Samuel L. Blumenfeld, Alpha-Phonics: A Primer for Beginning Readers

A Review

Copyright © Ruth Marshall 2007

My first attempt to find a reading programme for our oldest child proved something of a disaster. The book arrived, complete with guarantee to have him "reading at a solid second-grade level" within 100 easy lessons. But I didn't like it! It didn't teach reading the way that I (ignorant as I was of reading programmes) thought it should be taught; it used strange letter forms (how on earth were my children going to be able to read the cornflakes packet if they weren't learning to read ordinary print?) And in any case, I wasn't interested in having my son reading "on a solid second-grade level", whatever that was – I wanted him to be able to READ! (Moral of this tale: Never buy any materials you haven't personally seen, or that haven't been recommended to you by someone whose judgement you know you can trust).

Then, Alpha-Phonics arrived. I can truly say that it was a real God-send. The blurb on the front cover describes it as "an effective, step-by-step intensive phonics programme for teaching reading to beginners of all ages", and it is precisely that. After 128 lessons the student can read absolutely anything. Most lessons are no longer than a page in length, and those that are longer are simply lists of words to read, and can easily be broken into more manageable lengths if necessary.

So what do I like about Alpha-Phonics?

It begins with a formal teaching of the alphabet. This is, historically, the way in which children have always been taught to read. Children are no more confused by the fact that the letter-symbols have both names ("ay", "bee", "cee") and sounds ("a" as in "at", "buh" "cuh") than by the fact that a dog has a name ("dog"), but makes a distinct sound ("woof"). This is also an asset in that it is unnecessary to go back later, in 3rd or 4th grade, to teach the alphabet so that the student can develop dictionary skills, etc. All of our children have been developing dictionary skills naturally, from the age of 5 or 6, depending on how well they were reading by then.

It progresses gradually from the very simple to the more complex. The first fourteen lessons introduce and practice the various combinations of sounds produced with the short "a" and all of the consonants. Lesson 15 introduces the remaining short vowels, and the various consonant blends and digraphs are added in the following lessons. Long vowels are not introduced until lesson 72, though unlike some programmes, this one does allow humans to be humans and progress at different rates, and even jump ahead if either teacher or pupil particularly desires this.

There are no pictures, so there is nothing to distract from the actual learning to read; and the student is never talked down to. It is the kind of programme that can be used just as effectively whether the student be three or eighty-three.

There is never such a flood of new material that the learner is overwhelmed with it all, and there is ample scope for practising that which has been learned. At the same time, exceptions and irregularities are explained in the appropriate places, so again, they are added to the student's reading vocabulary gradually.

Handwriting and spelling practice are provided for if desired. Personally, I haven't tended to do much with either of these while teaching my children to read, as I prefer to have them reading as early as possible. However, if I were working with an older child or an adult, I would emphasise both areas much more.

Children are taught to read by reading. They are not given an intensive course in phonograms, or diacritical marks, and do not even have to learn other technical terms such as "digraph" or "diphthong"; but they learn the sounds that the letters make in the context of words.

We are now teaching the tenth of our children to read with Alpha-Phonics, and are just as happy with it as when it first arrived. I believe that this book, in conjunction with plenty of other reading at (or sometimes even slightly above) the child's current level, is quite sufficient for an excellent phonics/reading programme.

In case you were wondering about supplementary reading, at various times we have used phonics readers (we particularly like the Rod and Staff Bible Nurture and Reader books and their God is Good Series, though we have also used others); simply written history or science books; stories of the children's own choosing (Dr Seuss, some of the Gazelle, Reindeer, or Antelope books purchased second-hand, and basically anything in our book-case that they have decided looks interesting); the Scottish metrical Psalter; and, most importantly, the King James Version of the Bible.

Alpha-Phonics (published by The Paradigm Company, Boise, Idaho, 1983) is a large, non-consumable paperback, in which the lessons are beautifully hand-lettered in big, clear print. The company from which we bought our copy is no longer in existence, but it is available in Australia, from the Festival of Light in South Australia, to name just one source.

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