Teaching Our Children to Read: The Role of Skills in a Comprehensive Reading Program

"Bill Honig has written a balanced, practical, and readable summary of research on reading that should be of enormous help to educators, policymakers, and anyone else concerned with children. Teaching Our Children to Read supports neither pure forms of whole language nor old-fashioned phonics, but makes a compelling case for systematic teaching of phonics in the context of meaningful text. The book then spells out the programmatic and practical consequences of the research on reading.It is an oustanding contribution to the debate in California and in the nation on optimal teaching strategies for reading." Robert Slavin, Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk Johns Hopkins University "Instead of the usual recriminations about the past and where we may have gone wrong, Honig′s book takes a fresh, ′Roll up our sleeves, let′s solve this problem′ approach. That′s exactly what we in urban public schools need to realize success in our biggest challenge--teaching kids to become successful and voracious readers early in their school years." Carl A. Cohn, Superintendent of Schools, Long Beach Unified School District "This is a wonderful book. I hope it will find its way into the hands (and minds) of every parent, teacher, educator, and policymaker in America." Marilyn Jager Adams Senior Scientist, Bolt, Beranele, and Newman Teaching reading isn′t an "either/or" situation of phonics versus whole language. Rather, it′s both, with the essential added ingredient of skills training. Well-documented evidence supports this balanced approach, and now this new book offers the guidelines you need to make sure all kids become automatic readers. Prominent educator Bill Honig explains why just giving students high-quality reading matter and encouraging a love for reading isn′t enough: students need a comprehensive, organized, balanced approach if they are to read well enough to understand the world around them. Includes these practical tips: * How to get kindergartners (and preschoolers!) to want to learn to read * Why it′s important for kids to look at letters even before they can read them * Does practice really make perfect? * What it takes to make an automatic reader * Can computers help you teach reading? Honig presents real-world practice, as well as research, that shows how and why you need to integrate the specifics of skill development into your school′s language arts programs in order to create accomplished, motivated readers. If you′re an administrator, a district curriculum director, a bilingual or Chapter 1 director, or an elementary teacher, this book is the spark you need to start or improve the reading and writing programs in your school or classroom.