I'd like to share with you an interesting case study of how 2 sisters (a 3 year old and a 5 year old) learned to read in just 4 months - both learned to read using the Children Learning Reading program. They attended the summer reading camp operated by the program's creator, Jim Yang.
Jim has been teaching kids - and teaching parents how to teach their kids - to read for quite some time. During the summer months, he runs a reading camp teaching many children to read. most of the the children he teaches are 4 to 7 years old, with the occasional 3 year old or 8 year olds who are having reading difficulties.
To complete both stages of the reading camp, it typically takes about 4 months - attending 3 times a week and each session is 1 hour long.
This case study is about 2 little girls (sisters) that attended the reading camp. When they started (June), the older sister P. S. was 5 years 4 months, and the younger sister A. S. was just 2 years 11 months old. Probably most reading teachers would not even consider working with a 2 year old - since when can a 2 year old learn to read!?!
Well, no problem for Jim, as he had taught all of his own children to read by age 2. So when their mom asked if she could bring her almost 3 year old, Jim said: "sure, why not? I'll have both of them reading for you in a few months." Certainly, she had a healthy degree of skepticism.
So by the end of 4 months, after completing the Children Learning Reading program, her older daughter was reading at a grade 2 level (reading age 7.3 years), and her younger daughter was reading at a grade 1 level (reading age 6.8 years). I can't embed videos in emails, so please head over to Jim's website, scroll down, and watch the short video posted under "Success Story #3". There, you see just how well her older daughter was reading by the end of 4 months.
Click Here to Watch Video (See Success Story #3)
The Initial Reading Assessment
At the start of the reading camp, there is a quick reading assessment. The younger girl A. S. did not need an assessment as being just 2 year 11 months old, she did not know any letters or sounds, yet. The older sister P. S. knew most of the alphabet letter names and "sounds", but she was pronouncing some of the sounds incorrectly.
No surprises there, as almost every single child that attends the reading camp are taught many phonemes incorrectly (!!), either at preschool or in Kindergarten. Such is the state of our education system.
Learning to Read
Being 3 years apart, there's a big difference in how quickly the older sister will learn compared to her younger sister. They start off with the Children Learning Reading program as usual, except after a few lessons, adjustments were made to accommodate for the different learning paces of the older sister and the younger sister.
This system of teaching reading is a unique combination of synthetic phonics with phonemic awareness that produces amazing results in children (even adults) of all ages. Obviously, one of the initial goals was to REALLY correct the incorrect phonemes the older sister had learned in pre-school! She was starting kindergarten in September. The primary goal of the Children Learning reading program, however, is to always develop rock solid phonemic awareness skills. After just the first week, the older sister P. S. caught on and was doing great with PA activities such as blending and segmenting. Little A. S., being a lot younger, took about 2.5 weeks before she started catching on.
The Results
With such a logical and sequential order of learning, the results are always phenomenal, and parents are almost always flabbergasted at what can be accomplished in just 3 to 4 months.
By week 4, the older P. S. was already reading simple, short, decodable sentences, and the younger A. S. (just turned 3 now) is able to phonetically read many many words. After 2 months, every time they came to their lessons, their mom (always with a big smile) was always telling stories about how the 2 of them are reading everywhere they go!
After 3 months - at about 3/4 way through completing the reading program - the older sister P. S. was already reading simple, short stories independently. Little A. S. (now 3) could also read (phonetically) an amazing amount of words, sentences, and even some very simple short stories. Keep in mind she just turned 3. At 3 months is when their reading abilities really took off, and their mom just could not believe the type of results she was seeing in her children - she kept on saying that she did not think this was even remotely possible.
Indeed, it is. You just have to have the right techniques and methods when it comes to teaching reading, and one of Jim's favorite comments he received about his teaching methods is that:
"It totally de-mystifies reading."
The girls completed the reading camp by end of September, and their mom said it was unbelievable how far ahead both of her daughters were compared to other kids. In the video (see success story #3), you can see just how well P. S. was reading by the end of 4 months.
Teaching reading is something that Jim does extremely well. While you and your child may not live in the same city (or even country) as him to attend his classes, his Children Learning Reading program is available for parents to purchase online. Thousands of parents have used his methods to successfully teach their children to read with amazing results.
>> Click here to watch a short video presentation to learn more about the Children Learning Reading program, and see how you can effectively teach your child to read.
Here's what their mom had to say about their experience:
My children loved the program and so did I. I am extremely pleased with the results. My children started the program at 2 years 11 months and 5 years 4 months with Jim, and neither child was reading before the program. My children loved the program, and Jim is an excellent teacher. After 4 months, my 3 year old is reading at a grade 1 level, and my 5 year old is at a grade 2 - 3 level. I never expected such amazing results.
Jim's program takes the mystery out of teaching children how to read. It is so well organized that any child can learn to read with it. The outcome exceeded my expectations. At the start of the program, I thought my 3 year old might learn some letters and my 5 year old would learn some words, but after completing the program in 4 months, my 3 year old could read long sentences and simple short stories, and my 5 year old could read level 2 books on her own.
>> Learn more about Jim's super simple, logical, sequential system of teaching reading, please click here to watch a short video explaining his methods.
