Reading S.T.A.R.S.
Sensory Training Approach to Reading and Spelling

Why is the Reading S.T.A.R.S. Approach Beneficial for Children Entering Kindergarten - 2nd Grade?

Learning to read is a process consisting of the integration of 3 separate abilities: Auditory, Visual and Language.

• Phonemic awareness is the precursor to decoding (reading). 
• Teaching every student requires more than simply adding phonics activities to sight words.
• Oral Language procedures for developing phonemic awareness should precede or be included in any reading instruction

Reading S.T.A.R.S. utilizes a Sensory Training Approach to Reading and Spelling, helping children of all learning styles to become phonologically aware.  In order to become phonologically aware children must integrate 3 modalities to become accurate, proficient readers.  Our enrichment classes and camps help children to become experts in phonemic awareness by integrating the visual, auditory, and tactile modalities for a well-rounded approach to reading that helps all children to see, hear and feel the sounds they need to know for becoming a more accurate and speedy reader.

Phonemic awareness (PA) refers to children's conscious knowledge that spoken words are made up of a series of discrete speech sounds. For example, the spoken word sit has three speech sounds, /s/, /i/, and /t/. Thus, children demonstrate that they are overtly aware of the three speech sounds in sit if they, for instance, can correctly count these sounds, repeat them, and manipulate them (remove the /s/ sound and name the word that results — it).

1. Empirical studies also have reported that young children have more native ability to perceive, for example, that (1) big and bit begin with the same speech sound, and (2) big and dig rhyme, than they have the ability to perceive that big and bat do not have the same vowel sounds, nor final consonant sounds.
2. Some reading instruction specialists refuse to accept the empirical evidence that indicates the more phonics information that students learn, the better. They improperly interpret these findings, on which kinds of PA are easier for children to acquire. They argue that if children are simply taught to recognize beginning consonant speech sounds in words (the "onsets" of words), and are shown that words rhyme, children will pick up on their own whatever other phonics information they need to recognize words.

 Reading S.T.A.R.S. also helps children to combine phonemic awareness with the ability to recognize “sight” words for those words that do not “play by the rules” and mingle these two approaches with writing, reading and kinaesthetic game playing to create an enjoyable and interactive enrichment class or summer camp.  Children become authors and create their own, books for practicing newly acquired skills of phonetic spelling and sentence structuring.  The children continue the creative process by being the illustrator for each page and are very proud to share their stories with the other children on the final day of enrichment or camp.

Effective spelling programs in schools make sure that students use less and less invented spelling as they progress up through the grades. In our case, students are directed to invent the spelling of the word they need at this point in their writing, by applying phonics knowledge for this purpose, and to continue on.  Effective teachers circulate about the classroom noting such invented spellings, and give recognition for phonetically correct words and will ask the children to provide correct ones with grade level sight words.

Children leave our Reading S.T.A.R.S. Classes feeling confident and motivated to take on new challenges in reading and spelling, after experiencing this supportive and encouraging environment!