Its Never Too Late to Start Teaching Effective Phonics Strategies
I was recently reminded of an experience I had with a wonderful kindergarten teacher who realized it was never too late to improve her ability to teach effective reading strategies to her students. My oldest son had just entered kindergarten and my wife was attending a parent-teacher conference.
During the conference, my wife asked if phonics played a role in her kindergarten reading instruction. The teacher confirmed that she had built a reading curriculum of her own over the past 35 years and that phonics instruction was integrated.
My wife applauded her and then volunteered that if our son ever applied any markings to his words that she shouldn't worry but that we were tutoring him at home with an explicit, systematic phonics program (also known as structured literacy).
She asked what it was called and then asked if it could help learning-disabled children as well. My wife indicated that it was perfect for any child that needed to learn to read. Her reply epitomized good teachers everywhere "Where can I learn more about it?" This was a teacher that had announced her retirement when the year began, this was to be her last class.
She subsequently registered for a workshop in intensive phonics instruction in December and brought her aid in hopes of finding something to aid one specific student who was repeating kindergarten and couldn't read or even spell her name. She attended a one day workshop and her reaction to the training in reading strategies that she received was remarkable. She left the training and asked, "Why didn't I know this earlier in my career?"
She was so affected by all that she had learned that she returned to her classroom (this is now January) and decided to take the whole class from the beginning of the methodology ... knowing she had only a few months left in her career. If ever there was a time to say "that was great but it came too late" this was it. What she learned completely revolutionized her teaching mindset.
There are thousands of amazing teachers all across the world who have a passion for teaching and helping students learn and blossom into their full potential. In many cases they have not been given the tools, such as effective reading strategies, to provide the instruction that their students need and that they would otherwise be willing to deliver. I find great satisfaction every time one of those teachers finds us and is able to rekindle her love for her profession and for reading strategies.
If you are interested in teaching phonics, you should also read this blog post: “The Importance of Effective Kindergarten Phonics Instruction”