Author Archives: sounstalk

Souns Moves Forward In Colorado Springs

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snowinCOSIt is early morning and I am in a winter wonderland, snowed in and free to revisit the past few days in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Smiles, excitement, hope: a myriad of positive emotions and shared experiences as the Souns trainings and visits unfold.

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During one visit, a parent stopped us and shared, “I am so thankful for the Souns program my daughter had in the GET SET preschool program [preschool image from the First Presbyterian Church]. She is doing amazing work in kindergarten and loves to learn. She is always writing and reading: writing letters to her dad while he is away and reading (and teaching letter-sounds) to her little brother.” 

The visit to GET SET confirmed further results of Souns. These two preschoolers are exploring their newly discovered ability to sound out words.

 

On Tuesday we had  an energetic, engaging time training 125 CPCD Head Start teachers. There were 5 little ones – ranging from 20 months to three years – to help us demonstrate the practice of Souns for the teachers. It is always surprising for teachers to see that the younger the child the more they gravitate toward Souns. The littlest one did not want to give the letters up at the end of the demonstration…clasping the letters to her chest and shaking her head “NO!” when we asked for them. That is the beginning of learning.

This is the third group to be trained for this collaboration between Head Start and Rotary clubs in Colorado Springs. The three-hour training has now been completed for all the Head Start teachers in the CPCD program. 100% of the classrooms – 2000 children – will have this activity to enhance classroom practices. The back-story to this Rotary/Head Start project is a pilot program implemented in two stages: first one classroom in the spring, then an experimental summer program including eleven classrooms. According to the CPCD program director, the result after seven weeks of Souns (and teachers new to the program) was a 20% increase in literacy scores. Consider future results when preschoolers engage for an entire school year with teachers that have become comfortable with the program. There is such opportunity and promise for these children thanks to CPCD Head Start and Pikes Peak Area Rotary Endowment!

Head Start in COS: Amazing!

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Training is so much fun when those being trained have seen the power of a program. That was the case in Colorado Springs this past week. The CPCD Head Start program, with additional support from a local Rotary foundation, is preparing for a giant leap forward for childhood literacy. A pilot summer session was so promising that more classes requested Souns. Rotary responded, and now Souns is in even more classrooms. The training was filled with enthusiasm, great questions, and comments. Now just to enjoy the process of learning….for both teacher and learners.

The following are candid comments from those involved with the pilot summer program:

● This summer I had a great experience with Souns. One child in particular started the program not knowing any letter sounds and by the end of the 6 weeks he was able to write words just by using the sounds of the letters. He also learned how to read simple words by connecting the letter sounds.

● A couple of things really impressed me as I implemented the Souns activities this summer: 1) The children grasped and learned so much in just 7 weeks to the point that by the end of those 7 weeks they were displaying emergent writing skills related to our study. 2) The other thing that impressed me was the simplicity, hands-on, sturdiness, and variety that the Souns activities provided. There is a multitude of ways to work with this tool and provide letter-sound-knowledge-building that our early learners need.

● I supervised the summer classrooms that were pilots for Souns. I was blown away by the learning from the children and the engagement. But, most of all, the enthusiasm from the staff was amazing.

● Things I noted: 1) How we worked as a team 2) A parent told me that she was happy to see her son reading labels at the grocery store.

● I saw the Souns program being utilized successfully in a typical classroom when I first started. During the summer I changed positions and moved to a class for children with behavior issues. At first I was worried that it would not work with these children, but they picked it up very quickly.

● I enjoyed watching how fast the children caught on to how we presented Souns. They enjoyed learning new letters-sounds each week. They wanted to be fed more.

● When one of our kids was registering for kindergarten, the mom was so impressed with how many sounds [her child] knew. Mom had no idea she knew that many! I accredit this success to Souns.

● I saw amazing literacy growth in the children. The children interacted with the Souns letters in many different ways. One of our children was reading early readers by the end of the summer session.

● [Souns is a] meaningful way for children to connect letters and sounds.

