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Reading Buddies: Its Effect on Emotional Intelligence and Reading Comprehension
Reading Buddies: Its Effect on Emotional Intelligence and Reading Comprehension
It is 8:15 on a Friday morning and half of my sixth grade students are preparing materials for their trek to Mrs. Stewart’s third grade classroom, while the other half prepares for their third grade visitors. Mrs. Stewart and Mr. Alvarado have teamed to provide a little Reading Buddy program for their classes. Every Friday morning Mr. Alvarado’s 6th grade students take their third grade reading buddy through the lesson plan that was created the day before. The lesson plan outline consists of 5-10 minutes of phonics review/instruction, 15-20 minutes of basic sight word development, and 30 minutes of shared reading and comprehension strategies. The hour is intensive with lots of conversation, laughter, and excitement about reading. Mrs. Stewart and Mr. Alvarado frequently discuss the challenges of such a program, but on a larger scale celebrate the positive activities taking place. Celebrations included the improvement in sight word development; a similar result was found in a study by Butler (1999), improvement in reading ability and confidence, improved self-confidence and empathy of our students, and an overall student excitement over this activity, to name a few. In point of fact, research supports the informal observations of Mrs. Stewart and Mr. Alvarado. For example, Bower (2001) suggests students gravitate towards reading with a buddy as opposed to reading by themselves.
As a reading teacher, I could not imagine operating my sixth grade classroom absent a Reading Buddy program for my students and the affect it could have on improving the reading ability of their little buddies. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001has the potential to exclude a program, such as reading buddies, from being a component to a rich literature environment. In a study conducted by Bower (2001), third grade students, the experimental group, were paired and subjected to six weeks of reading buddy comprehension activities. The control group, an equal number of students, read and completed the comprehension activities independently. The findings, although not statistically significant, supported the researcher’s hypothesis that the experiment group would outperform the control group in improved comprehension skills. Equally, Cazden (1988) found reading partners with an emphasis on literature discussions to be an effective component to a reading program. Because NCLB is supported by the findings of the National Reading Panel (NRP) of which its research methodology is credentialed as Scientifically Based Reading Research (SBBR), the NCLB legislation has the support in place to potentially discourage, if not prohibit, teachers from using Reading Buddies. Because of its influence on reading instruction, it’s important to understand the mission and the finding of the National Reading Panel.
National Reading Panel
In 1997, the Director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) was given the directive by congress to ascertain the state of reading instruction programs in the United States of America. The request was adhered to, and as a result a National Reading Panel was convened. The charge of the panel was to:
…assess the status of research-based knowledge, including the effectiveness of various approaches to teaching children to read.” The panel was charged with providing a report that “should present the panel’s conclusions, an indication of the readiness for application in the classroom of the results of this research, and, if
appropriate, a strategy for rapidly disseminating this information to facilitate effective reading instruction in the schools. (NICHD, 2000, p. 1-1)
One of the challenges that faced the NRP was the timeline to meet its directive. When faced with the 100,000 studies, it devised methods to focus on what it considered to be the best. Its solution was to establish a set of prerequisites in the form of focus topics and guiding questions to consider when identifying reading research studies that best fit the directive of congress. The focus topics chosen were Alphabetics, Fluency, Comprehension, Teacher Education and Reading Instruction, and Computer Technology and Reading Instruction. The guiding questions considered were as follows:
1. Does instruction in phonemic awareness improve reading? If so, how is this instruction best provided?
2. Does phonics instruction improve reading achievement? If so, how is this instruction best provided?
3. Does guided repeated oral reading instruction improve fluency and reading comprehension? If so, how is this instruction best provided? 4. Does vocabulary instruction improve reading achievement? If so, how is this instruction best provided?
5. Does comprehension strategy instruction improve reading? If so, how is this instruction best provided?
6. Do programs that increase the amount of children’s independent reading improve reading achievement and motivation? If so, how is this instruction best
provided?
7. Does teacher education influence how effective teachers are at teaching children to read? If so, how is this instruction best provided?
In addition to the focus topics and guiding questions used to narrow the scope of the research, other characteristics were incorporated in the selecting of the research studies to be analyzed. A concern that many should have about this process is that many research studies were not considered in the analysis of establishing the report to congress. As an example, 364 potential studies were available for analysis in oral reading instruction, after inspection through the NRP’s research methodology criteria, only 16 studies were accepted and quantified to be a meta-analysis (NICHD, 2000, p. 12). This example represents approximately 95% of the non-acceptance rate of the studies available for analysis to the NRP and should have been an indicator to the potential flaw inherent in the process. Garan (2001) suggests that the NRP conducted a meta-analysis on so few studies because of the narrow model of research they included.
