Ready to Read!

Our beloved Elementary Principal Sandra Sauls shares some information to encourage parents who are making important kindergarten and elementary education decisions.

Do you remember who taught you to read? Was it a parent or maybe a teacher? You may have been the same age as our kindergarten group. I’m sure you were as excited to learn new things as they are!  As children move toward their formal educational years, reading is a skill they are eager to learn.

Here at WCA, our younger students benefit from a systematic approach to phonemic awareness, phonics, and reading comprehension skills. It all starts in our kindergarten classes, as students gain momentum toward becoming strong, independent readers by the second grade level.

Instruction focuses on making connections with oral letter-sounds to written language. Training begins with the five vowels and controlled introduction of consonants. This enables students to decode new words and expand their skills to decode new words arranged in simple sentences and simple stories as they connect the phomemes (sounds) with the graphemes (letters).

Measurable Advantages of Phonics Instruction

The National Institute of Literacy notes that students who receive a systematic instructional approach to phonemic awareness and phonics instruction display stronger skills in reading, writing, and spelling. Our K-2 students are guided by skilled teachers through this consistent phonetic approach as part of our literacy program. It’s tried-and-true, supported by research, leads to observable success in our students’ day-to-day performance, and in their standardized test scores.

The anticipation of one day reading to parents and grandparents becomes a reality for our kindergarten students. They are gaining a life skill and the ability to read God’s Word. Now that is exciting! 

One more thing… Why don’t you give a “shout out” to the individual who taught you to read?  You will make their day!