Purpose Statement

Blend Phonics is an easy, single-letter phonics technique for teaching reading to student of any age which will prevent the development of whole-word dyslexia in beginning students and remediate whole-word dyslexia in older students.

Goal

The goal of this Blend Phonics web page is to initiate a nationwide campaign to make Blend Phonics Technique available to every parent, every elementary teacher, and every reading tutor, in America in order to eliminate the epidemic of artificially induced whole-word dyslexia.

How it all started

Several years ago I read the following stirring recommendation for Hazel Loring's 1980 Reading Made Easy with Blend Phonics for First Grade by Robert W. Sweet, Jr. Cofounder and Former President of The National Right to Read Foundation in his 1997 article, "The Century of Miseducation of American Teachers:"

An effective answer to illiteracy … Let me offer a less costly, and more effective answer. I have here a twenty-five page booklet called Blend Phonics written by Hazel Loring, a master teacher born in 1902, who taught under both the "whole word" and phonics systems. The legacy she has left us is powerful. Within the pages of this little booklet is the cure of illiteracy as we begin the twenty-first century. … If every pre-service reading teacher, every reading supervisor, every kindergarten, first- and second-grade teacher in America had the information contained in Hazel Loring's 25-page booklet and taught it this fall, there would be such a dramatic decrease in illiteracy in this country that the national media would be forced to take note.

That last sentence struck me with great force. What if Mr. Sweet was correct? Why on earth are we having so many children with reading problems if such an inexpensive method is available in a mere 25 pages? I immediately got a copy of Loring's booklet from the Interlibrary Loan and republished it on my web site in 2003. At that time I had not used the book. Time passed. I continued to use various excellent phonics methods, but Bob's statement kept gnawing away at my conscience. What if Bob is right? The other methods I use are inexpensive, none more than $50.00; yet the thought that a free 25 page pamphlet could do all that Bob claimed just wouldn't go away. Surely it would be possible to supply every teacher in America with a 25 page pamphlet. Schools everywhere are spending vast sums of money for very expensive programs, yet the problem of whole-word dyslexia continues to thwart all our efforts to adequately educate the children of America. Recently, I took the plunge and started teaching Blend Phonics in my remediation classes.

What I have discovered

I have discovered that when I started teaching Blend Phonics exactly as Hazel Loring explained it in the little "Teacher's Manual" that introduces the program, I experienced complete success with all my tutoring students. This includes students from first-grade through adult. I have discovered to my satisfaction that Mr. Sweet wasn't exaggerating. Here is A SIMPLE, EFFECTIVE, INEXPENSIVE SOLUTION TO ILLITERACY in America.

 

What you can do

I want to encourage educators, home school parents, public school teachers, private school teachers, college professors, administrators, business men, government officials, literally everyone to do three things:

1. Send a link to this web page to every teacher you know.

2. Download Blend Phonics yourself and make copies to distribute to teachers in your school district.

3. Use Blend Phonics yourself to help a child [or an adult] to learn how to read. It is simple to use. Illiteracy in our country can be conquered one child at a time. Blend Phonics can supplement what ever they are learning in school. It is impossible for Blend Phonics to interfere with any other instruction since is just teaches good, basic phonics. If kids are behind, it can catch them up fast. Just teach Blend Phonics one time, and you will want to share this effective programs with everyone.

Working together we can blanket America with Loring's effective, free, easy-to-teach phonics method.

What I will do

I am going to publish here information on the progress of our nationwide campaign to distribute Blend Phonics to the teacher of America. I will especially be publishing information to assist the multitudes of teachers who will be switching to Blend Phonics as their primary instructional reading method. I will also be publishing simple aids to assist teachers and parents in classroom procedures:

• Progress Charts

• Certificates of Progress

• a Blend Phonics Reader,

• mp3 Audio Training Files,

• a monthly Blend Phonics Newsletter detailing progress around the country.

On 10/28/07, I purchased the www.blendphonics.org domain name. I have begun a site dedicated to Blend Phonics. I am still in the process of mastering Joomla.

Why it works (a little theory)

Hazel Loring wrote, "All of my teaching experience has confirmed my belief that directional guidance, inherent in the blend phonics system, is the key to success in teaching reading." Hazel Loring's method is different from other phonics method I have seen. It is taught from the chalkboard or overhead. Students learn to blend the sounds of the letters from left to right, one after the other. They do not see the whole word at a glance; therefore, they are required to look at each letter in proper sequence. The blending is done in this order, for example "bat:" b-a, ba, ba-t, bat." Students are reading from the "sounds" rather than from the "meaning." I teach the letter names along with the sounds (phonemes) and spell the words as I write them on the board. The students are constantly reminded of Mr. Potter's Secret of Reading: "Look at all the letters the right way." Loring's "blend phonics technique" can actually be used with any phonics program. It has a precise way of teaching students to look at words (perceptual development); and from that viewpoint alone has serious theoretical value beyond its particular scope and sequence. The technique is of universal application.