Another key finding in my research as to the possible inconsistency of the NRP’s research methodology exists within guiding question number six. This question focuses on whether independent reading improves reading achievement and motivation. However, Yatvin (2003) reports that the NRP did not have enough time to follow through and research certain focus topics including motivational factors in learning to read. Additionally, one of the more important focus topics considered in selecting the reading research studies to be analyzed was comprehension. However, Garan (2001) stated “the panel did not include reading comprehension or the application of phonics skills in authentic literacy events as necessary criteria in establishing what it termed a “general literacy” outcome.” (p. 6). These examples need to be considered as it establishes a question as to the accuracy of the report generated by the NRP and significantly draws the validity of the report into question.
NRP and Sound Research
A consideration that I wish to instill in this position paper is that a Reading Buddy program can improve Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and reading comprehension. This position paper is given strength in that the NRP report did not specifically dismiss these concepts, but rather it is my contention that because the NRP failed to follow through with the original outline of areas to research, opportunities for activities that promote EQ and reading comprehension should be considered. In addition, the many questions that challenge the consistency and integrity of the NRP are validated again when consideration of the response to the NRP’s lack of time to research areas of motivation and comprehension are weighed. The NRP (Garan, 2001) acknowledged the studies that it used in its research to determine a general literacy outcome did not include reading comprehension. In its investigation of key questions to consider in choosing research studies, the NRP identified the following as guiding question number six: Do programs that increase the amount of children’s independent reading improve reading achievement and motivation? If so, how is this instruction best provided?
According to the National Reading Panel summary (NRP, 2000, p. 19) a time limitation resulted in evaluating the research for purposes of meeting the congressional report deadline date. As a result the NRP was unable to follow through with its commitment of researching topics that fell within the parameters of the guiding question regarding reading achievement and motivation. This omission of this criterion does one of two things; first it has the potential of insinuating that motivation is not an important element of a sound reading program, or second, it can leave open an opportunity for research on this particular element. The position of this paper will focus on the latter and provide research on the area of Reading Buddies.
Reading Buddies
Understanding the success that reading buddies can bring to a school makes it vitally important to understand how to incorporate such a program.
Incorporating a successful Reading Buddy Program
In addition, lesson design instruction, in reference to amount of time available for the reading activity, was important to meeting the goal of the reading assignment (Friedland & Truesdell, 2004).
The coaching big buddy’s to read to and with their little buddy is an important element of the Reading Buddy Program. Big buddy’s were responsible to model and solicit responsible reading strategies of fluency and expression. Others strategies required during this reading buddy program were prediction, discussion, and comprehension (Block & Dellamura, 2000/2001). An important consideration to analyze here is that many different strategies are employed to the teaching of reading with comprehension being the winner. As Garan and DeVoogd (2008) notes in their Sustained Silent Reading paper, the NRP had trouble finding research on SSR largely in part because it focused on research that relied on component-skills model of reading as well as its focus on fluency and not comprehension as an outcome (Paris, 2005). The NRP specifically states that it ran out of time in identifying studies that researched comprehension. It is my contention, based on the facts, the NRP was destined in finding inaccurate results in the role comprehension plays in reading instruction.
To further increase the opportunities of comprehension, the big buddy was provided with a list of guided questions that would act as a catalyst for comprehension strategies (Block & Dellamura, 2000/2001). Theurer and Schmidt (2008) cite the following guided questions:
“Does this book remind you of another book you have read?
Who was your favorite character? Why?
What is the message in this book?
What was your favorite part of this story?
How would you change the ending of this story?
What character would you like to be? Why?
What is the problem in this story? How was it resolved?
Did you like this book? Why? Give two good reasons!” (p. 26)
Reading buddy programs have been shown to improve the reading ability of students with disabilities. Garan (2001) cited findings from the Reports of the Subgroup, (pp. 2-96, 2-135) stating, “…effectiveness of systematic phonics instruction were derived from studies conducted in many classrooms with typical classroom teachers and typical American or English-speaking students from a variety of backgrounds. . . Thus the results of the analysis are indicative of what can be accomplished when systematic phonics programs are implemented in today’s classrooms.” This statement and the NRP’s research failed to demonstrate how students with disabilities would benefit from such programs. Buter (1999) reported successful results on her Class-Wide Peer Tutoring (CWPT) program. The program called for tutoring buddies to be paired with students of disabilities. Findings included a one year growth in sight word development and academic and social growth as well. Butler indicated that peer tutoring programs can be structured to benefit all students with additional successful components in the areas of academic and social development. Butler’s findings, one research study that took me about 1 hour to locate, add value to the possibility of reading buddy programs and what they add to improving academic and social intelligences.
