In August 2018, September 2018, and November 2018, I wrote a complete series showing why Phonics, while better than whole language, is not the answer to reading failure.  I’ll simply direct you to that body of research on my earlier blogs [August 2018, September 2018, November 2018; click the buttons on the right].  I still think Dr. Sally Shaywitz (see Shaywitz, Overcoming Dyslexia, 2003) explains the problem best, “Children do not learn to read by memorizing a word list.  Most children, especially those who struggle in reading, do not learn to read by memorizing phonics rules” (p. 78).  Enough said about whole language and phonics.  The research is conclusive.  The proof is in the neuroimaging pictures.  You either believe the research or you do not.  Whole language, in all of its forms has failed.  Phonics, in all of its forms, while better than whole language, is still a failure because it works against the brain and how the brain learns to read.
 
I’ll be teaching a free training workshop on vowel clustering, January 26th at 10:00 AM in Corpus Christi, Texas.  Come join us.  This is also the beginning of a ten-part series here on vowel clustering.  If you have questions, contact me. (Click the mail button on the top right.)

Let’s begin by defining vowel clustering.  Vowel clustering teaches children to decode and encode letter sounds to read words (Clanton Harpine, 2010).  As Dr. Shaywitz states, children must learn to decode (break down) words into letter sounds and then encode (reassemble) those sounds back into pronounceable words if they are to learn to read (Shaywitz, 2003). Children are taught to sound words out letter by letter instead of guessing. Vowel clustering emphasizes learning the lowercase alphabet and sounding out letter sounds and combinations of letter sounds.  Students never memorize word lists or phonics rules. 
 
Vowel clustering recognizes that vowels are the most important sounds for children learning to read and teaches all of the sounds for a vowel in a cluster.  With the letter a, the children learn all seven sounds used by letter a and the 22 different letter combinations that can be used to make those seven sounds.  The traditional phonics approach was to teach the “short vowel sounds” and then the “long vowel sounds using silent e.”  The other sounds were called “irregular sounds,” but irregular vowel sounds cause children the most confusion.  Teaching vowels in clusters teaches children to learn all of the sounds for each vowel in an organized pattern.  It’s easier and less confusing, and it works directly with how the brain assimilates and organizes letter sounds—connecting synapses and building pathways.  Vowel clustering simply means to teach words by sounds rather than by letters.  See Chapter 1 in my After-School Prevention Programs for At-Risk Students (2013) and Chapter 4 in my Group-Centered Prevention in Mental Health (2015) for examples of how this concept is applied in teaching children to read.
 
At all of my reading clinics, we work with children in small groups and use the group-centered format that combines learning and counseling.  All of my programs use vowel clustering:

·         A student who failed for nine straight years in public school is now reading.
·         A student diagnosed with ADHD and failing in reading moved up two grade levels in one year.
·         A student diagnosed with dyslexia and whose parents tried everything, including expensive private one-on-one tutoring, learned to read, and moved up to beginning chapter books in one year.
·         Six children who entered the program reading at the (pre-K) level ended the year reading at the 2nd grade reading level.  Only one child in the group was a first grader.
·         One student started at the pre-K level and ended the year reading at the third-grade level, while a second grader started the year reading below first grade and ended at the fourth-grade level.
·         One student moved up four grade levels in reading, four students moved up three grade levels in reading, and eight students moved up two grade levels in reading. 
·         The next year, 2 students moved up four grade levels in reading, 3 students moved up three grade levels in reading, and 6 students moved up two grade levels in reading. 
 
Vowel clustering works.  We will be using vowel clustering teaching techniques with Camp Sharigan in Corpus Christi, Texas and with the Reading Orienteering Club program in Aiken, South Carolina.  Both programs start on January 28th.  Contact me if you would like to participate.
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Learning to read is one of the vital stages of early childhood development.  Reading also influences mental health and wellness.  A child who cannot read is going to have problems in school and throughout life.  About 85% of juvenile offenders in the court system are classified as “functionally illiterate” (National Center for Adult Literacy 2007).  Reading failure is also classified as the main cause of overall academic failure.  A student who cannot read cannot succeed in school or in life.
 
As Dr. Sally Shaywitz (see Shaywitz, Overcoming Dyslexia, 2003) explains, “Children do not learn to read by memorizing a word list.  Most children, especially those who struggle in reading, do not learn to read by memorizing phonics rules” (p. 78). We have the knowledge, the research, and the ability to teach every single child across the nation to read, so why do we cling to failed teaching methods and force students to continue to fail in reading? 
 
