In my 10 Things I Want to Do This Summer post, I listed reading a book a week as one of my *things*. I decided today was the perfect day to get started on that, and I honestly have wanted to reread this book for a long time.

The Prez says he’d rather get his wisdom teeth extracted again (and it wasn’t a good experience) than to read this book, but I do have a degree in English and I find it all rather fascinating. I know I’m weird, like all the other language lovers out there. I think spelling is so MUCH FUN! And honestly, for me, it comes natural. I don’t know why. I do think for some it just does, while for others it doesn’t.

Here’s an excerpt from the second page of the Intro:

The knowledge in this book is as basic to academic success as 1 + 1 = 2.

I have two soon-to-be 3rd graders. For one, spelling is coming naturally. It is just ticking. I can’t explain it, and I certainly don’t relate to my superb teaching. To be honest, I haven’t tackled any formal spelling lessons or curriculum yet with these two learners of mine, one who just turned 9 years old and the other who will be 9 in a few months. This past year in fact was the first year where reading really came alive for them. I am perfectly OK with that fact, knowing they weren’t in a family until age 5 and 3 respectively, and knowing the struggles they’ve faced with multiple surgeries and interventions for heart disease and cleft lip and palate.

Eide says on page one and two of the Intro:

Teaching reading so that everyone succeeds is vital to the health of our society and our economy. The information contained in Uncovering the Logic of English is not new. You may be surprised to learn that with some variations, the spelling rules and phonograms already are used with great success by dyslexia institutes and reading centers around our nation. For unknown reasons, this “intensive phonics” is saved almost exclusively for students who struggle.

For my other soon-to-be 3rd grader, spelling is definitely NOT coming naturally. In fact, it is starting to be a real hindrance because this little learner who used to love to write … is getting so frustrated while writing because of the desire to spell correctly … but this learner can’t seem to get there. This learner also gets frustrated when reading, because this person is encountering larger and more varied words that just don’t fit the basic 31 sounds or phonemes (21 consonants plus the 10 vowel sounds with long and short included).

Eide outlines the 74 basic phonograms, which are essentially word pictures made of up a letter or combination of letters in the English language, and she also has several charts and tables* that explain them so well. *I do NOT recommend the Kin*dle version as the tables and charts didn’t convert well for me, but I have an older model. Am*azon gladly refunded my purchase price, and I gladly bought the old-fashioned paper model instead!

I am so glad I pulled this book off a shelf in our library and dusted it off. I have already read the introduction and the first three chapters TODAY!

As I am reading, I am continually saying, Oh my. Did you know for instance that according to the Nation’s Report Card from 2011, 48% of adults are not proficient in reading? Yeah, that brought an Oh my.

You can see the 2013 results from 4th graders and 8th graders in Math and Reading {here}. It isn’t much better. Here’s an infographic of the Nation’s Report Card from 2013, which shows only 35% of our nation’s 4th graders are reading AT or above grade level and only 36% of 8th graders are reading AT or above grade level:
I feel like I need to say outright that I in NO WAY think this is a direct reflection on teachers. That is certainly NOT the point of my post. I know I for one have struggled as an educator here in our home on just how to teach our children to read and whether or not to “phonic” as I wrote about more than a year ago.

After reading through just the first three chapters of this book again, I can say I’m a believer! I need to get back to the basics and go back over the 30 Spelling Rules, which Eide so easily breaks down, and make sure my little learners know the 74 Basic Phonemes that explain 98% of the English language.

If you’d like a fascinating read about why certain letter combinations make certain sounds and why sometimes those sounds are different in a given word, pick up a copy of this book Uncovering the Logic of English.

I want to share one more thing, Ms. Eide has a website, a blog, and a line of products that we will be trying out one component of very soon! In fact, I ordered the Essentials set (plus an extra student workbook) from {here} a couple of days ago. I’m very excited to begin using it right away with our soon-to-be 3rd graders. I hope it will solidify one in the logic of English and be an eye-opening moment for my other learner!

PLEASE NOTE: None of my links are affiliate. I just included them in case anyone reading is interested in learning more! 🙂

I am linking up with Mrs. Jump tonight! Please go and read about many other books recommended by fabulous teachers, and while you’re there consider linking up your own blog post or share a good read in the comments!