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Frequently Asked Questions

The frequently asked questions (FAQ) are organized into three sections:

Section I: Questions about the Right Track Reading Lessons or Back on the Right Track Reading Lessons programs: Most of these are questions specific to the content of the Right Track Reading Programs.

Section II: General questions about teaching children to read, helping students develop necessary skills to become skilled readers and effective reading instruction. These questions are related to reading issues and skills. Many address specific reading issues that students face. Answers and information are informational in nature and often link you to resources so you can help your student achieve reading success.

Section III: Other Questions related to website and other issues.

SECTION I : Questions about Right Track Reading Lessons or Back on the Right Track Reading Lessons programs

• Questions on Right Track Reading Name: Why did you use the name ‘Right Track Reading’ for your reading program and company? Why do you have photographs of train tracks on the cover of your books? Why do you use train tracks for your logo?
• Questions: Can you give me a description of the Right Track Reading Lessons and the Back on the Right Track Reading Lessons Programs? I need a better idea of program content and what will my child should be able to read upon completing the program?
• Questions: I keep hearing effective reading programs need to be direct or explicit systematic phonics.  There are so many ‘phonics’ programs out there. How do I know Right Track Reading programs actually meet the requirements for an effective program?  
• Questions: Why do the Right Track Reading programs work so well in helping children learn to read? What are some of the some of the advantages of the Right Track Reading programs over some of the other phonics programs? All programs claim they will help my child learn to read, what specifically does your program offer.
• Questions: Which program should I use, Right Track Reading Lessons or Back on the Right Track Reading Lessons? My child or student is __ years old or in __ grade, which program should I use?
• Question: What are ‘sound tiles’? Can you give me more information about the multisensory sound tiles? How do I make the ‘sound tiles’ used in the Right Track Reading programs? Why are the multisensory activities with the tiles effective in helping students learn to read?
• Question: What do you mean by the material is presented in a ‘kid-friendly’ or ‘student-friendly’ manner?
• Question: Why does your program teach each and every little step? Do I really need to actually teach my child to follow from left to right when she reads?
• Question: The lessons in Right Track Reading Lessons and Back on the Right Track Reading Lessons include lots of lists of words for reading. Isn’t it better to have students read real stories than to just read words? Why do the programs use word lists?
• Questions: How can I teach my child to read? I’ve never taught anyone to read before and don’t even know where to start. I’m worried I will not be able to teach my child. This will be my first experience helping a student learn to read; I’m not sure how to proceed. Will I be able to teach my child with this program?
• Question: Can the program be used in a school setting? Can the program be used in a classroom?
• Question: I have a parent volunteer who has time to work with some of my students who need extra help with reading. I would like to utilize her services; however, I do not have time to provide training. Could parent volunteers use this program?  Can this program be used by volunteers or resource aides?
• Questions: At what age should I begin to teach my child how to read with a phonics program? Do I need to start teaching my preschooler how to read? When should I teach my child to read? At what age or grade level can I start teaching my child with the Right Track Reading Lessons program?
• Questions: How long will it take for my child to complete this program? What sort of time commitment does the program require for me to teach my child to read? How long does it take to teach a child to read?
• Questions: Can I use the Right Track Reading Lessons program with my child who is struggling with reading? Can the program be used to improve reading skills in students who are having difficulty reading?
• Questions: How much does the program cost?  What is the total cost of this program? Why are the Right Track Reading Lessons so affordable compared to many of the other structured direct systematic multi-sensory phonics programs?
• Question: Can I use the program for more than one child?

SECTION II: General Questions About Teaching Children to Read, Helping Students Develop Necessary Skills to Become Skilled Readers and Effective Reading Instruction. These FAQ’s include questions related to specific reading problems students may face.

