Customer Reviews

Reading Rescue 1-2-3: Raise Your Child's Reading Level 2 Grades with This Easy 3-Step Program

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I homeschooled my children and taught Kindergarten and First Grade in public and private schools. Where was this book when I needed it? As I went through the chapters, I easily identified students I had worked with (under a cloud of frustration both on their parts and mine.) The information is set up in these chapters so that even non-professional educators can understand. And I think the point is that parents have more of a chance to impact their children's reading ability than some teachers ever dreamed. This encouraging book is a must for any parent kid team currently wrestling with beginning reading. AND ... for those kids who have hit a brick wall, here's the answer.

Peggy Wilber's book has helped rescue my son from his reading difficulties. Two months ago, Mrs. Wilber evaluated my son for reading difficulties and immediately got us started using the methods described in her book. He had endured one year of intensive phonics to no avail. Mrs. Wilber explains that in order to read well, children need to learn the phonics and also see the connected print. For a child with dramatic reading difficulties, she offers many suggestions to help them improve their skills. In the two months of using her system, his reading has improved one grade level. There is no holding him back now; he continues to improve and reads everything he can get his hands on.

The methods are research-based, well explained, easy to use, and effective. My son loves the auditory games and looks forward to our daily reading sessions. Before we started, he had been overheard saying "I hate reading." Within a month he had changed his tune to "Reading is fun! I love reading." I appreciate that the methods are easy for me to use at home and backed by much research. Most of all, I appreciate that they work.

Mrs. Wilber KNOWS children. She knows how their minds work, what they like, how they operate. She also knows parents--what they want, what they dislike, what they are willing to do. Those elements, combined with her vast knowledge of literacy, allow her to create an attractive and effective method for tutoring children and instilling in them a love for reading.

I highly recommend this book. Please read it a few times before implementing it in order to get the big picture and understand the whole process. You won't be disappointed.

Having used the concepts from this book, I was able to tutor a third grader who was two grades behind to the point where she was actually above grade level. All of this with only 45 minutes a week from me and 15 minutes of daily practice reading with her father. At the beginning of the semester she was almost put in the special education class, by the end of the semester she was reading with her peers. This book is so easy to read and well laid out that anyone can become a successful tutor for almost any child. Peggy explains the reasons for reading difficulties along with the solutions. She even includes practical reading aids in the back of the book. Nothing is left to chance. Not just a teach your child to read book, but also a teach yourself to tutor book.

Our son was rated as an emergent reader at the end of first grade. This rating was not up to school standards for a first grader and we were very concerned about the difficulties he would have in his next year of school. My husband and I are not teachers and struggled with helping our son learn to read better.

Reading Rescue 1-2-3: Raise Your Child's Reading Level 2 Grades with This Easy 3-Step Program explained the process of learning to read and we were able to determine where our son was having difficulty. The book also encouraged us to be more involved in the process and that it was not "cheating" to read a selection to our son first, go over any new words, and read to him again BEFORE he gave it try himself.

Our son reads MUCH better now (he is reading Level 2 books with ease and tackling Level 3 and Chapter books with confidence) and it is a pleasant experience for us all! We have no concerns about his performance in second grade. Ms. Wilber has demystified the learning to read process and has helped this family a great deal. Thanks!

What I was looking for when I purchased this book was a compilation of reading theories. I found that...but as an added bonus I also found a step-by-step book outlining how to take a student from where they are to where they should be. This book is truly amazing in its approach. As a middle school teacher, I found it applicable to even 6th and 7th grade students. Wilbur's advice is respectful to children and free from worksheets and diagnostic tests. It get to the heart of reading--the interaction between the child and the text. Applying the strategies in this book has allowed me to change the futures of some of my students.

The first day we worked on the program outlined by this book, my son said, "I want to do this forever and never stop!" I almost passed out -- this is a kid who, though bright, has been struggling with reading and has a *very* low tolerance for frustration, and almost never lets me teach him anything. I am SO PLEASED with the results we have seen so far! It takes three approaches: auditory training, phonics, and using whole language. It's very smart, very usable, and quite effective.

My 9-year-old daughter is a smart young lady. I home school her and she's probably reading at a first grade level. She doesn't dislike reading but she really struggles. She substitutes the third letter of several words for the first and pronounces every letter instead of blending. Because she reads like this she can't comprehend what she was reading. I was at my wits end when a friend recommended this book to me. She is now reading whole words without pronouncing every letter sound and doesn't do the third letter substitution and she can remember what she reads. She is sitting down and reading books by herself. This is just after two months. I am truly amazed.

This has become my reading, writing and spelling curriculum for her and my younger two children. It has fun games that utilize all three of the learning types. My middle child loves the games and asks to play them over and over. My youngest writes his own books that he is able to read and is so proud of.

The author does stress the importance of many phonetic rules but doesn't go into the one's that are only used for a handful of words. She says it's easier to have the child memorize the words instead of the difficult rules. I believe this is the part of the book that some parents have problems with. This is the part of the book that I had some issues with. But after seeing the incredible improvement in my oldest daughter in such a short time I am going to try this approach.

Reading Rescue 1-2-3 is a wonderfully well thought out book that lays out a complete reading foundations program for parents and beginning primary teachers. For the parent of a child entering kindergarten who shows signs of early interest in reading, this lays out a step by step program for them to build on that interest. For the parents of a child struggling to acquire reading skills, this easy to follow format shows lessons that they can do with their child to build the reading foundations. For the parents of an older child who may have a reading disability, this is a wonderfully well put together book. Clear and well written, this book shines. Simply superb! Thank you Peggy Wilber!

I found this book while asking God to show me how to help my struggling reader. Though I'd taught 3rd grade in the public school and taken numerous elementary ed classes, I couldn't seem to find the key to unlock reading for my son. Peggy's book gave me a more comprehensive understanding of the reading process than most of my reading classes in college. I wish I'd had this book as a new teacher. Especially helpful to me were specific strategies and research I'd not seen before.

Thanks to what I learned from Reading Rescue 1 2 3, lots of prayer, and some nutritional suggestions and brain exercises gleaned from Dianne Craft (www.diannecraft.org), we now have a reader!

Thank you, Peggy Wilber, for writing a book for parents like me!

For many children, this book will not have a long term benefit. Let me explain why. There are three main methods to teaching reading: whole language, aural and phonics. A good lesson plan includes all three of these. The reason so many children today cannot read is because most public schools are only teaching whole language. What these children need is lessons in phonics, which this book only includes at an introductory level.

If your child knows phonics then this book will be wonderful as it describes whole language training perfectly and also provides some help with the aural training. It would also make an excellent supplement to a phonics course.

However, if your child is reading the word "straight" as "starlight" or other similar mistakes, this book will be of no help. Find some phonics books and teach these to your children. Hooked on Phonics is so popular for a very good reason.

You must bear in mind that learning to read takes time. When reviewers rave that their child learned to read terribly fast, that's usually a bad sign. Whole language is so widely used because students pick up reading very quickly at the beginning levels. Unfortunately, they will not be able to go into intermediate and advanced level unless they go back to the beginning and learn their phonics.