● Being part of [a class for behavior issues] I was hesitant to implement the program. The children began responding immediately to the program and made so much progress in so little time – It was easy and we fit it in whenever we could. Loved it!

● I was only involved with Souns as a supervisor. We have been trying for years to get teachers to understand that phonemic awareness comes first. It has been an uphill battle. Souns made this concept CLEAR! The kids understood that the letter shapes represented sounds. Amazing! Put the sounds together and you have words. Change a shape and you change the word. They got it! They really got it!

● I was so amazed at how so many children wanted to [write] words on their own so quickly…and really got excited about it!

● At first it was hard to get things going. At about half way through the summer it was amazing to see everything click!

● I loved how the kids who really got it would help the ones who were struggling through partner games.

● By the 4th week of implementing Souns [we] had a child reading. Rolling out Souns was simple, which helped the children catch on really fast.

● I wasn’t in the program, but ALL the teachers I talked to LOVED it and I can say they’ve shared their very positive experiences so much that other teachers are excited to get [the program].

And now for 2014/15!  Thank you, Rotary in Colorado Springs, for providing more Head Start classrooms with Souns! Thank you Rotary Club of Peachtree City, GA, for volunteer trainers.

 

 

Playing To Read!

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Playing, such as this

so gently leads to this:

Children are born to learn…to wrench the stuff of life into their own little hands! Exploration, play, and learning are all the same to young children. While we struggle with how to teach them, they are armed with the answer and will gladly show us if we observe.

This three-year old (45 months) has learned letter sounds through play. His imagination has painted this delightful path of learning.

Can learning to read be this simple? This little one would tell you, “Yes!”

“I love working with Souns!”

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Manipulating concrete symbols of our print makes such a difference! Below is a comment from an Orton Gillingham teacher using the Souns materials:

I love working with souns! It adds another kinesthetic aspect to my OG lessons.  Mind and body are working together to write words. For the students I have worked with who have problems with motor skills(handwriting) it has been a relief to be able to write without the added obstacle.

I also love that students can look at what they have written and make changes easily. It lessens the fear of misspelling and correcting when you don’t have to mark through and erase.

Younger children who can’t sit still get to move while they are learning so you can keep them engaged.

As a teacher I love that Souns is so flexible, no matter the concept you can write it out and you always have the right materials. 😃

Now 6 and Ready to Read to Learn

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Oh, such happiness displayed! The confidence, the knowing “I can read!” wraps every word. This six-year-old will be entering first grade this year with a joy of reading that will make learning unfold as it should for young children.

She began Souns as a toddler.  A walkabout through SounsTalk will touch her journey, learning the tools for reading (letter sounds)…one step at a time….playing and exploring all the way! As her mother said, “it was effortless!”

Many thanks to this wonderful family for sharing their experience with Souns.

 

Ready – “Get Set” – GO!

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O n e   l i t t l e   s c h o o l ,   o n e   b i g   d i f f e r e n c e !

GET SET in Colorado Springs, CO, is part of the First Presbyterian Church and has two classrooms serving preschool children from economically challenged environments. This year the classrooms have 12 children in one (Purple) and 16 children in the other (Red).

Students at GET SET begin working with Souns in September and continue with hands-on activities to teach letter-sound knowledge throughout the school year. The story of this year’s learning pictured in the graphs below is to be celebrated. They speak louder than words about what can happen with the right pieces – dedicated teachers, volunteers, and a keep-it-simple early literacy program that focuses primarily on letter-sound associations.

The results were sent to us by the preschool and reflect letter-sound knowledge only.  Compilation of pre/post results are thanks to Rotarian Robby Dale Nelson. Many of the children ended the year sounding out words. What a way to begin kindergarten! Great job, GET SET!

Thank you, Rotarians from the Rampart Range Rotary Club of Colorado Springs, CO, for believing in Souns. We all celebrate the results for the children in your community.

Get_Set_5-7-14_Purple_Chart_1                 Get_Set_5-7-14_Purple_DataGet_Set_5-7-14_Red_Chart_1

Get_Set_5-7-14_Red_Data

There Is A Moment!

