OnTrack Reading

It was obvious to me that the authors of Reading Reflex were onto something. So, I spent the money and found myself in Florida for a week in early 1999 getting trained in Phono-Graphix, which is what the authors of Reading Reflex call their method.

I also came across another book which influenced my present teaching methods nearly as much. That book was the The Writing Road to Reading by Romalda Spalding. Ms. Spalding wrote the original edition in 1957 and it has stood the test of time. Moreover, the basic approaches of both Reading Reflex and The Writing Road to Reading are quite similar though they might not appear so on the surface. Reading Reflex is an excellent remedial curriculum because it can be easily tailored to the needs of any particular child, whereas the presentation Ms. Spalding urged is more rigorous and leaves less to chance. Ms. Spalding’s curriculum is quite suitable as a complete reading and writing curriculum.

During this phase, I read a number of other books on teaching reading, including many phonics curricula. However, none of them had much influence on what I do today. My present curriculum is based almost entirely on blending the ideas found in Reading Reflex and The Writing Road to Reading and I would recommend both of these books to any parent or teacher who wants to teach phonics (and reading) effectively.

I should add that The Writing Road to Reading has a newer Fifth Revised Edition since I read it. This later edition was written to satisfy the public schools’ need for a complete description of the curriculum down to the last detail. I find the 1990 Edition far easier to digest, with Ms. Spalding’s ideas and persuasive personality coming through on almost every page. The Fifth Edition, written after her death, has the feel of a committee about it along with everything that entails.

As this website develops, I hope to provide readers with much more information on how I have combined Phono-Graphix and The Spalding Method, but for now if you are interested in helping your child overcome a reading problem, you might consider reading the books I’ve mentioned so far. Both Reading Reflex and The Writing Road to Reading (1990 edition) were written to be understood and used by parents. Note: Since I originally wrote this I’ve added the section The Spalding Method to the Guide. In that section I describe how I would modify Spalding by incorporating methods used in Phono-Graphix, as well as giving the reasons for doing so.

However, while either method will be of tremendous help in getting phonics information into your child’s head, neither one will overcome dyslexia, as I see it. That will be the topic of the next few posts.

Next: Vision Enters the Picture, or return to the OnTrack Reading Home Page