Q: Is
this an activity book for children to work with by themselves?
A: No. Toe
by Toe requires that each child has a reading coach for every exercise,
it teaches children to read and parents to teach.
Q: Why has Toe
by Toe neglected to provide a teacher's book?
A: Teachers will
be the first to admit that they do not have the time to be constantly checking
a manual. Each Toe by Toe exercise is accompanied by its own coaching
box.
Q: Is this book
solely for the use of teachers or other professionals?
A: No. Teachers
are often restricted by classroom procedures. Parents have no such procedures
to inhibit them; they start with a 'clean slate'.
Q: Will Toe
by Toe compromise the reading attainment targets in the National Curriculum?
A: No.
Toe by Toe has proved in practice that, with the minimum of administrative
commitment, it can accelerate the reading age of a student, with or without
reading difficulties, far in advance of their chronological age.
Q: Why does a
child need to have three consecutive ticks before a word can be considered
learned?
A: Students
with reading difficulties, particularly dyslexics, will establish a word
in their short term memory but they are likely to forget it just as easily
unless we bond the word in their long term memory.
Q: Why is Toe
by Toe so pedantic?
A: This is a
most welcome complaint. Toe by Toe has proved in practice that children
or adults who have learning difficulties make very slow progress if they
are taught by less structured methods. Reading coaches using Toe by
Toe know at a glance the weaknesses of their students and can rectify
them. One cannot be confident that any element of an exercise has been
learned unless we can provide positive evidence on three consecutive occasions.
Q: Why doesn't
the manual contain a list of contents?
A: Toe by
Toe is a finely structured programme. A list of contents might tempt
some coaches to begin coaching part way through the text. We must ensure
that the programme is followed as it is presented. The system is diagnostic and
weaknesses will be highlighted as the student works through the book.
Q: Would it not
have been easier to use the International Phonetic Alphabet to describe
the basic sounds in the relevant exercises?
A: The International
Phonetic Alphabet is a useful method for learning the pronunciation of
foreign words or learning how to pronounce unfamiliar words in a dictionary.
However, before one uses a dictionary one must first of all be able to
read and spell. The I.P.A. does not account for regional variations. In
order to overcome this problem Toe by Toe uses examples of words
containing a particular skill.
Q: Will Toe
by Toe help children who prefer to learn by playing games etc.?
A: The question
implies that education is not enjoyable. Toe by Toe gives children
success and success is a far more powerful and enjoyable spur to education
than any game. The question also implies that students with reading difficulties
are only capable of learning through entertainment. Most people with reading
difficulties find this view patronising Toe by Toe holds all learners
as educable equals.