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Introducing the Major Instructional Elements in the We All Can Read Online Program

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I found your online program while looking specifically for ways to help Adam (who just turned 11), who finds spelling very difficult and reading new words (‘decoding’, I guess) equally tough.

My sister, who lives in the US, has just completed her Masters in Special Education. About a year ago when I was visiting her (I live in Britain) I was asking lots of questions about my concerns with Adam and she was a big help in narrowing down what might be the problem. At that time she had told me about the Orton-Gillingham method. So when I was searching online for programs I could do with Adam (we just started homeschooling both my boys in December, so over the last 6 months I’ve done lots of searching online for all kinds of things!!), your site must have come up in some sort of search I did, and when I saw the ‘Orton-Gillingham’, it reminded me of what my sister had said, and I jumped on it. And then when I saw I could also afford it and it could be done online, I figured this was definitely what I was looking for. I was so excited I called my sister and told her about you, too.

So over the last month or so, Adam has been working his way through the lessons. I was glad that he found all the consonant lessons easy—it gave him a good experience right away while getting used to the new program. Now that I see how much practice he has needed just learning these first two short vowels, I realize how amazing he’s done to read and spell as well as he does—nothing seems intuitive at all to him. But now he is really excited because already he can see the difference. In fact, just tonight he was trying to spell ‘music’. He had written ‘mucic’ and then ‘mucisc’ and knew they weren’t right, but was struggling to figure out where he was going wrong. (I saw from this that the poor guy just tries to memorize the spelling of every single word he has ever seen, since he has hardly any ‘rules’ to guide him). I told him the ‘mu’ was right and to listen for what the next sound in the word was. And right then a light bulb went off! He said, “Oh! It is /z/ so it must be either an ‘s’ or a ‘z’ and I’m pretty sure it isn’t a ‘z’).” Yea!!!

Thanks again for your help and encouragement, and most of all for this great program for Adam!

Kim Wilson / Britain

Mother of 11 year-0ld son

Hello Mr. Williams,

I talked to you about 3 months ago about starting the course and I’m finally doing it! I have already looked at the first 10 lessons but I’m going over them again. I’m on lesson 5 and I think, no, I know I’m already a better reader. I’m very excited about being able to read a book and sound it out to someone. I feel like I’m stepping into a whole new world. I know it will help me and I’ll be forever in your debt for helping me reach a new level of skill and understanding.

This is what was suppose to happen 40 years ago and now it is going to come about. I don’t know exactly what I’ll do with the ability to read phonically and the proper way. But I do know I’ll read a lot more and I’ll owe it all to you. Thank you for putting this course together, not for just me but for all those people like me. The left out. The forgotten and the dismissed. Those who society thought nothing of and expected nothing of in life. Even if you’ve only helped 1000 people you’ve done more than many people in life to make the world a better place. I think you should take pride in that and you deserve to do so.

This is without a doubt the best value for me to learn to read with phonics skills. I figured to get the same skill set from a personal tutor it would cost me at least $3000, maybe $4500 over a year. The course you put together is inexpensive and works! Just because it cost a lot to do something doesn’t mean it’s the best way or that it’s going to work. I know this course works already.

So to those who are interested in the course I have this to say. What do you have to lose by going over the 10 free lessons and see if it’ll work for you? It takes about as much time to do as it does to watch a long movie on the DVD player at home. This you can do on your cellphone riding in a train if you have the bandwidth and the Internet. Think about that.

Mr. Jim Williams thanks again for all your hard work setting this up online and I hope you have a great night and next day.

Your Most Grateful Student

ALLEN W. YOAKUM / Kansas City, MO

Adult Subscriber

We homeschool my 10-year old dyslexic daughter and your program has been very helpful. We are making slow but steady progress! Thank you for your easy to use format and printable materials. We have recommended your program to many other homeschool families who have struggling readers.

So many reading programs do not address the specific needs of dyslexics. We All Can Read allows parents who understand the unique needs of dyslexics to give appropriate intervention without the prohibitive cost of private tutoring.