The big buddy reading program’s goal of improving the reading potential of their little reading buddy was not the lone result that the director’s had in mind when venturing into this arena. An additional element that reading buddies has the potential of improving is one’s emotional intelligence. Goleman qualifies to be emotional intelligence: getting along with others, self-motivation, persistence, controlling impulses, empathizing, and regulating one’s moods (Goleman, 1996). Theurer and Schmidt (2008) share an important focus of the training is the interacting with their buddy. Big buddies were mentored in the importance of greeting their little buddy with a smile and to say goodbye when they left. The big buddies also practiced encouragements that complimented their buddy as well as strategies on what to do when their buddy was not listening, cooperating, or behaving inappropriately.
Following are some of the flaws to the brain research used to posture the establishment of the NCLB act.
Flawed Brain Research
The Reading First Program, a derivative of the NRP findings, was an initiative set forth by President George W. Bush based on scientific brain research. This research has some flaws in that its findings were, largely in part, due to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fmri), a process to measure differences in the brain activity (Willis, 2007). .
The issue with this fmri process is that the researcher only considered one portion of the brain’s complex reading network. The study, favoring the NRP’s position, was that the study was conducted in a region of the brain that is known to be more active during phonics processing (Willis, 2007). They say that when something looks and smells like a rat, it probably is a rat. Well, an interesting fact is that this portion of the brain became more active when the students tested on phonics processing activities. Again, if the goal is to learn constrained skills then fine, but reading involves comprehension and comprehension involves the development of unconstrained skills. Willis (2007) suggests that, “we cannot generalization from these findings that all reading improves when the so-called phonics center becomes more active.” (p. 3).
Willis (2007) reports that the brain glitch theory treatment of reading as an isolated and independent cognitive process is counterproductive to the complex process connecting multiple learning and association centers in the brain. Reading, at the minimum involves the limbic system, occipital cortex, associational subcortical frontal lobe centers, and medial temporal lobe and should really be aligned to instructional practices that stimulate multiple brain areas.
In addition, Willis (2007) cites (Brembs, Lorenzetti, Reyes, Baxter, & Byrne, 2002) having found interesting research on dopamine, brain proteins that are released and carry information throughout the brain. Dopamine release has been found to increase during pleasurable and positive experiences. Willis (2007) suggests that early studies show the amount of dopamine released by the brain increases during activities that involve playing, exercising, laughing, being read to, and recognizing personal achievements. It is my contention, based on the reading buddy research, that opportunities like these are abundant.
The education literature has included theories about the effects of emotion on language acquisition for decades. Dulay and Burt (1977) and Krashen (1982) proposed that strong positive emotion reinforces learning, whereas excessive levels of stress and anxiety interfere with learning.
Many are feeling that equally important is the educating of the “whole” child. (Rattigan, 2007).
As an example of benefits in educating the whole child, Rattigan (2007) shares that educating the “whole” child includes social and emotional aspects of learning which are strengthened in resilience skills. Henderson & Milstein (1996) define resilience to be “the capacity to spring back, rebound, successfully adapt in the face of adversity, and develop social, academic, and vocational competence despite exposure to severe stress or simply stress that is inherent in today’s world” (p.7). This idea of resiliency is one that can be taught and learned via the building of one’s emotional intelligence.
Emotional Intelligence
In addition to successes noted in academics, reading buddy programs demonstrated equal amounts of success in the areas of emotional Intelligence. Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is a term coined by Yale psychologist Peter Salovey and University of New Hampshire’s John Mayer. They describe EQ as the qualities one possesses to control one’s own emotions, empathize with the emotions of others, and regulate one’s feeling in times of crisis to improve the quality of life one lives (Gibbs,1995). Goleman offers that all students need to be made aware of emotional intelligence characteristics within the educational environment (Pool, 1997).
Conventional wisdom asserts that IQ is the best predictor of future success. Current research is suggesting that IQ may only be responsible for 20% of a person’s success, leaving 80% to other forces. Those forces are what Goleman suggests to be emotional intelligence: getting along with others, self-motivation, persistence, controlling impulses, empathizing, and regulating one’s moods (Goleman, 1996). The challenge then becomes for school staffs to not only increase test scores, but also assist in increasing student’s emotional intelligence.
