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Marna Neufer, a reading specialist in Williamsport,
Pennsylvania, has worked successfully with hundreds
of problem readers in both public school and private
practice. When she first began teaching in the
federally funded Title I program, she realized that
unless her students learned how to decode unfamiliar
words phonetically, they would never feel completely
sure of themselves as readers.
In searching the market for ways to teach this
crucial skill, it became apparent to her that there
was a great need for a totally systematic approach —
something that would do the whole job:
1) Teach a person step by step how to decode and
write the language, and
2) Give them plenty of practice in mastering the
skills. |
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At that point she began to develop her own material,
one word list at a time, over many years. It all
worked; remarkably well! She discovered that it was
as effective with young beginning readers as it had
proven to be with older youth and adults — those for
whom reading had become a pain until TRUST turned
things around for them.
Later, in her tutoring practice, when she found
herself with more students than she could manage,
she started giving copies of an earlier version of
her manual to parents so they could work with their
own children. She received valuable feedback from
these parents as TRUST was becoming a tool that
anyone could use to teach a person to read. |