Today we begin.

It’s been so many years that this passion for education, English, and reading has been thumping around in my psyche. I finally decided (at the age of 69) that it’s time to put my methods where my mouth is and take up the cause online and in actual reality. That cause: our education system cannot achieve its goals without great reading skills.

As introductions go, this one will be short and to the point.

We Need Better Reading Instruction!

First, there is an undeniable link between the sounds and symbols of English. To read, students must translate the symbols into sound. To write (and spell) students must translate the sounds to symbols. It is referred to as “phonemic awareness.”

Second, for any student to be an effective reader, he/she needs a foundation of phonemic awareness. It makes it possible to translate symbols to sounds in reading. To be able to spell, the same student will need to do the translation in reverse, going from sounds to symbols.

Without Great Reading Skills–No STEM, No STEAM

These appear to be trivial matters. They don’t carry the weight of science and technology. Educators and administrators are convinced that the ultimate salvation of America’s education along with its work force can be found in STEM and STEAM learning curricula. For anyone who may not have heard, “STEM” is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. “STEAM” is the same group of disciplines plus the addition of Art.

Given the growth of technology, this makes sense in a superficial way. However, without great reading skill, it will continue to be difficult for STEM programs to flower or for STEAM programs to produce any power. This is especially true when about two thirds of our students nationwide do not read at proficiency.

We must focus on producing proficient readers in great numbers by concentrating on the sound-symbol connection and giving all our students their best chances to fulfill their dreams in science, technology, engineering, math, art, or any other field.