The dilemma many educators confront when wanting to incorporate social-emotional curricula into the school day is that it challenges the traditional core curriculums (Harrington-Lueker, 1995). However, Goleman’s theory of emotional intelligence has not come without criticism from his colleagues. Margarita Muniz, principal at Raphael Hernandez school in Boston, feels that there is not enough evidence of what constitutes a sound emotional-development program or how to even measure emotional aptitude. Other researchers argue that it is premature to insist that emotional intelligence can be
taught like polynomials or that these skills will help improve academic achievement. Linda Baker, guidance counselor at West Mills Middle School, New Haven Connecticut, says, “Finding time to teach EQ in an already packed school schedule is tough. It is equally difficult to find teachers who are adept at emotional skill building” (Harrington-
It is not either-or, it is both” (Harrington-Lueker, 1995, p. 3).
When considering what types of learning should be taking place inside of an educational institution, all stakeholders to the future leaders of our society should contemplate the function of the brain. The brain is composed of three main parts; the neo-cortex, limbic system, and brain stem. It is in the limbic system that all of our emotions are controlled. Within the limbic system are found two amygdala’s, which are responsible for receiving and sending all emotional messages. The amygdala’s are always communicating with the neo-cortex, which is responsible for analytical and verbal tasks. Our analytical thinking is always controlled by our emotions (Pool, 1997). Individuals who are mature and healthy have better connections with their amygdala’s, or emotional responses, therefore allowing the neo-cortex to make better decisions. Children who are constantly angry, frustrated, or subjected to bad environments experience interference by the amygdala, therefore making it hard for them to concentrate and thus learn. Because the amygdala doesn’t mature until a child is 15 or 16, we have
many opportunities to teach children how to handle their feelings (Pool, 1997).
Today’s children have created a new perspective for schools to consider when approaching the curricular and teaching strategies. In addition to teaching reading, writing, and math curriculum, schools are now becoming a center for social learning as well. Because children appear to be receiving less and less guidance and direction from their homes and communities, schools are having to commit themselves to creating an infrastructure that can address the student’s social and emotional deficiencies (Lantieri & Patti, 1996). As educators begin to brainstorm how to handle this decline of social adeptness, they along with parents and administrators worry about tradition. They are concerned that devoting class time to addressing this deficit will hurt traditional academics and ultimately create a decline in test scores (Elias & Butler, 1997).
There is still much to learn on how the brain learns and therefore, it is irresponsible to assume that any instructional strategy is best for learning to read. For the present moment teachers of reading must be guided by their professional knowledge base and their never-ending study of scientific evidence on how the brain responds to stimuli. There exists promising areas of research and practice.
Putting It All Together
I have often wondered what it would be like to not have been able to take my sixth grade students through our Little Buddy Reading Program. I was witness to my students benefitting in both Emotional Intelligence and Academic Intelligence. For several, the academic success came as a result of strengthening their emotional intelligence. My third grade colleague would also share, and had data to support her findings, that her third grade students grew in reading levels which required comprehension to increase.
The National Reading Panel having conducted its research with its interpretation of what constitutes sound SBBR, had a huge fan base in former President George W. Bush in creating reading instruction policy. This support system, in all honesty, should have prevented me from practicing the reading buddy program, but I felt it important for reading improvement and emotional intelligence growth.
In hindsight to the many flaws that have been discovered regarding the NRP, I find myself dancing in the rain, if you will, as to my decision in finding the time to make the reading buddy program work. First, the NRP established, in its own definition, a meta-analysis of the reading research. Its error was that it failed to recall that a meta-analysis is a comparison of results that encompass many and varied research studies; varied in the sense that it used relatively obscure methods in its study selection. In this weeding out process or selective process of research topics, the NRP failed to find research studies regarding comprehension. This omission established a hole in its committed research of comprehension and thus could have possibly omitted the benefits of a reading buddy program. One of the biggest blunders, if I may be so frank, of the NRP is its admission of running out of time to research studies on motivation and comprehension. Reading Buddy programs have shown to strengthen motivation and comprehension skills.
A sound reading buddy program has been shown to include activities that involve peer to peer support in the area of reading. The goal of my sixth grade reading buddy program was for the big buddy to assist his little buddy in reading and comprehending the story through strategies that support reading and comprehension. Some of these activities involved spelling practice, phonemic awareness strategies, fluency practice, and reading comprehension strategies. Many of these activities offer both constrained and unconstrained skill practice and development. The NRP’s research was based on constrained skill research, which offers another reason as to why many research studies were omitted. In addition to omitting research on comprehension, the NRP was selective in its brain research to support their findings on reading achievement.
