I received an email from the mom of an adorable little boy who had been diagnosed with high functioning autism. Her frustration and despair were heartfelt, and her words really struck a chord, both as a mom and as a teacher. With her permission, I wanted to share it.....
Hi Katie,
My son is in grade two and is not reading. He has a diagnosis of high functioning autism. When I asked my son’s doctor last week what I could do to help my son with reading, the doctor said, “He has autism, he might never read.” It feels that I am getting the same message from his school.
I struggled in school with a severe learning disability. The learning disability was not discovered until I was in grade 8. I spent many years, sitting in classrooms and not knowing what was going on. When I was diagnosed in grade 8, my parents were told I was "mentally retarded” and that I would never be able to succeed in the local public school.
My son told me that he sits in class and just looks at his worksheets for the entire class. I have spent many nights googling different ways to teach my son to read. I am a single mother and it seems hard sometimes not to have another person to share my worries with.
I just stumbled upon your method yesterday and I printed out some of your stories and read them to my son and showed him the pictures. He remembered the sounds right away.
I have been watching your videos on YouTube and they have been unbelievable. This is the first time in a long time that I have felt extremely hopeful.
About one month later...
Hi Katie,
I can't thank you enough for your book. My son has started reading!
He loves the Secret Stories. He thanked me last night for getting the Secret Stories for him.
Last night, I asked him to read the word "cookie" using what he learned from the Secret Stories. His first response was, "I can't read such a big word."
I told him to try.
He sounded out the word right away.
He then said, "Mommy, I read the word cookie! I can't believe I read such a big word!"
Katie, your program is unbelievable.
It really should be used in all schools to teach kids reading.
PS My son loves drawing in his sketchbook. He brought the Secret Stories with him to swimming and was drawing and practicing the stories before his class. Here is a picture of him sketching the secrets in his sketchbook.
And here's a wonderful picture of this adorable little guy with his Secret sketchbook at swim practice!
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| Secret Stories® Phonics Secret ER, IR & UR |
Every teacher knows it doesn't get any better than this!
Although, these next notes from actual kiddos come close, beginning with this one from a SPED learner in South Carolina, sent to me by his wonderful literacy coach, Sheila Smith.
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| Our favorite Secret Stories®! |
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| Secret Stories Mommy E® |
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| Secret Stories Sneaky Y® |
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| Secret Stories Sneaky Y® Digital Supplement Pack |
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| Secret Stories® Phonics Secret EU & EW |
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| Secret Stories® ER, IR & UR |
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| And some creative Secret "Odds & Ends!" |
And if you don't already have the Secrets, but would like to try sharing them with your students, you can download this mini-sampler poster pack FREE!
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| FREE Secret Stories® Phonics Mini-Poster Pack |
Until Next Time,
Katie :-)
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Secret Stories® Makes Phonics Make SENSE!
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