I am currently tutoring three children in reading and math. The children are currently enrolled in third, fourth, and fifth grades. Each child comes with his individual problems in decoding, phonics awareness, and comprehension. My concern is also choosing the material for enriching each reader’s vocabulary. I have had 22 years experience teaching elementary children in the regular classroom, in learning disabilities settings, Title I reading, and Reading Recovery. Do you recommend a phonics program for the children I have described? I keep searching the Internet for suitable programs for special children. Do you have information about this topic?

Wow! I’m so impressed with your background—I should be asking you questions! What a remarkable job you’re doing. Bless you for your love of children!

In my school, we do offer special tutoring classes for children with mild learning disabilities or who struggle with their basic reading skills. This program is very effective up to a certain age child. We’ve found that it works best for children 3rd grade and younger. It’s not that concepts don’t hold true, they do; but the older a child becomes, the harder it is to start back at the beginning and restructure their phonetic foundation. The work in the program and the books used seem too simple and “babyish” for older children. Sometimes they simply refuse to participate because it’s simple. An older age child with a younger intellect can be helped by the program as the materials are simple and still interesting for them.

Restructuring older children’s language foundation requires the same phonetic concepts, but perhaps a more mature presentation. Like you, I haven’t really found a set program that can help these older children stay interested long enough to relearn the fundamentals. I have had some students who have had success with popular advertised tutoring programs (I know programs like this have nationwide coverage, yellow pages might help). However, some of those programs are very expensive, time consuming, and intense. Sorry, that might not be much help for you. It is a remarkable program for younger children—I see it work everyday and know that it can help bright youngsters as well as slower learners up to about 9 years old. Good luck.