Getting in the habit of reading early stokes the fires of curiosity and general reading habits later in life. That is why most programs that spearhead the population of elementary students look to catch struggling readers at as early of an age as possible. To grasp the scope of the problem, it’s been estimated that 40 percent of children find reading as a challenge and should benefit for a more aggressive education campaign.

Reasons Why Young Students Struggle

Science has long tried to find definite answers for difficulty in reading development. The answers can be as enigmatic as the brain itself, but the researchers, along with parents and teachers, have come upon some possible reasons. One of the biggest contributors that seem to cause this is simply the lack of time a parent reads to their child before they enter school. This is not to say that it’s the sole reason — some children are being read to — but the majority of them are either not read to or are given little page time. And even further reason behind that is that they’ve shown that a good deal of those parents don’t take the time to read themselves or are adult struggling readers, which is another topic unto itself.

Aside for the simple act of reading demonstrated, the trickier answers are even harder to uncover. To be more specific, student children are usually good at getting to know letters, words and the alphabet. The problem is the overall syntax of putting them together in their mind getting lost somewhere and the gaps proving hard to define and specifically outline.

Smaller populations of student children who struggle reading have physical or mental disabilities that can compound the difficulties of reading as well.

Reading Strategies to Help

Three motivators are in play to get over the difficulties of reading. The motivators are people: parents, teachers and the child; each need to do their own part. The following are some examples of what can be done from each perspective regarding getting over a phonetic problem when reading.

From the child’s point of view, some habits can be done to make the act of reading more fun:

- Writing more notes to pass to friends or family as a sneaky way of communicating
- Playing with magnetic letters while singing or playing a game
- When sounding out a new word lettering, look at all of the letters in the word rather that word to word pronunciation

Parents can help with such projects as well while employing their own methods which can range from such projects as:

- Pointing to random letters and asking your child to name them (cereal boxes are great during breakfast)
- Similar to the note passing theme above, have them write a letter to grandma or add to a birthday card, make writing a form of learning to read
- Use the computer to help; there are tons of reading software sources out there that help struggling readers

Teachers will have a battery of information on ways to address readers in a variety of ways. Fourth grade teachers have a very crucial role because this is a transition period for most early readers where the act of reading and comprehending what is read needs to be bridged. There are a number of instruction techniques out there and a number of organizations that can help. Teachers can organize with the school principals or reading specialists to bring on new programs to address the struggling readers at all levels of elementary education.

Scholastic (http://www.teacher.scholastic.com/products/read180/overview/) aims to help struggling readers by providing learning tools for teachers and parents. Scholastic advocates the use of the Read180 program, a program that is designed uniquely for such readers. Art Gib is a freelance writer.

There are two standards followed by the National Education Association (NEA). One is to create an education program that remains firm, and the second is to gain power over the system. The organization wants to gain power even if there is corruption and other are undermined as a result. It undermines ideas and limits the thinking of local schools while using its capital to gain control at the same time. The idea is to endorse an established status in society over all, even if this means children are at risk of not having the skills they need to learn. The NEA wants to control teachers. Their actions have impacted parents and taken their control away.

The system also affects the conduct of the community and education. Teachers lack the ability to control public school systems because the NEA enforces union obligations and works toward control by connecting with government officials. The ability of parents to respond to such changes has decreased, and the ability of students to study appropriately has been abolished. The NEA has taken total control of teachers, while taking over what children feel, believe, and think. The NEA is moving to control parents by reducing their rights to raise their children according to the principles they hold.

There is a problem in the schools. The idea that all people are unique is being lost. Each person has a gift. Some can see what is right better than others who allow organizations like the NEA to rule their lives. Everyone wants power and control, but some go too far and harm everyone. They may even promote disability or mental illness. When there is a diagnosis of learning disability, it can sometimes be reversed because many of these individuals know the truth. Others, however, will remain under the control of a corrupt system.

Children who have attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) represent a good example of children with learning disabilities. They often see things in a different way, but doctors frequently medicate them to stop them from acting out in a way that is not accepted by society. The medications include Adderall and Ritalin. These drugs are amphetamines, highly addictive, and commonly known as speed. The medications place children at risk for psychosis, schizophrenia, and strange behaviors and thoughts.

Children with ADHD are very observant and closely study everyone around them, while listening to others who are speaking. They hear words, but the words mean different things to them than to other people. These children often have other problems that keep them from learning. Hearing and visual problems are common in AHDH patients, and hand-eye coordination may also exist.

