Primary School Testimonials
Transformed students' Reading and Writing Abilities School Wide
The implementation of The Sound Way program has truly transformed the reading, writing and spelling abilities of students school wide. Teachers have embraced the programme wholeheartedly, with the support and commitment of students and parents alike. As literacy coordinator, I was able to participate within all lessons from Prep – 6 and the achievements noted were truly amazing. Gains as much as 5 years 6 months were noted in Grade 5/6 students in reading, while gains of 4 years 6 months were made in spelling. Within Prep grades gains of 3 years were made in spelling and reading.
DEBBIE EDWARDS
Assistant Principal
Commercial Road Primary School,
Morwell, Victoria
Change In Students Nothing Short of Miraculous!
We just completed our term (10 weeks) of the The Sound Way to Reading, Writing and Spelling program a few weeks ago. I have noticed a change in these children that is nothing short of miraculous. For most, they have gone from being not only slow learners or strugglers, but a class of children who were mostly anti-education - completely shut down! Our school set up this special class this year as a trial project not only to try to turn them around, but also to give the rest of the year level a break from their extreme apathy and dejection (on the whole). Our goal was to do as much as we could to lift them out of this, as well as try to get their learning back on track. Many factors have contributed to why these children have ended up this way: family life (lack of support etc.) and continued failure are probably the two major reasons.
Your program (and my determination) have done it!! Everybody can see the difference! And others don't even see much of their spelling, reading or writing skills. Outsiders have noticed the difference in their happiness, contentedness, willingness to succeed, effort to please and try, pride in appearance, treatment of others, lack of blame and helplessness and their hunger for new knowledge and skills. A light has been switched on. Goals are being formed. Futures are being created. Lives are being changed.
And then we have the educational progress, great gains have been made! Children are finishing their work, they are proud of their efforts, they are getting good results on tests for the first time in their lives. I've been so impressed by how their listening skills have been developed. In the past 7 years, I have not taught a class who've become so good at listening! I can give an instruction once and that's all that's needed. Consequently, their results are picking up across other curriculum areas. Nothing is too hard now, they believe that they are capable of anything and they are.
I've enjoyed running this program and I've got so much pleasure out of seeing the huge improvement in these lovely, happy, excited (formerly dejected, overwhelmed) children. I have never felt the thrill of success like I have this year. It really has made a difference to the children and to me and my teaching style and focus.
February Postscript: The children improved by as much again in the second half of last year after the DVD lessons had finished, so that I eventually got the 6 years, the 4 years and lots of 2-3 years of improvement of out of them that I didn't get in the first term. It is easier for me now, as I know at the outset exactly where I'm going this year.
Jayne West (Grade6 Teacher)
Heatley State School,
Queensland
Value of Program Lies In Its Impact On Children!
The value of this program lies in its impact on children at all stages of spelling / reading development. By this I mean that:
For the children who are really struggling, the program provides a solid framework and structure by which they are able to develop their basic skills.
For the average child, the program offers the opportunity of developing greater understanding of the building blocks of the language, thus allowing them to explore and develop with greater insight and confidence.
For the outstanding student, there is the opportunity to question, dissect and more fully understand the finer intricacies of our language, thus allowing the individual to experiment with word-building and usage in a confident manner.
The Sound Way to Spelling, Writing and Reading program offers a pathway to success for students of all abilities who choose to work at improving their skills in reading, writing and spelling.
Craig, below are the results of the pre and post testing conducted with my class using the Slosson Sort-R Word Recognition Test and the South Australian Spelling Age Test .
You can clearly see the across the class improvement with both word recognition and spelling.
Terry Sawade (Year 6/7 class)
Loxton North Primary School,
South Australia
Two Demographically Different Schools - Same Most Pleasing Results!
I have introduced The Sound Way program, at two demographically different schools, achieving the same most pleasing results at both.
It is my opinion that the vast majority of children need a significant amount of structure if they are to learn and master high level literacy skills. The Sound Way program provides this structure with its controlled, step by step approach. The best results are not dependant upon the level of teaching experience of the teacher but rather the level of active participation the teacher demonstrates during the program's presentation. Teachers who "sit and watch' tend to achieve lesser results.
Many children who participate in the program achieve results which even astound themselves.
Also of significant benefit is the improved presentation of the children's bookwork.
This rapid development clearly impacts on the levels of self esteem displayed by many of the children.
I highly recommend this program to all other schools!
Jeff Lovegrove
Ex-Principal of 2 primary schools in Victoria.
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