New Approaches To Reading Could Increase Mississippi’s Literacy
RateBy Jeffrey Hess | Published 25 Jul 2011 11:03am |
Mississippi has the lowest literacy rate in the nation...roughly
20-percent of Mississippi adults cannot read. An early start for
Mississippi kids can help improve the literacy rate. MPB's
Jeffrey Hess reports on new ways of learning to read that are
more than just the ABC's. At the Little Samaritan Montessori
Daycare in Jackson, a group of rambunctious 3-4-and-5 years olds
works on learning the sounds of English. Tamara Smith, a teacher
at the day care, says they aren't worried if a child misspells a
word. They focus on building a verbal connection to the language
instead of memorizing letters. "We don't concentrate on saying
ABC's. We concentrate on the sound. Because the sound is what
forms the word. So we concentrate on the sound of the words so
that they can put sounds together and form an actual word,"
Smith said. Early childhood education specialist Dr. Ray Reutzel
spoke at a recent edu