Special education classes are created to teach children with ADHD how to behave and think like everyone else in normal society. These children sometimes do not move forward in their lives because teachers force them to learn at levels that may be inappropriate. Learning disabilities and education can sometimes conflict.

To find more information about education and learning disabled children visit http://total-education.com

Reading instruction for children in early elementary has gone a long ways since the days of Dick and Jane. At least Dr. Gray’s books from the early 30s of Dick, Jane, their parents, baby Sally and the crew of pets provided a beginning step for the basal reading instruction movement.

The books that then became a staple institutionalized reader for children were later criticized for their homogenized cultural images. The education institution as a whole was also challenged because this content of large class repetitive reading was not adequate. Later useful tools like phonics were used, and today we see a good assortment of teaching tools like Guided Reading that critically engages young students individually and challenges their reading and thoughts about reading.

The system of Guided Reading was created by doctorate professors Gay Su Pinnell and Irene C. Fountas. They first collaborated and coauthored a book in 1996, which launched the guided practice.

Applying the Guided Process

Guided Reading is only part of the whole process of elementary reading instruction. It’s shown success among many elementary educators. It’s only part of the full spectrum of reading tools but its value is in the intimacy of the structure and teaching. The teaching is intimate because sessions are held in small groups, only 4 to 6 kids at a time.

The real purpose of all reading instruction is not just to get the children to go through the motions or reading, but to actually motivate them to read independently — to realize the value and enjoyment of sponging up information from all kinds of word sources. Guided reading’s aim is the same. The first step is to get them to think about what they are reading. Since they work is close proximity to the teacher the instruction can be portion off more one-on-one time.

When the groups are divided between 4-6 students, they are addressed with the material, one group at a time. Guided Reading prescribes materials on a leveled scale for different grade and skill levels. The teacher will first go through a pre-reading lesson priming the students with a sense of purpose for the sessions. It gives the teacher a little background on the student’s skill and time to prepare the student for the material at hand.

During the reading sessions, the children will read the appropriate reading level material while the teacher observes them. After reading, the teacher asks them questions to bring their brain back into the story or lesson, and engages them in a dialog. Any gaps in the observed reading strategy can help build the mini-lesson to help counter the problems the teacher may have seen.

A variety of “learning centers” are available in the class to help the non-group members stay focused and on task with a learning project that also involves reading and word structure.

Scholastic (http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/guidedreading/) provides teaching instruction such as the Guided Reading program. Scholastic started over a half century ago sponsoring student book publishing and reading advocacy. The author, Art Gib, is a freelance writer.

When my mother got a promotion at her job, she had new office hours that lasted much longer than my school day. I heard my parents talking about how to handle this problem. They found the solution in an educational after-school program.

Putting us in an after-school program meant that sister and I had to go directly from one class to another after the school day ended. The programs promotional materials said it would use fun activities and innovative teaching methods to make the best use of the time. I thought that meant that a teacher would provide homework, and we would copy it.

This is exactly what happened most of the time, but we did not tell our parents that there were no fun or innovative approaches at the program. It would not have helped, and they would just move us to a class that would actually make us DO some homework.

I was mostly bored in the classes. I did not want to spend a whole afternoon with the same books I had been seeing all day in school. I was a child, though, and I did not have any choice about it. It would have been hard to say anything anyway, since all the adults were always telling me that my mothers salary increase would allow the family to buy a great big new TV or video game.

One day, my sister decided to make some wave. She had had enough studying, and she just refused to go to the after-school program. My parents finally got the idea that something was wrong, and shortly after her rebellion, the put us in a much better educational after-school program. This one was brighter and more fun somehow.

They offered us interesting games and actually had a computer we could use. Each one of us had the chance to do something on the PC. We also managed to finish our homework really fast, even though it had to be completed by us alone, because once we had finished, we could play. The program offered acting classes, painting, games, and speech. We spent hours painting and laughing at silly jokes. The after-school program really became the highlight of our day, and I began to look forward to going there.

Now, when I need to get a job and leave my children in a safe place until I return, I know how important finding a really good after-school program can be. Ironically, I will be the one looking for an educational after-school program, and it will be one that offers fun in addition to educational activities.

To find more information about education and after school programs visit http://school-answers.com