Special Education Today

In response to A's comment below, where she asks if there isn't a program that would be good for all children:
Yes, I'm sure there is... any program that has the five elements that are suggested for kids with LD, the Lindamood, Literacy Links, Fast Forward etc. would do that. However- there are many proponents of a more whole language approach who would argue that these are too stilted for regular learners. The key would be to use the program as a base, and then group the students like we did in the old days: do lots of lateral whole language stuff with one group, and stick to the basics with the other group until decoding has become automatic for them.
I find there are very few teachers who know how to group effectively, giving quality time to each group in a day. It takes some planning but that's how we used to do it "in the old days". Grouping is not discriminating- it's giving children what they need, instead of lumping them together and dragging some kids along who need to walk, and slowing kids down who need to fly. They can all get there in the end...

The points I mentioned are in Sally Shaywitz's book, Overcoming Dyslexia. if you don't have it you should get it. I stand corrected- there are 4 things that need to be included:
-Systematic and direct instruction in phonemic awareness and phonics
-Practice applying these in reading and writing
-Fluency building
-Enriched language experiences

Kathy