Why Phonics?

The research is in. Effective reading programs teach the relationship between sound and letters, in a systematic, methodical fashion.

Know what doesn't work? When teachers -- even experienced, educated, certified teachers -- make up a reading curriculum. Also not effective: letting volunteers "wing it".



So why are so many adult literacy programs allowing volunteers to find their own way? These programs are entrusted with the monumental task of teaching adults to read --  of opening up doors that have been sealed shut until now, of healing deep educational wounds. These programs are the students' latest stop in a series of failed experiments by teachers and administrators, in which students were misled and failed by the very people who were promising to help them.

And it's still happening. It's shameful.

If the research is clear, why don't all the programs just follow the research?

We know how to teach reading. What has not been known, until now, is how to teach volunteers how to teach reading. 

That's where The Volunteer Literacy Project comes in.

Through years of working at the front lines of the literacy wars, with non-reading adult students, we have created a scripted curriculum to allow trained volunteers to teach the reading code to adult students.

Here's what some of our volunteers have to say:

- There are many parts to it, but it's laid out clearly, step by step.

- I love the constant structure from lesson to lesson. 

- All I had to do was push the trust button and read the script. 

- You could actively see week by week the progression students were making. It was incredible to be able to make small but significant positive impacts on students who may not have gotten this level of one-on-one focus in other, traditional learning environments.

The Volunteer Literacy Project offers a training package that includes several hours of on-site training in the NYC/Albany areas, scripts, a comprehensive e-manual, and printable materials.

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