A main poster child of the NRP findings was the establishment of The Reading First Program, an initiative enacted by former President George W. Bush. I recall being a reading first school and many times was questioned about my reading buddy program and how it was not an approved NCLB practice that improved reading achievement. This research was based on flawed scientific brain research that only considered one portion of the brain’s complex reading network. In addition, this research favored the NRP’s purpose of finding research that showed reading achievement occurring in the brain region that is most active during phonics processing. Again, we are reminded that The Reading First Program was a phonics based curriculum, and from first-hand experience it was a “sleeper,” but, it did however fit the NRP’s bill of identifying research that focused on constrained skills. The NRP’s failure in this thought process is that comprehension is a crucial criterion for reading achievement. The Reading Buddy Program has proven to be positive for comprehension and as an additional component has been positive for improving emotional intelligence.
Reading Buddy Programs involve students working together for a common purpose of reading development. Evidences have demonstrated that brain activity is intensified during this process that involves laughter, being read to, and receiving confirmation of good work. All of these attributes of what a Reading Buddy Program has to offer is associated with Emotional Intelligence.
Emotional Intelligence, as defined by Goleman, is the ability to get along with others, be self-motivated, empathize with others, control impulses, and regulate one’s moods. A need for emotional intelligence to be taught in school is found in research that demonstrates the success of person amounts to 20% of academic intelligence and 80% to emotional intelligence. Understanding this relationship of intelligences to success would prompt educators to planning their teaching on lessons that espouse these two types of intelligences. Reading buddy programs can be a way to compliment the two intelligences.
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What would you pay for that next promotion? What would you pay to practically guarantee a raise? In today’s global financial market, what would you pay for simple job security?
Self-improvement classes of all types start anywhere from 0 to ,000 and offer mixed results and mixed promises. There is one company, however, which offers worldwide results and guaranteed outcomes.
Speedread.org, Inc. has condensed their 3-day live speed reading course into a compact, at-your-own-increasing-pace ebook course to help you—the busy business professional—not only make yourself invaluable to your employer, but to also improve your chances of getting that all-too-important promotion or surviving the latest round of job cuts.
This course has been taught to everyone in the corporate world from busy executives to the administrative assistant answering the phones in more than 20 countries around the world in more than five languages, all with amazing results. Many mid-level managers see promotions in less than three weeks. Everyone who takes the course doubles their reading speed in just the first hour—some even triple or quadruple their reading speed!
How much would you pay for the opportunity to get more done in less time, leaving more time for family, friends, or hobbies? What would you pay to practically ensure job security and a promotion?
With our do-it-yourself speed reading course for the business person, you can not only increase your chance of thriving in these economic times, you can also choose the price you will need to pay!
Starting at just .95 USD, you can be reading twice as fast in the very first hour! Our Speed Read Complete Corporate pack includes everything you need in a single electronic download! Our .99 USD CD Pack allows you to keep (or share with friends or your family members) a hard copy in the form of CDs. Or, if you would like hard copies to go along with the CDs, it’s only 9.99 USD for over a dozen books with their corresponding CDs and other audio files.
The Speed Read Complete Corporate course is specifically designed for the busy professional and is guaranteed to help everyone in the corporation from the newly-hired administrative assistant to the CEO.
For a very affordable price, you can make an investment in yourself that will touch every aspect of your life.
Corporate Success / Goal Planning:
Everyone creates them, knowingly and unknowingly—goals. Some goals are lofty and well-thought-out—such goals in business (get a raise by the end of the year), goals in relationships (be married by age 30), and goals in life (watch the Northern Lights in Alaska) are easy to quantify, to write down, to dream and to imagine. Other goals are implied and subconscious; such goals in business (commute to work without incident), goals in relationships (find someone to spend New Year’s Eve with), and goals in life (leave this world a better place) may be harder to express.
Speedread.org knows that you are more than just the business person dressing for success every morning. You are a complete person who does not spend every waking moment working—or if you do, you don’t want to spend your life like that. Who you and what you do touches every single aspect of your life—your business life touches your social life; your social life touches your home life; your home life has a great impact on your spiritual life (whatever it may be); and your spiritual life determines how you perform in the business arena.
For us to consider ourselves successful in life, our goals must be achieved. Consciously or not, we determine our own success—in small things (getting to work safely) and large things (being promoted to upper management)—by meeting our stated or unstated goals. We also measure others’ successes or failures against our own goals.
Because goal planning is mandatory for success, we have included many sections in our speed reading books. Our SpeedRead Complete Corporate course not only teaches how to read two to three—or even more—times faster than you can now, we also give you the tools to plan your goals to align with your purpose in life.
To determine your personal goals, you simply need to look at what success means to you in your career, lifestyle, home life, spiritually, in a word: in everything. In our SpeedRead Complete Corporate course, we spend quite a bit of time on goal planning and the keys to success—not just in increasing the number of words read in a certain time frame, but in life. Reading is essential to life in today’s world, but if you simply learn to speed read without a goal as to how to use your new knowledge, you will lose it.
