Phonics to Syllabics to Fluent Reading (in 4 months time)

By: Kathryn Roberts

Success Stories

Guidance:

‘ABDU’L-BAHA’S CHALLENGE TO TEACHERS:

"WHATEVER OTHER CHILDREN LEARN IN A YEAR, LET BAHÁ'Í CHILDREN LEARN IN A MONTH."  Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 140

WHAT HUMANITY DESPERATELY NEEDS:

1. Baha’i children must become highly trained leaders in every field, but especially in the field of education.

2. The world needs accurate knowledge and knowledgeable guidance.

"IGNORANCE IS THE WANT OF KNOWLEDGE; ERROR IS THE WANT OF GUIDANCE…" Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 263

COMMUNITY BUILDING, SPIRITUAL EDUCATION OF CHILDREN, AND JUNIOR YOUTH EMPOWERMENT:

MANDATE FROM THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE:

3. "…SYSTEMATIC ATTENTION needs to be given to the eventual elimination of illiteracy from the Bahá'í community, an accomplishment which would, beyond anything else, make the Holy Word accessible to all the friends and thus reinforce their efforts to live the Bahá'í life. …It is not enough to proclaim the Bahá'í message, essential as that is… It is not enough to expand the rolls of Bahá'í membership, vital as that is. Souls must be transformed, communities thereby consolidated, new models of life thus attained. Transformation is the essential purpose of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, but it lies in the will and effort of the individual to achieve it in obedience to the Covenant. NECESSARY TO THE PROGRESS OF THIS LIFE- FULFILLING TRANSFORMATION IS KNOWLEDGE OF THE WILL AND PURPOSE OF GOD THROUGH REGULAR READING AND STUDY OF THE HOLY WORD."

The Universal House of Justice, Ridvan 146, 1989

PROBLEM/SOLUTION:

English speaking peoples have lost the knowledge needed for teaching beginning readers HOW to read. As a result, knowledgeable guidance in the teaching of beginning reading has been lacking. Therefore, trial and error, poor readers, and wide-scale illiteracy have prevailed.

The knowledge for LEARNING HOW TO READ English has been re-discovered! And a new reading program utilizing this knowledge has been developed. This newly re-discovered knowledge empowers and enables us to skillfully and proficiently GUIDE our beginning readers on the sure path to fluent reading in a 3-4 month time-frame instead of 3-4 years…just as ‘Abdu’l-Baha has challenged us to do.

The Word Families and Friends book, Phonics to Syllabics to Fluent Reading (in 4 months time),  a free Syllabics Beginning Reading Program developed by Kathryn Roberts can be used by:

• Native speakers to teach beginning reading to young native English speaking students.

• Second language learners as English language lab activities in pronunciation and vocabulary.

• Hearing impaired students as a visual approach to teaching beginning reading.

• Home-school mothers searching for an efficient, solution for teaching first graders to read.

• Anyone of any age who needs to learn how to read English.

Now, for the first time, this knowledge is free, and it is being entrusted to you with the understanding that you will use it to teach someone to read…and if possible, you will teach them free of charge…or at least for a small fee that covers your expenses for printing. This copyrighted program is not to be re-produced and sold for profit…either in part or in its entirety. If you are a Baha’i, you may make a small donation to the Continental Fund in appreciation for the use of this program; however, this is not necessary. You may use the following links (secure websites) to make contributions in United States of America or Canada:

https://www.bahai.us/community/login (from United States of America)

https://member.bahai.ca/member/ (from Canada)

All the necessary teaching materials and instructions are available in a free download below:

You need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to read/open the PDF files, click HERE to download it for free if you don't have it on your computer. If you want the #3 or 4 option below, after downloading it you will need the free WinZip application to extract the files from the .zip downloaded file.

(1) Overview, Guide, and Contents (16 pages, 242 KB). Study the file. When you have an understanding of how to use the program, download the entire Word Families and Friends in one PDF file:

(2) Word Families and Friends (197 pages, 2.6 MB). Then teach someone to read so they will be able to regularly read and study the Holy Word.  Print out only the page(s) you need for a lesson. Give the gift of reading to someone today!

(3) More student friendly version with larger colored print (82 files compressed into a 20.7 MB WinZip file called SYLLABICS_CD.zip). You will need the free WinZip application to extract the files from this .zip file. First download the SYLLABICS_CD.zip from the above link to your PC. Next, if you already have the WinZip application, simply right-mouse-click on the .zip file on your PC and click on "Extract to..." to extract all 82 PDF files to your PC for viewing or printing.

(4) Final version of Words Families and Friends (367 MB WinZip file called "WORD FAMILIES AND FRIENDS 2017 FINAL VERSION.zip"). You will need the free WinZip application to extract the folders and files from this .zip file. First download the "WORD FAMILIES AND FRIENDS 2017 FINAL VERSION.zip" from the above link to your PC. Next, if you already have the WinZip application, simply right-mouse-click on the .zip file on your PC and click on "Extract to..." to extract all folders and files to your PC for viewing or printing.)

• To use this program, begin with the Introductory/Sample Lesson I Video,

• Use the Consonant Warm-up Video Daily,

• When you begin a new Spelling Code, watch the corresponding Video.

Click here to read the success stories

Kathryn Roberts