The Red Well-Read Reader-containing 361 fun, rhyming, thought-provoking stories-teaches children of all ages how to comprehend the written word, not just straightforward expressed meanings but, more important, implied meanings too. Most important, it teaches children how, not what, to think! Systematically, using phonics intensely, the stories cover the entire phonetic structure of the English language. There is one story for every family of words (viz., similar words sharing a common ending spelling (phoneme). STORY 1, Nabbed, through STORY 32, The Razzmatazz, cover the "short a" sound; STORY 33, On the Quay, through STORY 59, Praise the Lord, cover the "long a" sound; STORY 60, The Bizarre Czar through STORY 73, Marv and Harve, cover the "r" sound, and so on through seventeen more classifications. The most distinguishing feature of this book is that it benefits each student to the full extent of his or her individual ability. On one hand, because the stories are in large part slightly over the heads of virtually all beginning learners, not even the most mature and quick learners will ever get bored; while, on the other hand, because the level of difficulty decoding (viz. "reading" words, sentences, and so forth irrespective of comprehension) remains constant throughout, slower learners will never feel overwhelmed. What's more, this book should make children, as well as parents, laugh hardily and smile broadly, no matter how often the rhyming stories are read. The book offers parents- not hours, days, or months-but countless time over years to interact with their intellectually maturing children, helping them discover more of the stories' nuances while discussing the wide array of provocative subject matter which the stories touch upon. By and by, both slow and fast learners alike should become astute readers, critical thinkers, and facile speakers. When finished with this book, in a year or more, children should be well on their way to realize the full compass of their God-given abilities and be on track to become tomorrow's leaders!
Thomas D. McGann attended the University of Maryland at College Park as an undergrad, receiving a B.S. in Business Administration and a B.A. in English Literature; he attended the College of Notre Dame in Baltimore to receive his teaching credentials; he attended the State University of New York at Stony Brook where he received a M.A. in liberal studies; and he studied graphic design at New York University in Greenwich Village. A former public school teacher, Thomas has taught children in every grade, from 1st through 12th. He was a substitute elementary teacher in both Fairfax County Virginia and Montgomery County Maryland; he student taught English in junior high school in another surrounding suburb of D.C., Prince Georges County Maryland; and, as a certified teacher in New York City, he taught children in elementary, junior, and senior high school. In the upper levels, he taught English and American History. He taught English to adults seeking their General Equivalency Diploma as well as ESL to Russian, Polish, Chinese, and various other immigrants from around the world. Presently, he lives in the equable clime of hospitable Greenville, South Carolina where he blogs on a wide array of issues while concurrently developing a battery of literacy programs on such topics as economics, banking, and government and politics.