We know you are more than your business persona, and “success” in business may not necessarily mean success in life. At Speedread.org, we are determined to help you become not only a more successful business person, but a more successful human being.
Lifelong Effects of Speed Reading:
How would you like to remember 90% of what you read from anything—the newspaper, your favorite novel, business reports, your child’s MySpace blog? How would you like to be able to read faster—maybe even four or five times faster—and still remember almost everything you read? How would you like this to happen in just one single hour?
Impossible? Not hardly! With Speedread.org’s Speed Complete Speed Reading Program, hundreds of thousands of people have done just that!
But what can one do with the ability to read over 600 words per minute with a 90% retention rate?
The lifelong effects of speed reading are numerous.
First, you will finally be able to get to all those books on your list you have never had the time to read before. Suddenly, an hour’s commute to work on public transportation won’t mean simply a chapter or two… it will mean an entire book checked off your list! You won’t even get that sense of disappointment when you finish a book just to finish it. With the Complete Speed Reading Program, and the new ability to retain nearly everything you read, you’ll be able to discuss the book in next month’s—or even next year’s—book club!
If you are in a profession that requires a lot of reading and just as much retention such as scholars, physicians, writers, doctors, attorneys, and countless other fields, being able to read even twice as fast can end up saving hours—even up to days or weeks—on an intense project.
If you are a lifelong student—or just one who loves to learn and is always taking a course or two to help expand horizons—being able to read faster and comprehend more will, undoubtedly, be of a great boon to not only your ease of study, but also your GPA. Studies have also shown that the new way of reading taught to those who want to speed read may also assist the brain in learning a new language.
Speed reading also has lifelong physical effects as well. The less time you spend reading, the less eye strain and eye and muscle fatigue you will experience.
Because the Complete Speed Reading Program literally re-teaches your brain how to read, you learn how to remember more at the same time. Simply being able to remember what you have read can be just what you need to set yourself apart from the pack vying for that next promotion.
Passing Along Your Knowledge:
Nothing is worse for an avid reader and a lover of books than having a child who hates to read. Parents today know that reading to a child early in life will help them foster a love of reading and prepare them to read themselves, but sometimes not even that can be enough to foster a love of the written word. Reading parents know that aversion to reading will haunt their child for the rest of his life, making school harder… making life harder.
But, as any parent knows, you cannot simply say to a 10-year-old who hates reading, “You’re going to read and you’re going to like it.” You have to understand why reading is so difficult.
Reading, today, is taught in an inefficient manner. “Average” readers today (of any language) read anywhere from 100 words per minute (usually for memorization purposes) to 700 words per minute (“skimming”, looking only for specific key words). Statistics also show that as the words per minute go up, the reading comprehension goes down, and this is borne out in school test scores. With the pressure on slower readers of having to finish the reading section and the comprehension questions within a set period of time, most finally turn to skimming—looking only at key words in the question. This “cheater” method is only reinforced when the test comes back with a good grade (since they were only looking for specific words).
What would you, as a parent, pay to not only teach your child a better, faster, and easier way of reading—but also one that jumps their reading comprehension up to over 90%?
How about nothing! When you purchase Speedread.org’s Complete Speed Reading Program, you have Speedread.org’s permission—even its blessing—to pass the course on to your friends and family members who love to read and would like to read more or who are struggling to read and are on the fence about reading in general.
Imagine your child reading every word on the standardized test page in under ten seconds… and remembering it! How would your child feel being the first done with the test instead of one of the last? Homework and studying time would be cut in half or more, giving all of you more family time.
Studies and anecdotal reports from previous customers of Speedread.org have shown that less than a month after beginning the Complete Speed Reading Program, students’ grades have only raised—in some instances raising from a C average to an A in only 21 days!
Dr. Jay Polmar, author of over 40 books, spent years developing the Complete Speed Reading Program, and originally taught it to university students around the United States. Now, he brings his vast knowledge into the corporate world and into your child’s bedroom. Bring a love of lifelong learning home to everyone in the family starting at under !
Get More Accomplished in Less Time
What would you do if you found yourself with an extra hour a day at work? Would you get a jump on the next day’s work? Would you use it to surf the Internet and just “put in your time” until it was time to go home? Or would you use that extra hour to ensure you would have an extra hour every day to make yourself invaluable to your employer?
Whether you are the receptionist or a CEO, chances are if you are part of today’s corporate environment, you are—at least at certain times during the year—required to do extensive reading for your job. Quarterly reports can range from two pages to two hundred, and that can take some time to read—especially when you are supposed to be keeping up on what the competitors are doing. If you were able to read—and even more importantly recall—three quarterly reports in the time it took others to read just one, what would your job look like after four quarterly reports?