Sheila and Brennen M. / North Carolina

Parents of 10-year-old dyslexic daughter

Dear Mr. Williams,

On behalf of the soldiers of the Georgia Army National Guard, I wish to thank you for the countless hours you have devoted to teaching the phonics reading program.

Through your dedication to increasing the literacy level of our soldiers, they have continued to progress independently, and prove to others they are capable of succeeding.

Your phonics reading instructor program, to be taught in the armory, will enable the soldier to continue improving his skills. Many, many soldiers will continue to profit from your program long after the government funding is eliminated. It is obvious that once these soldiers master the ability to decode a word, they have developed the ability to read with fluency.

Again, I want to thank you for introducing your program to the Georgia Army National Guard and wish you continued success.

William K. McDaniel

Assistant Adjutant General for Army

Hi Mr. Williams,

Just to let you know I stumbled upon your K-2 book at the Public Library in Stone Mountain. I used it for only three weeks with a nine year old who spoke English fluently as a secondary language from his primary Vietnamese language. He is in third grade and was not reading at all and did not understand how to recognize letters on a page. It has been a challenge to teach him as he is not motivated to do much work, but your program made it very clear and easy. I thought he may have dyslexia since his vocabulary was so extensive compared to his lack of recognition of letters and words. He stayed away from the program for the next four weeks reluctant to learn at my rigor and demand. But he came back to me within a month, reading all of the three-letter words with the short sound of “a” and “e.”

Your program works! Now, he can read “Go Dog, Go!” by Dr. Seus. I will be using these books to teach an adult non-reader and students at Grove Park Elementary in Southwest Atlanta.

Thanks for your labor of love. I will enjoy telling others about your program.

Sharon Stevens

ESOL Tutor for Nine-year-old Boy

I work in a resource center in Freetown, Transformation Education, run by a Christian missionary. I discovered Jim Williams' phonics program for adults while searching online for a way to help Sul learn to read. (His education was interrupted by the brutal civil war in Sierra Leone – he was only 14 when it started and spent years hiding out in the jungle.) When I came across it, I saw the clarity with which Jim teaches, and his obvious dedication to teaching adults who have missed the important phonics component.

It is exciting to me that with an Internet connection, and programs such as Jim's, becoming educated is a possibility opened up to people all over the world who would have had no chance at one otherwise. Thanks for doing such great work.

Christine Hogue / Freeport, Sierra Leone, Africa

Volunteer Instructor

Dear Jim:

We are pleased to notify you that the We All Can Read Program has been endorsed by the National Right to Read Foundation, as an exemplary instructional program for teaching children and adults to read.

The success of We All Can Read in teaching the skill of reading is a precious gift to all those who have been locked out of society's mainstream because of illiteracy. You have made a significant impact nationally on how children and adults are taught to read, and the response of the American people clearly indicates you are succeeding.

In our review of your program, we have used the following criteria: is the instructional approach direct and systematic; are the reading skills taught in the order of difficulty students have in leaning them; is the phonetic system taught in a specific sequence; is adequate practice provided at each step to ensure that the principles being taught are thoroughly learned; are letter sounds taught in isolation; is the blending of the sounds of the letters taught; is the phonetic system taught in its entirety; and finally, does the individual learn to read using your system of phonetic teaching instruction? Based on our assessment, you meet and exceed these requirements. While no one need tell you, your program is academically sound—the results speak for themselves.

According to the U. S. Department of Education (Wills, 1986), "about 25% of high school students drop out before graduation and of those who do graduate over 30% are illiterate. Thus, we are apparently teaching only somewhat over half of today's students to read." The continued problem of illiteracy is an enormous one, but you have made a very significant contribution to solving one of America's greatest unmet needs. Congratulations on your achievement. We wish you continued success, as you pursue the goal of eliminating illiteracy in America.

Sincerely,

Robert W. Sweet, Jr.

