Teacher Testimonials

Testimonials - Schools & Corporates

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David Foster - School Principal Hunua School: Pupils at Hunua School have made great use of the opportunity to learn with Reading Master. They enjoy the fact that they can take some measure of control of their learning. We have had particular success with boys who have been reluctant readers. In one case a child who had been causing major concern caught up two years worth of reading progress in under six months.

Mrs Rosemary Wilson - Early Childhood Centers: Thank you for the excellent publication called Reading Master you have designed and are promoting. We are starting to use the series in our childcare centres and find them very helpful in teaching young children. We use the books in conjunction with our theme as they fit easily into our program. They are also part of our language learning activities. We have a number of children where English is their second language and little children who are picking up language for the first time and these books give comprehensive instruction on the correct sounds of the letters. We really appreciate the format, the durable presentation and the colorful illustrations. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to comment on this excellent product.

Patrick J Lynch - Executive Director Catholic Education Office NZ: “Congratulations on the production of the Reading Master System which is excellent and timely, especially when teachers are looking for better ways to teach youngsters the basic of literacy. I am happy to promote the material among our Integrated Schools and Schools generally.”

Catherine Holdom - Parent and Teacher: When my two children, Samuel age 5 and Chelsea age 3, first saw Reading Master they were transfixed for at least an hour if not longer. They both found it very easy to navigate ( the CD-Rom) and obviously absorbing for they went back for more later that day and the next. At one stage I noticed Chelsea had taken control of the mouse and Samuel was happy to sit back and watch and listen

Cindy Young - English as a Second Language Teacher -Broome, Australia: I am working as an adult literacy and numeracy teacher in Broome Western Australia. I have had a mixture of clients, mainly men in their twenties, thirties and forties wishing to improve their skills so they can find employment. Half of my clients are Aboriginal, for whom English is a second language. They have been to school but have never understood how the English language works. Their languages are spelled phonetically and they say much in few words. Totally opposite to how we, the English speaking world, functions. Being in a remote area, approx 2000kms from a capital city, resources up here are scarce. I had purchased your program as I was completing a Grad Dip in Ed at Notre Dame University in Broome and I had to teach in a remote Aboriginal community for three months. Sometimes resources in communities are scarce so I decided I would take my own! As it turned out I ended up teaching adults and I have used it for them. What I like about it is the clear way phonics are explained. My Aboriginal clients, once showed that the English language doesn't make sense soon learn how to master it. I think they thought the whitefellas would have worked out a better system! The adult clients have enjoyed the factual content in the readers and we have learnt lots together. I have surprised my contemporaries by using this system but I find it very effective and I would certainly recommend it as an excellent learning tool for all age levels and abilities. One of my clients who left school as a nine year old to join the shearing team with his family has gone from being totally illiterate to surfing the net and having enough functional reading skills to survive in society with in two months. It has increased his self esteem immeasurably. It was good read the other testimonials as I am the only person I know who was using this program with adults! I hope you can use this information I only wish I knew about it or it existed when my children were small. They are now 18 and 20 but I will be recommending if for grandchildren that's for sure! Cheers!

Elizabeth Hutton- English as a Second Language Teacher, Papua New Guinea: I am involved in Salem Training School in Goroka, Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. The main purpose of this eight month school is to help train and equip people from different denominations who teach in our public schools Religious Instruction Classes. Our school also provides training for people involved in Sunday School teaching. Many of the students who attend our training school, English is their second language. Most student find it easier to speak in Pidgin English or in their local language. (P.N.G. has over 800 languages). All students attending Salem Training School to be accepted for the course must have at least completed their education at grade 6 (form 2) but we do prefer students who have completed their grade 10 (5th form) because of the programme and teaching books being in the English language. We do get many students who have only gone as far as grade six in their education and they do struggle with reading English. For this reason I purchased the English Reading Master produced by Denise and Grant Ford of the Parent Company and this year for the first time we trialed this in our school. After ten one hour sessions we have noticed a definite improvement in our students. Their reading of English improved and also they have so much enjoyed learning new words. Pronunciation of words has also shown improvement.

This year we had 6 students doing theReading Master and they looked so forward to each session. This programme I believe is helping them to understand better the English Books that they are preparing their lessons to be taught to the children in the schools. I certainly recommend the programme of 'READING MASTER' because in the first year of our using it, the good results alone are proof in itself of the value. I have also had enquiries from ex students about the possibility of thembeing able to purchase the Reading Master to use in Preschools.Yours sincerely Elizabeth Hutton.

"Your work has produced a valuable resource that compliments and reinforces the vital elements of any successful school reading program."

David had a group of children ranging in ages from 7 to 9 years of age that were in the 4th percentile for reading in their respective age groups.
The eldest of these children had even been evaluated by the Special Education Service as probably being in need of attending a ‘special school’.

These children had been through at least six months of the State Reading Recovery program each and had even had one-on-one tutoring for 4 months after that.
Yet despite the resource thrown at the problem they were still averaging the 4th percentile for reading for their age.
These children were simply allowed access to the Reading Master books during the day and 30 minutes per day unsupervised on the Reading Master CD-ROM.

After just under 4 months these children had moved from averaging in the 4th percentile to averaging reading at the 86th percentile for their age. The "special school" candidate was reading at above his age specific level with the corresponding lift in self-esteem to prove it.