With the Complete Speed Reading Program, Corporate Edition, you will be reading at twice the speed you were before in just the first hour!
What would you do with an extra hour or two a day you never had before? Get more sleep? Spend time with your family? Take a class? Go out with friends? Finally do all those things you’d always said you wanted to do but never had time—like volunteering at a local charity?
Dr. Jay Polmar, author of over 40 books, spent years developing the Complete Speed Reading Program, and originally taught it to university students around the United States. Now, he brings his vast knowledge into the corporate world and into your child’s bedroom.
Our Guarantee
Corporate Speed Reading Overview:
What started as a classroom course has evolved into an affordable do-it-yourself course designed to make business people—from administrative assistants to MBAs to CEOs—more valuable to their company in the form of The Complete Speed Reading Program.
The Complete Speed Reading Program for the busy executive contains four books (available both as a PDF download and—if desired—in print):
Speed Read in Only One Hour teaches the basic techniques and has multiple reinforcement exercises.
Business Speed Reading Success is specifically designed for business people and MBAs. The book teaches techniques and vocabulary—as well as going more in-depth into the science behind speed reading and motivation.
How To Get Things Accomplished In Less Time is essential for any busy corporate employee. With over 100 tips to boost your time, this book teaches some simple, easy-to-follow steps to better manage the extra time you have after learning to speed read.
Think Right is a book not on speed reading, but—as Speedread.org takes a holistic approach to everything we do—helps one develop one’s self-power and provides an ethical viewpoint on technology. Think Right focuses on learning to set your thoughts on what you want and then accomplishing it.
In addition to the books, the Complete Speed Reading Program includes a dozen audio files designed to be listened to at any time—during a commute, during “down time”, at work, or even during sleep—to buttress not only the speed reading, but the other topics covered in the books. Some of the audio files supplement the speed reading program while others cover reading comprehension, accelerated learning skills, memory enhancement and intuitive development. Others take the more relaxing bent, offering conditioning for relaxation and stress relief, developing self confidence and self power, and eliminating the inner dialogue.
Our books and courses have been sold all over the world, having been translated into the six major world languages. Developed by Dr. Jay Polmar, an expert in the fields of self-improvement, continuing education and self-growth, The Complete Speed Read Program for Business boasts a success rate unheard of in its industry and offers a full money back guarantee that you will be reading significantly faster in only 21 days.
Our Guarantee:
Many businesses offer guarantees; most of them are hardly worth the paper they are printed on. Speed reading is no exception. Many of the speed reading seminars or do-it-yourself courses out there offer guarantees, but their products often fall short, or require intense, ongoing, and stressful learning techniques.
Speedread.org GUARANTEES that you will be reading faster, stress-free, after just one hour or every penny of your money back.
How can we offer this guarantee? We have 30 years of speed reading results! After offering this course—both in live classes and the do-it-yourself ebooks—for more than 30 years, we know it works, and works all over the world. Utilizing both ancient and modern methods to teach the brain a new way of thinking, and a new way of reading, we have over 100,000 copies in print, and even more in ebook format.
In 30 years of live courses, and more than a decade of online courses and the “do-it-yourself” offered at http://www.speedreadcomplete.com/, Speedread.org has only had to refund less than 1/10 of 1 % of sales due to customer dissatisfaction! With a record like that, they can make—and back up—their money back guarantee.
The course has been used by educators, government officers, and managers of corporations in more than 20 countries around the world and has been printed in the world’s six major languages.
While subsequent results are not guaranteed, Speedread.org continually receives word from satisfied customers that, in as little as three weeks after starting the course, they have received business promotions directly attributable to their new skills. Students, after taking the course, have raised grade point averages from the average “C” to the excellent “A”.
Developed by Dr. Jay Polmar, an expert in the ever-changing field of self-improvement, The Complete Speed Reading Program Corporate course, especially, has extra programs to help one succeed more. Speedread.org also believes the information provided is so essential, the company encourages its customers to pass their information on to spouses, children, and friends to help increase reading speed, productivity, free time, and goal achievement.
Learning guitar DVD
The guitar is of European origin. It was created in the medieval era. However, instruments from which the guitar is derived can be traced back as far as 4000 years. These instruments were first built in Asia and India and include the sitar and tanbur. One of the first obstacles that many who are learning how to play guitar encounter is the pain. Believe it or not, especially when first starting out, the guitar’s strings can hurt one’s fingers quite intensely. Another hurdle when learning how to play guitar is remembering how to play chords. There is quite a bit of memorization involved. One additional challenge for first-time guitarists is that of overcoming the stress involved with learning how to play the instrument. Although the physical pain associated with playing guitar cannot, for the most part, be avoided, many of the other difficulties can be helped with a learn guitar DVD.