Past President of National Right to Read Foundation

former Professional Staff Member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, U.S. House of Representatives

“The program makes me a better teacher, and my students will get so much out of it after one school year… Know that there are eight wonderful 10th-graders a half a world away who are improving their English because of your program.”

Every time we do a lesson, I think about all the thought that went into all the sentences and stories. That’s amazing to me. My kids enjoy it. I think they like the confidence they get from reading and speaking in a structured program that builds their skills. My lowest reader is much more confident after just 4 months. I’m so proud of them when I go around listening to how well they’re reading to each other in pair work.

We might even get those v sounds ironed out before it’s over. You probably didn’t realize when you were preparing the program how difficult it would be for a Khmer speaker to say “vav” when there’s no v sound in their language. It’s good practice. And the speaking part helps me work on the consonant sounds at the ends of words that they’re prone to drop.

The practice sentences are structured so that they can be said/chanted like the lyrics of a song. My kids love music, and I tell them that English is a rhythmic language, unlike Khmer or Spanish for instance. They love to snap their fingers to a beat and practice the rhythmic fluency of English with the sentences.

I’ll let you know how things are progressing and how they score (and hopefully improve) on the second reading evaluation at the end of the year. As I may have mentioned, the program makes me a better teacher, and my students will get so much out of it after one school year.

For now, know that there are eight wonderful 10th-graders a half a world away who are improving their English because of your program.

P. V.

ESL teacher in Cambodia

Dear Mr. Williams,

I have used your reading curriculum in a program for at-risk young men ages sixteen and older. While implementing your reading program, some of the positive changes I have observed in my students are as follows:
1. Improvement in reading skills which facilitated advancement in other academic areas
2. Improvement in reading skills sufficient to pass the Florida High School Competency Test. (Students entering this program generally consider the HSCT their most formidable obstacle to graduation.)
3. Increased confidence in personal potential and new hope for the future.

Using your reading curriculum requires discipline, commitment, and persistence on the part of both student and instructor. I am sure that my students would tell you that it has been well worth the effort. One student is currently using the curriculum to help a younger sister who is experiencing learning difficulties in school. Another student used his knowledge of phonics to help a family member master English as a second language.

And the gift goes on.

Dorothy Easley/American Adult Education Center

Dade County Public Schools/Miami, FL

Good Day Sir,

You did an excellent job, Sir! I am really thankful for what you have taught me in understanding how words are pronounced which I think is a basic foundation and requirement to learn to speak and write English in a proper and efficient way. I have been struggling for the past 16 years without understanding how words are pronounced! To me, before attending your lessons, the reason that boy is pronounced as boy is because that is the way I learned – to memorize a word’s pronunciation as one single word. Through your lessons, I now understand how and why words are pronounced the way they are pronounced. You have been very systematic and patient in your lessons which I think all the students who seriously want to learn phonics will gain the full benefit of it. I did not skip a single lesson!

Sir, I am really thankful for the excellent job that you have done. To me your program is priceless because after 16 years I have found the proper way to learn and improve English. I am confident that it (knowing phonics) will help me tremendously in improving my vocabulary.

Millions of Thanks.

A student that benefited so much that is hard to use words to describe (plus because of my present limited vocabulary. But will definitely have much improvement in future).

Lew / Singapore

ESOL Student

My daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia more than two years ago. We have tried many reading intervention programs both on-line and privately. My husband and I are both very impressed with your intervention and are thrilled with how much it has helped our daughter. Thank you for having such an affordable and comprehensive offering. My daughter is now reading much more automatically and we are looking forward to her continued improvement.

Orton-Gillingham is extremely expensive. We used a local educational therapist for seven weeks at $700 a week for our daughters initial intervention. Granted it was a very important and beneficial step in her progress, but just prohibitive. As a family we have often thought about struggling families and how difficult and painful it must be for parents to help their dyslexic children. Hopefully, school district’s can point parents to your web-site. On that note, we had an IEP meeting for our daughter this week and showed the school psychologist, special education teacher and classroom teacher your web-site. They were impressed.