• Questions: What skills does my child need to acquire to learn to read proficiently? Do you have a list of the skills students need to develop to become skilled readers? What does my child need to learn in order to be able to read? What skills are essential to proficient reading?  
• Questions:  Why should parents and teachers use direct systematic phonics to teach their children and students to read? What methods of reading instruction are effective? What are the facts that support the use of direct systematic phonics in reading instruction? Why do direct systematic phonics programs work in helping children learn to read? Why is it more effective for parents and teachers to focus on direct systematic phonics instead of utilizing multiple approaches when teaching children to read?
• Questions: How should I teach my child her sounds? How can I help my son learn the sounds for the letters? What is the most effective way to teach the phonemic code? What is the complete phonemic code? Why is it important for students to learn phonics?
• Questions: My daughter knows her sounds by themselves but when she goes to read the words she can’t seem to put them together into the word. How can I get her to quit separating the sounds and learn to put them together to read the word smoothly?   What do you do with students who do not get a "click" on blending? We are getting reports from the field that the kids that get blending are doing great but there are some kids who do not get it. These kids can look at cat, say /k/ . . . /a/ . . . /t/ . . . but they can't take the last (crucial) step of blending the sounds together to make the consolidated word. They know the letter-sound correspondences but are not getting the blending.  How can you help students learn to smoothly blend sounds together?
• Questions: What is a effective order or sequence for teaching letters and sounds to children? What order of presentation or sequence should I use in teaching the letters and sounds of the phonemic code to my child or students? What order do you introduce and teach the letters and sounds in the Right Track Reading Program?
• Questions: I was told I need to have my child read decodable text. What is decodable text? Why should beginning readers read decodable text? Why is decodable text recommended for students? How does decodable text help students establish necessary phonologic reading skills? How do I find decodable text for by beginning reader?
• Questions: What is phonemic awareness? How can I help my child develop phonologic awareness? What activities can I do with my child to develop phonemic awareness? Why is phonemic awareness or phonologic awareness important to reading success?
• Questions: My child is bright, so why is he having problems learning to read? Why is reading so hard for my daughter? She just seems to not get it.  Why does my child struggle learning how to read? Why is reading so difficult for some students?
• Questions: My first grader seems to be having trouble learning to read. Do I need to do anything or should I just wait and see if he picks it up when he gets a little older? My child is 7 and still not reading; do I need to do anything to help him? If a student is not acquiring reading skills, do I need to take action or will they grow into reading when they are ready?
• Question: My 1st grader is not learning to read. Because of his difficulty reading, the school would like for him to repeat 1st grade next year. Socially and maturity wise he is ready to move on. Should he repeat 1st grade just to improve his reading skills?
• Questions: My 4th grader is making quite a few mistakes when he reads. I think he needs some instruction but he is above the beginning level. What can I do to help him without starting over or making him think he needs a ‘baby’ program? My 5th grader is reading but he makes lots of mistakes and struggles with the longer words and complex text. How can I help him?  My child struggles with reading, how can I help her improve her reading? How do I find an effective reading remediation program for my struggling student?
• Questions: My child is reading very well for her age. However, she needs to begin moving from the easier books to more complex books. Is there a way I can help her advance the higher level skills? How can I help my students make the transition from easy reading material to higher demands and complexities they begin to face in 3rd and 4th grade? Although many of my students can read the easy material they struggle with multisyllable words and lack the necessary comprehension skills. How can I help students make the shift from ‘learning how to read’ to ‘reading to learn’? How can teachers help students advance from simple decoding to higher level reading? How can I help my child learn higher level reading skills?
• Questions: How can I help my child better understand what he is reading? What are suggestions for helping students improve reading comprehension? How can parents help their children improve reading comprehension? What can parents do to help children improve their reading comprehension?
• Question: My child is having a hard time reading long words? How can students improve their ability to read multisyllable words? Why is reading multi-syllable words difficult for some of my students?
• Question: My son often will read a word perfectly, yet, he doesn’t know what it means. What do I need to do? How can parents help their children expand their vocabulary knowledge? How can I help my students expand their vocabulary knowledge? So you have suggestions for building vocabulary knowledge?
• Questions: What does reading fluency mean? How can I help my child learn to read fluently? What are suggestions for helping students become fluent readers? How can parents help their children improve reading fluency? How can we help students improve reading fluency?
• Question: How can I help my child learn to spell? How are spelling and reading related?  

Section III: Other Questions ~ This covers any other questions and issues.  

• How can I contact you? Where can I find your contact information?
• I sent a question to your e-mail and have not received a response?
• Where is Right Track Reading located? Where are your Right Track Reading books printed?
• Are you available for tutoring individual students?
• Do you offer any workshops or other training opportunities?
• Questions or comments on web site issues: Where do I report broken links or other web site problems?  
• Questions on use of Right Track Reading articles and information: Can I share your articles with others? Can I print off and share the informational articles?  Can I link to the Right Track Reading web articles or information?
• Where can I find answers to questions not answered on this page?
• Where can I find free resources on teaching children and students to read? Where can I go to learn about how children learn to read and how to effectively teach children and students to read?

Copyright 2004-2013 Miscese R. Gagen ~ All Rights Reserved ~

The tools to achieve reading success!

If you have any questions, please e-mail Miscese Gagen.

Additional information, articles and resources on teaching students to read proficiently are located on the FREE Reading Information pages of the Right Track Reading web site.

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