Basic Reading Series: Parent-Teacher Guide for Levels A, B and C

Developed in the 1960s, Basic Reading Series is a tried-and-true reading program that has been used in many schools with much success. Taking a different approach to traditional phonics, this program is not a sight word program, but rather “inductive whole-word phonics with a strong research linguistics base.” What exactly does this mean? It teaches language that is already known to children at the oral level and starts with these predictable words and word families before adding irregular words. Children learn the letter-sound relationship in the context of words (the letters m-a-n say man) instead of sounding out each individual letter. Children begin to learn the patterns of words and quickly learn other words (f-a-n says fan, p-a-n says pan, etc.). Then irregular or confusing words are introduced later in small, teachable steps. Building on natural discovery, all learners benefit from this method. Gifted children can take off at a quicker pace, average readers progress nicely, and struggling readers are not overwhelmed because of the controlled order and gradual buildup of word families. The only requirements to start the program are letter recognition and the ability to communicate orally.

This series includes six levels (A-F) and each level has a reader and a workbook (level A has 2 readers). These levels are not designated grades, so children should go through the levels at a pace they can handle. Some children will finish in second grade, while others might continue into third. And some children might develop a solid reading foundation and move on to another reading program or other readers before they finish the series. Once students complete the entire series, they will be able to read practically any English-language material of interest. Because of the controlled vocabulary in the series, supplemental reading material is not recommended while children are just beginning to read. However, reading rich literature aloud to your child is strongly encouraged.

Two Parent-Teacher Guides are available (one for Levels A, B, and C and one for Levels D, E, and F). The guide gives the history of the program, straightforward teaching instructions on how to use the readers and the workbooks, and a placement test. The colorful readers have several sections that begin with a controlled word list that follows a pattern. Students should be familiar with the meaning of the words before beginning the sections. Each workbook has a page detailing how to best use the workbooks. In the Level A workbook, students practice reading words, phrases, and short sentences and matching them with the correct pictures. By Level F, students are reading several paragraphs and practicing lots of varied reading comprehension skills. Purposely, no handwriting is required so children can keep their reading progress separate from their handwriting. I can see this being a good fit for struggling learners who get frustrated when workbooks require written responses.

If your child doesn’t respond well to traditional phonics or you just want to try something different, you might look at this well-done whole-word phonics program that has been used for decades with much success and provides an opportunity to develop confidence in reading at your child’s pace! ~ Gina