Absolute Beginner in Guitar Lessons DVD
When one runs into problems with learning guitar, purchasing a DVD may be a really useful aid. The guitarist-in-training will be better able to overcome the fears and stresses associated with learning a new instrument. Learning how to play guitar through watching a DVD is as interactive and intimate as a private lesson without the cost. The person learning the instrument will also be able to work at his or her own pace; he or she can work as slow or as fast as necessary just by pushing play, pause, rewind or fast-forward.
If making that purchase is out of the question, one can also look into renting a learn guitar DVD from his or her local library. Many public libraries offer quite a large selection of DVDs for rent. Another good place to check for DVD rentals is a local video-store, such as Blockbuster or Hollywood Video.
Some don’t have the time or resources to go out and rent or buy a DVD. When this is the case, one can try browsing the Web for some tips and instructions on getting started with the guitar. There are plenty of people who are willing to help through YouTube, personal blogs, etc.
To conclude, there are many ways one can learn how to play guitar. While there are numerous obstacles one may encounter, it’s important to stick with it! Purchasing a DVD may prove to be quite helpful. Otherwise, one should certainly look into renting a DVD on playing guitar, or at least browsing the Internet for help from other guitarists.
What to Look For in a Guitar Instructional DVD
Like anything else, it is worth doing a little comparison shopping to make sure that the guitar instructional DVD you choose will be right for your needs. The following tips can help make this search easier.
#1 Find Out Who Developed The DVD
If you are trying to find a high quality learning guitar DVD then it is important to find out if the DVD you are looking at was put together by a professional guitar player or instructor. After all, just about anyone can produce a DVD and put it on the market. What you should look for is a DVD which has been produced by a professional who has a good reputation as an guitar teacher. This is true whether you want a learning acoustic guitar DVD or one for electric guitar.
#2 Camera Angles
Something else to watch for is whether the guitar instructional DVD offers multiple camera angles. No matter what kind of learning DVD you are interested in, it is helpful to be able to see the hands of the player in the video from different angles so you can get a clear understanding of what they are doing with their hands as they play.
#3 Styles
Before buying any learning guitar DVD, find out what styles the DVD teaches. If you want to learn to play country style guitar, then a jazz guitar DVD may not be the right video for you. Most likely you would prefer to learn how to play many different styles. A guitar instructional DVD which offers you a wider variety will help you to become a more well rounded player and hold your interest longer.
#4 Support
Finally, you should look for a guitar instructional DVD which is sold with some form of customer support, If you have any questions, you should be able to have access to support staff to get answers. These four tips can help you to find a high quality guitar teaching DVD which will help you to get off to a great start as you begin trying to master this popular and incredibly versatile instrument.
The Dummy’s Learning Guitar DVD Courses
If you have that music instinct and want to actually give way to it, then the dummies learning guitar DVD courses are a great way of doing it. You can actually become a good guitar player with the help of DVD courses. It may be so that you are attracted to the sound of the guitar but are a slow learner or may not be having sufficient time to pursue your desire. Now with the help of DVD courses, convenience and comfort is right at your doorstep!
A guitar has always been an attractive instrument all across the world. A guitar player can bring a crowd alive with his or her talent. Now learning the guitar can be real fun as well. Learning the guitar using a DVD is a simple exercise. The following instructions will help understand better.
You go the nearest music store in your neighborhood and you are confused because of the wide array of choices. Just ensure that DVD you would be purchasing is qualitative by nature and has been compiled by a renowned instructor. Thus if you’re a slow learner, this DVD course will be suited to your caliber. Perhaps your personal instructor is not patient enough and you are embarrassed about the fact. Now you can rid yourself from this embarrassment and learn freely. This will enhance your confidence and you will learn faster.
There are several levels of guitar lessons. You’ve always dreamt of becoming an expert but have never crossed the beginner’s level; don’t be disheartened! Now with the help of a good DVD instructional beginner’s course, you can go through the basics of guitar strumming and continue practicing till you have it in your control. Remember you are the best judge here! There is no second person to criticize you.This is as opposed to learning the guitar under stressful environments whereby a private guitar teacher will be staring at you.
Time is also at your beck and call and you are not limited to a few parameters. With guitar DVDs, you can learn guitar at anytime of the day. You no longer have to be fixed on a guitar learning schedule.
Now once you’ve gained confidence, you will see yourself progressing from beginner to intermediate and then onto becoming an expert in no time. Thus, the dummies learning guitar DVD courses can be a very handy instrument to help you successfully play the guitar.
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