TEACHING READING TO CHILDREN WITH LOW MA'S.

ONE OF THE PROBLEMS OF TEACHING READING TO CHILDREN WITH LOW MENTAL AGES, FOR EXAMPLE, OF FOUR TO FIVE, IS THAT MOST READING PROGRAMS ARE GEARED TO THE CHILDREN WITH A MENTAL AGE OF ABOUT SIX AND ONE-HALF. A CHILD WITH THIS HIGHER MENTAL DEVELOPMENT WILL OFTEN HAVE MANY OF THE BASIC READING SKILLS ALREADY ACCOMPLISHED, OR HE CAN LEARN THEM QUICKLY AND WITHOUT THE BENEFIT OF THE MOST EFFICIENT INSTRUCTION. A CHILD WITH A LOW MENTAL-AGE MIGHT STRUGGLE TO LEARN TO READ UNDER SUCH A PROGRAM FOR AN INORDINATE AMOUNT OF TIME. RETARDED, HANDICAPPED, AND DEPRIVED CHILDREN MUST GENERALLY BE INSTRUCTED IN THE MOST BASIC READING SKILLS. THEY MUST BE SHOWN THAT EACH LETTER REPRESENTS A SOUND. THEY MUST THEN BE TAUGHT THAT THESE SOUNDS ARE SEQUENCED IN A WORD IN TIME. THAT IS, THEY MUST LEARN HOW TO BLEND. RHYMING AND ALLITERATION TASKS ARE USEFUL IN TEACHING BLENDING SKILLS. IN DEVELOPING THIS SOUND-SEQUENCE SKILL, CONTINUOUS-SOUND WORDS LIKE "FAN" AND "RAN" SHOULD BE INTRODUCED BEFORE STOP-SOUND WORDS LIKE "CAT" AND "RAT." WORDS WHOSE PRONUNCIATION DOES NOT FIT THE FUNDAMENTAL SOUND-SEQUENCE APPROACH, FOR EXAMPLE, "HAVE," IN WHICH THE "E" IS NOT PRONOUNCED, AND "SHE," WHICH CONTAINS A DOUBLE LETTER SOUND, ARE CALLED IRREGULAR WORDS AND ARE TO BE INTRODUCED LAST. INSTRUCTION SHOULD BE UNIFORM FOR ALL PUPILS. (WO)