"WITH THIS VOLUME, ANYONE WHO CAN READ
and CAN TEACH THE 3 R's"
Proper tutoring at the preschool level and in the first and second grades can make sure that a child has the foundation on which he can build his academic achievement. This program, developed by a pioneer in the private-school movement, has already proved successful. Would you be curious about a program that can produce an unsolicited letter like this one? It's from J. M. of Goshen, Indiana:
"We have a 14-year-old son who has Downs Syndrome. He began his formal "education" at the age of three. After 10 years of special education in the public school system, he had a reading vocabulary of 76 words. His teachers used a sight-word recognition system and considered that a "good score. He was very frustrated with his inability to read, so he would copy his siblings by pretending to read.
"I began to search for a reading program. In reading through the home-school book section at the library, I found a recommendation for the book How to Tutor. After reading that book, I started our son on the phonics program immediately. Within one month, he could read over 100 words - more than he had learned in 10 years of schooling!!! I was thrilled and so was he.
"Our son does not have a very high I.Q., but he was able to learn to read using phonics. I am sure there are many children in special education programs that could also learn using this system, and I would highly recommend it to other parents."
The man who evokes that enthusiasm is Samuel Blumenfeld. Sam has worked to help children read and learn the basics for more than 35 years. He's been a New York editor and a member of the Advisory Council of the Reading Reform Foundation. And he's authored several books on the private-school movement, including Is Public Education Necessary? As a teacher himself, Sam has the right credentials in abundance to provide parents and teachers with a complete instructional program: step-by step lesson plans in the three R's. William E Jasper describes the essence of his program in The New American:
"From the practical standpoint of empowering parents to take back control of their children's schooling, How to Tutor is the most important of Blumenfeld's six superb books on education. With this volume, anyone who can read can teach the 3 R's. "In 117 easy-to-follow lessons, Blumenfeld takes you step-by-step from the alphabet through vowel and consonant blends, to irregular word spellings and pronunciations. He has organized the sequential lessons exceptionally well and capably explains why this exercise follows that, and why a particular pedagogical method is faulty and another is sound. He has a clear understanding of the learning process, how the mind works. He anticipates the questions that both student and tutor may have. His systematic phonics course will work for illiterate adults as well as for children....
"He then covers the proper procedure for teaching penmanship, from selecting the right pencil and paper to dotting the i's and crossing the t's. And for the southpaws, instead of throwing them a curve he provides special coaching that will help get them to first base...
"[Then] in 67 lessons, Blumenfeld takes the tutor and student in a natural progression and Handwriting from counting through basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, to fractions, decimals, money, and then to measurements of time, weight, liquid and distance.
"The beauty of this book is that it makes it all so very simple and straightforward - and it works! Many parents and professional teachers have found it to be a Godsend. There is no reason for parents to fret that their children may be academically, shortchanged. Whether their children are being home-schooled or taught in an institutional setting, by utilizing this one volume, parents can guarantee that their offspring will be able to read, write, and compute proficiently."
Anyone can use these lesson plans: student tutors, parents, retired teachers, homemakers who would like to earn extra money by tutoring at home. The plans work well even in tutoring adult illiterates. Mr. Blumenfeld gives helpful advice on how to qualify as a tutor; and useful pointers on an that any intelligent person can master.
For parents and teachers - a guide that WORKS
Mary Pride gives How to Tutor a "5 heart" rating in Practical Homeschooling:
"This book is a detailed guide for tutors to follow in teaching children the Three R's... It is well-organized and presents a logical sequence of instruction in all three general subjects." -The Freeman
"An excellent book on how to tutor children at home, and thus prevent educational disaster before it occurs.... This book should be of value to all parents. -The Wanderer
Conservative Book Club Selection September 1997