Reading Recovery - Reading Freedom Program.

The Reading Freedom Program follows a phonics hierarchy to provide a systematic phonemic approach to the teaching of reading. Reading Freedom equips students with effective reading skills from pre-schoolers to adult learners.

The Hierarchy of Phonics Skills

There is a hierarchy or sequence of skills that progresses from the simple to the complex, which students have to master if they are to become independent readers. Not all students need to follow the hierarchy exactly as it appears below, although many need to follow it step-by-step from the beginning.

The skills sequence is listed below with the corresponding Reading Freedom Program Activity Book or books that teach the skills at each level.

Hierarchy of Phonics Skills	4 to 6 years	7 to 11 years	8 years to adult
Phonemic Awareness	Phonics 1 & 2	Word Workers 1
Basic sight Vocabulary	All programs	All programs	All programs
Single letter correspondences	Phonics First 3	Word Workers 2	Reading Freedom 1
Initial & terminal blends	Phonics First 4	Word Workers 3	Reading Freedom 1
Consonant diagraphs	Phonics First 5	Word Workers 4	Reading Freedom 2
Long vowel rules	Phonics First 5	Word Workers 4	Reading Freedom 2
Soft ‘c’ and ‘g’	Phonics First 5	Word Workers 4	Reading Freedom 2
Diphthongs	Phonics First 6	Word Workers 5	Reading Freedom 3
Vowels with ‘r’	Phonics First 6	Word Workers 5	Reading Freedom 3
Silent letters	Phonics First 6	Word Workers 5	Reading Freedom 3
Compound words	Word Workers 6	Word Workers 6	Reading Freedom 4
Syllabification	Word Workers 6	Word Workers 6	Reading Freedom 4
Structural analysis	Word Workers 7	Word Workers 7	Reading Freedom 4
Contractions	Word Workers 7	Word Workers 7	Reading Freedom 4

Key Features of the Reading Freedom Program

• The teacher books contain teaching notes, checklist and answers as well as comprehensive, user-friendly support material for teachers and parents.

 

• The achievement test books are a carefully structured series of tests to monitor student progress and indicate areas that need further instruction.

 

• Students will have mastered the skills necessary to become independent readers upon completion of the program.

 

• The program is ideal for various settings i.e. remedial, ESL and special education classes, as well as in the regular classroom to provide students with a thorough grounding in basic reading skills.

 

About the author – Hunter Calder

 

Hunter Calder has had extensive experience as a reading teacher, lecturer, teacher trainer and remedial reading consultant. He is the director of his own diagnostic and learning centre – the Lorn Learning Centre – in Maitland, NSW. He received the International Literacy Year Medal of Merit award for the Reading Freedom series.

 

Here is a brief description of what each set in this series offers:

 

1. Phonics First (Ages 4+, consists of 6 student workbooks, a teacher’s book and an achievement tests book) is designed to be used with beginning readers in the first years of school, teaching the basics of reading through a phonics-based approach.

 

2. Word Workers (Ages 6+, consists of 7 student workbooks, a teacher’s book and an achievement tests book) is designed as an early intervention program for students who have not mastered basic phonic decoding in the first few years of school.

 

3. Reading Freedom (Ages 8+, consists of 4 student workbooks, a teacher’s book and an achievement tests book) is designed specifically for students with reading problems. This is the senior level of the Reading Freedom 2000 series for older primary, secondary and adult students.