually the guess will make sense, but will be nothing like the actual word on the page. The guessing and difficulty just seem to increase as the child moves up to more complicated books. Eventually the child's confidence can collapse and you will see massive resistance to any further reading. Without the right help, the child can get stuck in this state permanently, wrecking their entire education, even though we find it can usually be fixed in a matter of weeks. The Underlying Issue Most children find text very baffling initially. And so they will use whatever seems the easiest way to decode it. A child with a strong visual memory will use that strength to memorise words by sight. That will seem the easiest option. The child will probably be taught some phonics in class. But that does not mean that it really makes sense. And it is hard for a teacher to really know that, or fix it in the time available. The design of early reading books usually feeds this very situation. They use a small number of words and repeat them a lot. That makes them easy to read for a child who is memorising the words by sight. But, unfortunately, the child's reading is not really progressing at all. And eventually you reach the end of the blind alley. The child needs guidance out of this situation and onto the right path. The Simple Fix The first thing is to give the child a method by which to remember all the different phonemes. For instance, in the Easyread Coaching System we do that by using bright and active visual images which are very easy for the child to remember. They become the hooks by which the child can remember all the different sounds. This is a classic memory enhancement technique first developed by the Ancient Greeks. The next goal is to move the child away from the shortcuts being employed of memorisation and guessing. In Easyread we have developed games and exercises specially for this. And finally, the child needs to be able to practise reading without fear and loathing. In Easyread we achieve that by showing the text with the phoneme images floating above them. It allows the child to read the text unaided and build experience and confidence each day. The result of these changes of approach is that we regularly see children who have been completely stuck after years of effort, become enthusiastic readers in just a few weeks.
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