Blend Phonics Files for FREE DOWNLOAD for Every Teacher in America

Reading Made Easy with Blend Phonics for First Grade (1980) by Hazel Loring. Here is the easiest method for teaching beginning reading I have seen anywhere. This little booklet will show any first grade teacher how to teach all children to read in four short months. It is also unsurpassed for remedial reading instruction for any age.

Blend Phonics Supplements

by Donald L. Potter

1. Blend Phonics Reader. I wrote this Reader to be used for reading practice (homework) after a Unit is taught in the classroom. Notice that there are no stories, only words. Words of similar configuration are grouped together to help student learn to pay close attention to all the letters. Numerous words have been added to my Blend Phonics Reader that are not in the original Blend Phonics program; but they are all 100% decodable according to the phonics skills previously taught. There are approximately 2,080 different words in the Reader. Remember to constantly remind the students of Mr. Potter's Secret of Reading: "Look at all the letters the right way, and no guessing." This unique reader is a powerful tool for preventing and curing whole-word dyslexia.

2. Blend Phonics Table of Contents. This two page document outlines the Blend Phonics Scope and Sequence.

3. Blend Phonics Unit Progress Chart. This will help you keep track of each student's progress through the 44 Units of Blend Phonics.

4. Blend Phonics Certificate of Completion. Uses this certificate to award your students for their success. There is a place to date and initial each of the Six-Steps of the Blend Phonics program.

5. Blend Phonics Alphabet Flashcards. These are just regular flashcards for the 26 letters of the alphabet. Students who know their alphabet well rarely have problems learning to read with phonics-first. Leonard Bloomfield claimed that if a child could tie their shoes, pick up a pin, and know the alphabet, they could learn to read.

6. Blend Phonics Sound-to-Symbol Flashcards. These cards can be used with any phonics program. Full instructions on the back of the cards. Flashcard Outline. This set was corrected and revised, 3/12/08.

7. Blend Phonics Sound-to-Symbol Charts. Phonics Charts to help students master the sound-to-symbol relationships taught in Blend Phonics. An audio file will be available soon to illustrate the speech sounds (phonemes) and explain their production - for the purpose of teaching reading.

8. Blend Phonics Word Analysis. Here is an alphabetical listing of all 1,446 words in Blend Phonics that I made to demonstrate just how robust the vocabulary of a good phonics like Blend Phonics can be.

9. In 1982, Hazel Loring won the prestigious Watson Washburn Memorial Award for Excellence in Education. Mrs. Loring wrote an excellent autobiographical article in The Reading Informer, a publication of the Reading Reform Foundation in 1979: "Intensive phonics the only way to go."

10. Charlie Richardson has written a helpful supplement to Blend Phonics (or any other synthetic phonics program) for teachers who need a brief but informative introduction to phonics: The Alphabetic Code & How It Works. For audio-instruction in the Alphabet Code, click here: Alphabet Code - mp3.

11. Mr. Edward Miller's Miller Word Identification Assessment (MWIA) for whole-word dyslexia. This is the assessment instrument that turn my life around because it demonstrated conclusively that most of the dyslexia that I was remediating was the result of sight-word instruction. It also pointed me toward Hazel Loring's Reading Made Easy with Blend Phonics for First Grade as the definitive solution to both preventing and remediating the disability.

12. Florence Akin's 1913 Word Mastery makes a perfect supplement or follow-up to Blend Phonics. It begins with a very thorough and systematic presentation of all the consonants and short vowels assisted by pictures. After practicing words using the short vowels, the book teaches the rest of English phonics through the phonogram approach. It has been successfully used by countless teachers parents for many decades.

Testimonies

Concerning the Effectiveness of Blend Phonics (and Word Mastery)

I recently received an unsolicited letter from Dr. Eugene Roth, Jr. of Phoenix, Arizona, concerning the effectiveness of Blend Phonics and the companion program, Word Mastery. For the insights of a professional with years experience working with children struggling with learning difficulties, please read this Letter from Dr. Roth.

Page launched 9/30/07, www.donpotter.net
Last updated: 8/16/08