Thank you again for creating such a detailed and comprehensive program. We recommend it to all of our friends who have dyslexic and/or struggling readers.

Barbara S. / Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California

Parent

The program has been working very well for me. I use the program for improving my pronunciation because my mother tongue is Spanish. When Latin people try to learn English, we pronounce like Spanish, and it is very difficult for us to detect the differences because of the various sounds of each vowel. In Spanish each letter (consonant or vowel) has only one sound.

With this program I can know the exact pronunciation of each word, so I am very happy using the program.
My only problem is that I do not have enough time.

Best Regards

Alejandro Santoyo / Querétaro City, Mexico

Native Spanish speaker improves his pronunciation of English words

In the past, as a public school teacher I always encountered students that were persistently poor readers and nothing I did actually helped them do any better than when they arrived in my class on the first day. If I worked with them, it was time-consuming and I was not equipped with a program that was effective. After attending an Orton-Gilligham training to learn how to teach reading disabled and dyslexic students, I finally understood why I could not reach this group of students. The training I received helped me to tutor students in a one-on-one basis. The WE ALL CAN READ program allows me to teach groups of students with similar abilities in the same classroom. The videos allow me to re-teach but does not take time away from other students. I highly recommend that you investigate this program as a possible program to teach students at the lowest level of reading.

Victoria Norman/ Western Piedmont College

Western Youth Institute Education Dept./Morganton, NC

I am surprised at how well some of my students are doing! This week I am reviewing single vowel sounds with three students who are my lowest level readers. The other nine are reviewing beginning consonant sounds. I do not want to go further until I know they can read these fluently. Fluency is the problem with most of them. They decode well but too slowly.

This week I changed “the rules’ to accommodate the review. I am having them read nonsense and real words over and over until they no longer have to think about how the words sound.

My students seem to enjoy the program. They are especially proud when they spell nonsense words and sentences correctly. I bought small white boards for each of them. They do not use the boards for any other purpose than writing their words and sentences, so it seems like a treat to them. They all want to read the nonsense words! They feel they have accomplished something when they read them correctly!

I have shown many of the parents what we are doing and they are very excited. Several parents have told me their child is reading more at home. Hopefully, it is because they now know how to decode more words and are less fearful of reading.

Pam Alexander - Special Education Teacher

Greenwood County School District 52/Ninety Six, SC

I loved this course. The " We All Can Read Online Phonics Program" starts at the very beginning. It was created for adults that have problems reading and spelling. The first 10 lessons are free and after that you pay by the month. I never had phonics as a child and spelling has always been a problem.

This program is very intense, but you can replay the classes until you master them which is different than being in a classroom and not keeping up. Mr Williams spent many hours creating this course and he answers the phone to help you if you have questions. I don't think there is another course like it. I hope your friend gives it a try.

I started the course May 29, 2015 and completed it today, August 18, 2015. It was a lot of work, but I am so glad I found the program. You would never receive this much information in a normal classroom. You sound out all of the words and learn how to hear the sounds of our own language. The information given stays on course and builds upon itself. It is an ideal program for one who wants to learn how to read and write. I am on overload right now and need a rest from studying, but I will go over my notes which are profuse after my break. Thank you for providing this wonderful course.

Carole M. / California

Adult Student

Dear Mr. Williams,

I would love to thank you for the book you’ve written.

It is hard for me to write in English. I’ve been trying to write this letter for hours and haven’t been able to express myself in the way I want to.

Thank you for the great job. I know you know that English can be an enemy or it can be a friend. The only friend, sometimes…

Your materials change approach to subject in my way. So I can get the friend.

Thank you very much.

