The Australian Literacy Clinic's Reading Program

Hello Teachers and Parents,

Welcome to Australian Literacy Clinic. Your reason for visiting us is probably due to a number of reasons. Whatever your reason, we are here to help you... no, not pretend to help, but to guide you in helping your child with their reading.
 

The reading environment

The Australian Literacy Clinic assists children with a range of learning difficulties in an environment that is controlled. The environment within the clinic is void of stimulus. We do not have colourful pictures on the wall, we do not have computers and we most certainly do not have noise. For many children with learning difficulties they also have underlying sensory issues, they find it difficult to concentrate in a 'busy' environment, they cannot process the multitude of differing noises in a classroom and this affects behaviour, attention and processing ability. That is why our environment plays such an integral role in the reading acquisition levels of our children. We use an explicit, systematic, structured and diagnostic phonics approach to reading, teaching children the skills needed to decode effectively and with accuracy.

Each day I am asked by parents questions like:

• My child is behind in reading at school, why am I only finding out now, 3 years after they began?
• Why is it that my child can read the school books but cannot read ones that we have at home?
• Why does my child guess when they read?
• What books should I be using to help my child read?
• Is reading the same as comprehension?
• Why is my child being taught comprehension when they just cannot read?
• Why does my child always look at the pictures before the words and then tries to guess what it says?

These are just a few of the questions we are constantly asked and, to be honest, the answers vary. There is no ONE answer. What is DEFINITE is that all children are INDIVIDUALS and NO program can assume to have all of the answers.

That's right, the Australian Literacy Clinic's Reading Program does not have all the answers, no program can claim this. But what we do have is a system that enables ALL children to work at an INDIVIDUAL pace, in their OWN TIME, allowing more children to become CONFIDENT, CAPABLE and INDEPENDENT readers.

This program focuses entirely on the individual student. We DO NOT USE PICTURES. Our program has been designed to allow students to become actual, genuine readers rather than readers who look at pictures and guess the accompanying word. Why do we do this? Take away the picture, what do you get, readers or guesses? We want the children who use our program to become readers who use IMAGINATION when reading, who UNDERSTAND LANGUAGE, who can ACTIVELY read in ANY SITUATION. This is our goal.

The Australian Literacy Clinic's Reading Program teaches children how to read by focusing on the key areas of WRITING, READING, LISTENING, SPEAKING and MEMORY. By utilising each skill area in learning how to read, we are able to have confident, capable readers.

Amanda Tocci
MAEdst, BA, GradDipEd, GradCertTESOL
Literacy Specialist / Education Director