Page 12 - The Red Well-Read Reader

herein lies the beauty of this book. Depending on age and aptitude, each student will grasp

some, most, or all the nuances of each story at his or her individual pace. While the stories
make all students reach to comprehend, the rudimentary mechanics of reading, i.e. decoding is

presented thoroughly, systematically, in a step-by-step fashion that enables all students to
follow along with ease. Because the level of difficulty remains constant throughout the 361

stories, a student who has been absent from class a week, a month, or even longer, can return to
class and be back in step with his or her class as though not having missed a single day. And

because of this feature there is no point where a slow student might get discouraged, give up
hope, and quit trying all together; nor is there any point where a bright student might become

bored and lose interest. Thus, each and every student should benefit according to his or her
God-given innate ability.

The Red Well-Read Reader encompasses virtually every mono-syllabic word in the

language. These words have been grouped into twenty classifications according to their common

endings, referred to henceforth as roots or families. Story 1, as well as its corresponding
family, covers words ending in “ab”, Story 2 covers words ending in “ack”, Story 3 covers words
ending in “act”, and so on. Collectively, stories 1-32 cover the “short a sound”, stories 33-59

cover the “long a” sound, stories 60-73 cover stories that end in “ar”, and so on. All together

the three hundred sixty-one stories cover the entire the phonetical structure of the language:
every spelling, pronunciations, anomalies thereof, and many of the numerous meanings of the
thousands of words.

How Should This Book Be Used?

A couple of points must be discussed before going into the 5-Step Method. The first
point, which pertains primarily to preschool students, is obvious but sometimes overlooked:

printing and penmanship should be taught concurrently with reading, one reinforcing the other.
The second point: as students begin to read and comprehend, they should be guided to outside

literature appropriate to their liking and ability.

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