Gennadiy L. Antonovsky

Russian currently living in USA

We're only a fraction of the way through the program, but I've already seen great improvement in my children's reading ability. I have multiple children using the program at different levels - some with learning disabilities and some without. I am excited to see how much they are going to progress this year. This program is unique in its approach and its affordability. The only school in the area that uses similar teaching methods costs over $20,000 a year to attend. Comparable tutoring in our area costs $60 an hour. I can get a month's worth of tutoring through We All Can Read, for less than that. I've run the program by both a local Orton-Gillingham trained tutor as well as a speech and language pathologist that works with kids with dyslexia, and they both said it looked like a great, comprehensive program. The creator of the program is available for technical assistance, and is very helpful and personable. Many parents are opting for other online, subscription based reading programs that are mostly fluff and games. I've tried many of them. Despite the great reviews and the fun graphics, none of them yielded significant results, even with daily use. In contrast, We All Can Read is a no-nonsense program that starts from the ground up, eliminates learning gaps, and does exactly what you need it to do.

Annie Beth Brown Donahue / North Carolina

Parent

Hello Jim,

I wish I was introduced to your program or a program like yours when I was in grammar school. It would have solved 90% of my agony of reading, spelling and most of all the embarrassing oral reading in the classroom and in public as an adult.

However, I am dyslexic which made me think I was dumb in my early school years. I was in high school before I ever heard of dyslexic problems. Do you have information helping adults read with dyslexic problems? I am 60 years old.

I have an associate degree in Electronic Engineering Technology. I have done well in life but reading has held me back from great success. I have always tried to avoid reading anything unless I had to for information.

I can read OK. I want to become a good reader. Your program is great. I have answered many questions for my self already that now make sense reading with purpose, using all the phonics rules. So, I was able to go through most of the first 200 lessons okay.

My gratitude to you for developing your reading program which is quickly giving me confidence in reading and enjoying reading for the first time. I give you permission to use my comments in anyway you wish.

Please refer to me as, “Bob Dl”.

Thanks again,

"Bob DI"

60 year-old-man with Associate Degree in Electrical Engineering Technology

This reading program is fantastic, simple and very easy to follow. It takes you through the basics steps and progresses to amazing levels very quickly. You don't realise that missing one or two links or steps in the learning process can have a huge impact on the ability to progress. I used this program originally to improve the reading and spelling of my 11-year-old child, but it was amazing how much I learned and improved along the way as well.

Thank you so much. It has given confidence to my son's ability to read and spell.

Linda McDermott / Australia

Parent of 11 Year Old Child

Our son Gabe could not read anything by 9th grade due to his learning disabilities. We started him on this course 2 yrs ago... Amazing results.... Through this course Gabe overcame his disability and found a passion for reading. Thank you Jim! Your course paved the way for positive strides in Gabe's education. And our family will be forever grateful.

Michael Duncan

Parent of High School Student

Dear Mr. Williams,

I want you to know a student who used the program for an hour every day and had a score of 00 on the TABE left after ninety days (not all in class due to weekends) scored a 2.9 when he left.

The student was actually that low in the reading area when he came to us. He is labeled MID, but the real problem is no one made him do anything. Some people see a label and say the poor child cannot do this work which is not true. It is just more work and takes longer. If he had been more serious about the material he would have done better. He is only one of the students, others have done very well also. There have been many successes using your material.

Thanks again.

Anna Dellinger/Reading Teacher

McIntosh Youth Development Center/Darien, GA

Dear Jim,

My name is Dan Vonk, and I used We All Can Read in my remedial reading classes for many years. I have sung your praises to many groups over the years including the RVI Internship group (support services for special needs kids in Career/Tech classes) I worked with this past year while attaining my RVI endorsement. I was recently placed on a Whole Faculty Study Group in which we are investigating ways to improve reading comprehension among Special Education students. Of course, this put me back on my reading soapbox, and I again spoke of your program, which I’ve had so much success with in the past. I was hoping that you could send any info packet that you might have so that I might present it to my group for consideration. Thank you so much. I’ve seen many children dramatically improve their reading skills with your excellent program.

Dan Vonk / RVI Coordinator

Camden County High School