For the past 25 years, nationwide testing has clearly shown that over half of the children and teens in the United States cannot read at grade level by 4th or 8th grade.  The Nation’s Report Card (NPC) (see my post of 1/2/2018) stated that only 37% of 4th graders and only 36% of 8th graders across the nation can read proficiently at grade level.  That is less than half.  The rest of the students were shown to not be able to read at their respective grade levels, and most of these students, 78%, never catch up (NCES 2016).  When we link reading failure, retention, and dropping out of school before graduation, we have a serious problem that often leads to aggression, violence, and even crime, especially when you consider that 70% of American prison inmates cannot read above the 4th grade level (National Center for Adult Literacy 2007).    Depression and anxiety often accompany academic failure and reading failure, mental health and wellness problems that begin in childhood can last a lifetime. 
 
We owe it to children to use the most effective way to teach them to read, because when children fail to learn to read that failure increases the likelihood that they will drop out of school before graduation, have trouble finding jobs, or even get involved in criminal activity.  As Michael Brunner (1993) of the Department of Justice clearly explained, “The link between academic failure and delinquency, violence, and crime is welded to reading failure.”  We can change that because we can teach students to read.  If we use the correct teaching methods, neuroimaging research proves that even children who have previously failed can be taught to read.  Neuroimaging research shows that intensive training in phonemes (letter sounds) changes the “brain and the way it functions.” This change through phonemic awareness training allows even struggling at-risk students to make significant improvement in reading (Meyler, Keller, Cherkassky, Gabrieli, & Just, 2008). 
 
The word cat is a common example for teaching phonemic awareness.  Neuroimaging research shows that it is much better to teach students to sound out the word cat (one letter sound at a time) than to teach students to memorize or simply recognize the word cat (Yoncheva, Wise, & McCandliss, 2015). 
 
The method that I use is vowel clustering.  Vowel clustering incorporates phonemic and phonological awareness by teaching students to decode or break words down into letter sounds and then to encode or reassemble those sounds back into pronounceable words.  Vowel clustering does not stop at simply decoding and encoding.  Vowel clustering also teaches spelling, oral reading fluency, comprehension, and writing.  Vowel clustering has been tested and proven to work with struggling, at-risk, and failing students (Clanton Harpine & Reid, 2009; click on the .pdf link).  I’ll also be publishing a new study on Camp Sharigan in 2019 showing that students preparing for end of the year testing through Camp Sharigan outscored students who followed traditional test-prep methods.  Camp Sharigan works.
 
I’ll be teaching a free training workshop on vowel clustering, January 26th at 10:00 AM in Corpus Christi, Texas.  Come join us.  I’m also starting a ten-part series here on vowel clustering.  If you have questions, contact me. (Click the mail button on the top right.)

Camp Sharigan is coming to Corpus Christi.  St. John’s United Methodist Church at 5300 South Alameda Street in Corpus Christi (phone, 361-991-4342) will be hosting a FREE reading clinic for children in the first through third grade who need help in reading.  Camp Sharigan is a weeklong reading clinic scheduled for January 28th through February 1st from 4:00 to 6:00 PM.  Camp Sharigan will meet in the Community Life Building at St. John’s.  This reading clinic is a part of the church’s outreach ministry to the community, but this is a nonreligious program.  Any first through third grader may attend for free, but we can only accept 30 children at this time.  The first 30 children who register will start for free on January 28th.  Children must be registered by parents, and parents provide transportation.  The focus is on teaching children how to read.  The Camp Sharigan program has been to Tampa, Chicago, the Bronx, several sites in Ohio, Augusta GA, Aiken SC, and even Dallas Texas.  The Camp Sharigan program is now coming to Corpus Christi.  Register today; spaces fill quickly.

The Camp Sharigan program has undergone rigorous university testing and research proves that it is more effective than one-on-one tutoring.  How is that possible?  The Camp Sharigan program teaches vowel clustering.  Research has shown that vowel clustering is much more effective than any whole language and/or phonics teaching methods.  In a one-week test of the Camp Sharigan program, the Camp Sharigan children outscored children receiving one-on-one tutoring.  One year later, from just the one-week camp, the Camp Sharigan children were still ahead of the one-on-one tutored students.  Camp Sharigan is a new method that works, has undergone numerous tests, and can help any child improve reading scores. 
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What do we need from the community?  Help us find 30 children who need help in reading.  St. John’s will also provide a free training program on vowel clustering on Saturday January 26th at 10:00 AM in the Community Life Building at St. John’s UMC.  We need 10 volunteers per day to help work with the children.  Teachers, parents, seniors, and even teenagers may volunteer to work in this program.  You do not need teaching experience.  Everything is included in the program.  If you would like to register a child for the reading clinic or if you would like to volunteer to work at the reading clinic (even for just one day), please call Elaine Clanton Harpine, Ph. D. at 361-867-8040 or e-mail to [email protected]
If you live in or near Corpus Christi, Texas, come and join us, or, if you would like to come for the free training session and/or a reading clinic session, come and join us.  It’s a great time to be in Corpus Christi.  Also, check Dr. Clanton Harpine’s free reading blog at www.groupcentered.com