“The baby is watching them dance!” is English translation of the last sentence child reads.
One step at a time. These children had Souns in their Grade R (kindergarten) classroom last year. This mid year of Grade 1. They are well ahead of their classmates who did not have the Souns program. One child at a time – one gentle, encouraging step at a time – we will build readers in South Africa. Thank you, Rotary! You are making a difference.
Slowly! Step By Gentle Step, It Happens!
By arrangement with the teacher, this was the first time this child had sounded out words. Clearly he was ripe with readiness and was SO happy with himself. “Look at you! You are reading!”
He had Souns since he began school. This was mid-year. He was almost 5 years old. The happiness you see is the result of a very good teacher implementing Souns in just the right way – slowly and playfully.
First the child learned 12-15 specific letter-sound associations, then he began building words (as you see) by listening to the word to find the sounds. He has been building words for a while, long enough to be ready for the next step….. listening to the sounds to find the word. Encoding – writing – comes before decoding – reading – in Souns.
The magic is in p l a y !
Thanks for your marvellous mail. The project is slowly developing
legs. Regards, Rotarian from Rotary Club Pretoria East
Hi [R and E],
I used SOUNS exclusively for a month in this remedial class of 10 students of 4th graders plus one 6th grader. Most of them have failed a couple of grades but I don’t know exactly what their ages are. They were suspected of being special ed students (I am a retired special ed teacher), but I think only one of them actually might have real processing difficulties. She still confuses the b, d, p, etc. and other sounds at times. Almost all of the students confused especially these three letter sounds at the beginning, with a mix of a few other letter sounds, but now do not confuse any of them. The word writing really took off when the diagraphs were introduced. If SOUNS was to be used for older, remedial students across Africa, my wish would be to have several sets of the letters available in a classroom, with a large table. That way they could write [words] and write to their heart’s content without waiting for someone else to finish using a letter. They could even write short sentences. I know several sets isn’t a practical possibility, but they love writing with those letters, and even watching other students write with them.
Thanks again,
[Special Ed Teacher]
NOTE: What is described in this learning situation is exactly what our Interact Club does when working with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Georgia, USA: there is a large table around which the refugees sit and build words with the letters by listening to sounds in the names of things like fruit and vegetables, etc. Spelling is not the focus, letter-sound associations are key to early writing…whatever the age. They love helping one another build words, giggling at their successes. It is really beautiful to see.
Take the time to see what four minutes of building early literacy looks like.
Do we have the patience to watch learning happen in child time? Probably not…but this is a happy 4-year-old doing what she wants to do…no “school” and no one telling her to do the work of learning. Play / real learning looks just like this. Souns is so different than other early literacy programs. Souns is designed for how children learn best – through exploration, manipulation, PLAY!
Mexico has never been analyzed so closely – so much fun!
This same child was already sounding out phonetic words. Deep learning keeps on going as long as exploration and manipulation are involved. Child time is SO important. She demonstrates years of accumulated hands-on fun with Souns. NO “SCHOOL!’
The graph shows progress in the GET SET preschool in First Presbyterian Church of Colorado Springs, CO. There are 31 children in the preschool and they began implementing the Souns program at the beginning of this school year – 2012/2013. The preschool serves children 4-5 years of age from economically challenged environments. GET SET’s goal is to ready their students for success when they go to public kindergarten. The teachers are exceptional and the environment is a model for others to follow. In September as the children entered GET SET’s classrooms they were evaluated for letter-sound knowledge. That demonstrated knowledge is on the graph in green. The lavender is demonstrated letter-sound knowledge from a mid-year evaluation. The teachers should be proud of their progress, particularly since they are in a learning curve for the program as well. Imagine the possibilities at end of year and in future years as Souns becomes a natural part of their environment. What a grand step forward for the children they serve. Ready, GET SET, Go!
Looking at the results of the Souns program is SO much fun. The video is of a Rotarian volunteering at GET SET and a young student building a word by saying the word, listening for the individual sounds in the word, and identifying the letters that make each of the sounds. Building words or encoding is stage two in Souns. The first stage is the learning of at least 12 to 15 letter-sound associations. The third stage is decoding, or sounding out words, which happens after much experience building words. You can see the enthusiasm that comes from suddenly realizing, “I know that sound!”
Thank you, Rotary Districts 6900 and 9400, and The Rotary Foundation! Another confirming detail from recipients of your gift of literacy through the Souns program. The following communication says this project is making a difference!
Working with remedial students using the Souns program:
The students got through the program already today after starting about January 15th, probably because they are older, but they did not know all the letter sounds before now. They just loved manipulating the Souns and making words. I think they could have played with them for weeks. I will probably let them work with the Souns letters off and on all year. I just love the picture with the kid who figured out how to write “scool.”
Counterpane’s Early Literacy Workshop – a community outreach for families of children 0-36 months – brings Moms, Dads, and their little ones together to share stories about Souns and parenting. During our last get-together we watched a short video encouraging parents to foster independence for their children in the home environment. Today’s harvest included one family who avoids the before dinner chaos by having their young child set the table. She loves it! Another celebrated their new “dishwasher” – all that is needed is a stool and happiness prevails with, “I want to do ALL the dishes!” This story was shared by the mother that, after the previous meeting, emailed the following –
| Yes!! We are really enjoying the program as well… I call Nicholas my “I’ll do it” child And I spend all day trying to stop him from doing it himself. So as a parent I feel refreshed and pressure free, by giving in to this idea of, if he wants to do it, then… Let Him Do It”!!! It is almost Liberating!! Lol |
Then there was the delightful onion story. One mom was fixing dinner and her little son saw the sliced onions on the counter and targeted one piece, taking it in his hands and exclaiming, “Ahhh! This is ahh!” He has indeed learned the most common sound for the “o.” He refused to let his mom cook the ahhh.
Souns is an amazing program and seeing these children want to match the sounds they knew with the sounds I wrote on the board and wipe specific sounds off the board brings smiles to all of us. Little hands placing each Souns symbol in the basket during clean-up is proof that play is the best way to teach. Reading builds vocabulary and Souns builds letter-sound associations. The desire for independence came in these little packages of humanity. The same drive for independence that wants to sweep the floor, wash a dish, crack an egg can be experienced with the symbols of our print. Just give the real tool – letter- sounds! The most magic words are, “I can do it myself!”
Promising data comes out of a Head Start Center piloting the Souns program. The center is part of the Southwest Georgia Community Action Council (SWGACAC) Head Start Program overseeing 18 counties.
This is the second year the Lester Street center has implemented Souns – thanks to the Rotary Club of Thomasville. Recently, the rising kindergarten students had a mid-year (January 2013) evaluation of letter-sound knowledge learned through the Souns program. The following graph compares end-of-year (2011/12 – N=60) results with the mid-year (2012/13 – N=38) results showing percentages of students demonstrating letter-sound knowledge in SounsⓇ sequence. The graph confirms a story of learning for everyone .
It will be quite interesting to visit Lester Street again in May to get end-of-year data for 2012/13. The teachers and administration have been so loyal to this program. It is clear everyone is more comfortable with Souns this year. Good practice is building. As familiarity with this deceptively simple program develops, the results will compound until children are able to sound out phonetic words prior to entering kindergarden. That is a very attainable goal for typically developing children using Souns as designed.
It is also helpful to see certain similarities in the two evaluations, especially which letter-sound associations children find more difficult to learn.
Souns Talk Weblog 