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There is a window, a clear view into the moment a child “knows” … the look on the face when a detail has moved from the outside to inside that little mind. I saw that again yesterday.

A mom and her toddler son visited Counterpane wanting to sign up for the free Souns Early Literacy Workshops (ELW) we have about every two weeks during school sessions. Meeting a lovely, engaging mom and a lively, smiling, attentive young man of about 14 months was a delight.

I had the time and chose to share the concept of Souns so they would know what to expect at her first ELW this Friday. I fetched the first four Souns letters – /o/m/s/t/ – and sat down on the floor with the child. I introduced each, one at a time, and he spent several minutes exploring their shapes, sometimes two or three in hand at a time. Ready smiles intertwined with play with the symbols…moving them from one corner of the room to another on tip-toes all the way.  He would place one on the floor, exchange one for another, dance about, and repeat.

When it was time to go, I asked if I could write the four sounds on his hands. Both mom and child agreed. I carefully wrote the /o/m/s/t/ – one on the top of each hand and one inside each hand. As he was walking out, mom and I discussed how she could reinforce the work at home. When the child heard us say /o/ that lttle body stopped, he looked at the hand that had the /o/ on it and then over at us.  It was one of those moments where the eyes speak, “I know!”

Rotary / Head Start In Puerto Rico

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Giggles, smiles, engaged hands and minds of children were common denominators in our review of the Souns program in Head Start classrooms in San Juan Puerto Rico. The children in San Juan are making dramatic steps toward literacy with the Souns materials provided by Rotary Districts 7000, 6990, and The Rotary Foundation. This review celebrates comments such as these:

“I have 19 years of classroom experience, and I have never seen a program like this….it really works.”  

“Three of my students were able to read last year because of Souns. In my 13 years of teaching preschool, that has never happened before.” 


Beautifully, the conclusion of one grant can build to the beginning of another. With 4000 children in this pilot project in San Juan, it is the wish of Rotary District 7000, this time in collaboration with Rotary District 6900, to expand the program to as many Head Start classrooms in other regions of Puerto Rico as funding will allow. A Global Grant proposal is the next step. One classroom at a time is the road to change for these children. Rotarians from both districts join hands on the ground in Puerto Rico to make this happen. Head Start and Rotary are promising partners for literacy.

Rotary Clubs of Peachtree City (RD6900) and Rio Piedras (RD7000) are leading this effort to build support for a project that will reach from 150 to 300 more classrooms in strategic Head Start programs in Puerto Rico. If you are interested in joining this project, comment with contact information to this blog .

Thank you Rotary Clubs of Smyrna (RD6900) and Fort Lauderdale (RD6990) for initiating the pilot project in the San Juan Municipality. These four-year olds are reaping the harvest as they build words by listening to the sounds in them. They have learned letter-sound associations through Souns.

Poster Child for Literacy

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The US Peace Corps volunteers in South Africa are a determined lot of people. I am blessed to be able to work along side them for even a brief time as I train for the Souns program. A Global Grant originating in Rotary Clubs, then supported by Rotary Districts, and in turn by The Rotary Foundation provides Souns literacy materials to Peace Corps volunteers who see the program as a benefit to their communities in South Africa. What an impact one Peace Corps volunteer can have. This beautiful, determined smile is going to open doors to reading and writing for children. When a child can read, he or she can have hope. When there is hope, we are a little closer to peace. The volunteers will teach the teachers who teach the children. When they leave their site, they will leave a legacy. These Peace Corps volunteers bring treasure chests of hopes and possibilites to their communities, and they retun home with at least as much as they leave behind.

Thank you, PCV’s! You are the best!

Thank you Rotary Club of Peachtree City in District 6900 (USA), Rotary Club of Pretoria East in District 9400 (RSA), and The Rotary Foundation for all that is being done with this project. The Global Grant provides materials only. All training is provided by Rotarian volunteers.