Mary Ellen Maunz - Montessori International, Corwin Springs, Montana, USA : Reading Master is a unique blend of effective methods, produced in an outstanding format. The quality of information and lovely illustrations make these books a must. In our 25 years of developing programs and combining the best of the best, we discovered that Doman flashcards with Spalding phonics makes a great combination. Reading Master made the same discovery

L. Tangihaere - Centennial Park School: I would like to commend you for the Reading Master and say what a marvelous resource it is. I am a mother and caregiver of 9 children, 5 of whom are still at home. My youngest is 2 years and 8 months and I have been using the Reading Master since March this year. I cannot express enough how familiar and fluent he has become with the Flashbooks, Horses, Cats, Whales, etc all to the amazement of myself and others. In our school we have 3 Te Reo (Maori) and 4 mainstream classes and I take daily lessons with a small group of Te Reo children using the Reading Master to assist with their English transition. Their teacher has commented on the great progress they have made with spelling and reading since using the Reading Master.

Colleen Williams - Director of Special Programs- Pakuranga Heights School: In February our school purchased a Reading Master Kit, after viewing a parent copy and receiving favorable comments from other school parents who were using the kit at home. They particularly liked the initial sound series and ease of reading. The nonfiction animal series of booklets were very popular with them as well. Our staff were attracted by these aspects also. In particular, we noted that one of our pupils who we had expected to need Reading Recovery help this year, was reading far better than expected after the long Christmas holiday break. We could only attribute the unexpected progress at a time of year well-known for its negative effect on children with reading difficulties, to the use of Reading Master at home over the holiday period... We have begun to use your program with a small group of Special Needs pupils, aged 6 - 8 years who work in class under Teacher Aide supervision. We have chosen children who are either on a waiting list for Reading Recovery, have English as a second language or who have completed Reading Recovery and still require reading support. ..... Our initial impressions are, that the kit is very well designed and highly attractive to children. The use of auditory effects encourage children with attention span difficulties and we are impressed by the effective use of color in presenting story sequences. Our Junior children enjoy their sessions and are keen and interested to return to the program. After only a few weeks usage we find it suitable for children needing remedial help in small groups and can be used effectively with Teacher Aide supervision.... Thank you for all your help.

Janine Tyler- English as a Second Language Teacher, Australia: I have been using the ReadingMaster for the past year to help teach English to Asian students on a one on one basis. Because the ReadingMaster goes through all the sounds in English in a systematic way, they have found it very enjoyable and useful. The videos have been helpful because they can watch the sounds and words being spoken by Denise as well as see the actions mentioned in the stories. We then move onto reading the books with me correcting their pronunciation and follow that up with students listening to the stories again and repeating the sounds on the CD_Rom. I think the program is excellent!

Laurena Moore - Employee Development Manager - Mercury Energy: “Over the past few weeks I have been evaluating “The Reading Master CD-Rom to as ascertain its applicability for New Zealand’s largest Energy Company. It has been decided that it has a place in the Open Learning Center to assist in addressing adult literacy needs of our staff and will be available to be used by their family members. I highly recommend this professional and innovative product as a tool for dealing with literacy issues for all ages.”

Peter - Personnel Consultancy Partner and Corporate Trainer: “Thank you for producing the amazing Reading Master series of books. Our five-year-old Sally loves them, and has wanted to read almost nothing else since we bought them three weeks ago. The books are beautifully crafted works of art. They teach about the real world and develop reading skills at a rapid rate. Reading with Sally, I have also learned a lot about whales, planets, and many other interesting subjects and about the process by which children learn. Well done. The work you have done is inspired.”

I. & L. King - Report on Caleb by a Teacher: Mr and Mrs King (Ngati Haua, Waikatato) have shared that their son Caleb, who was two years old in March and whose exposure to Reading Master began when he was three months old, has the following language attributes now -he picks up words easily from it -he enjoys learning from the pictures other spin offs from his early exposure -he speaks four word sentences -his diction is very clear -people understand him and have commented on the clarity of his speech -he takes in what he sees and hears -he loves reading books -he identifies lots of objects in his environment. Recorded from Lissa and Isaac King by Denise Leota (teacher)

Dr Cynthia Thrush - PHD Education (in Cognitive Science): "I've spent 30 years of my life with children in schools and in all those years I have never seen a program that successfully combined phonics, whole brain learning plus accelerated learning techniques and music and color as the Reading Master does.”

Barbara Prashnig - Director of Training & Research Creative Learning Company Ltd. “As an author as the links between music, brain functions, and learning ability, I have been really impressed by the way Reading Master has been using the latest research and development in this area.”

Beverley Davidson - Special Needs Teacher: My interest is in children with disability. I have worked in this area for 40 odd years, my most recent work being with children with multiple disability. For the past five months I have been using Reading Master with one student and I am impressed with his progress in the areas of word and letter recognition. I use the books, videos and CD ROM and find them all beneficial. I am particularly impressed with the use of baroque music in the videos. I find this has helped tremendously. Reading Master is a must for these children.

Mrs Annette Adams - Canterbury New Zealand: Dear Sir/Madam I purchased the ReadingMaster system for my grandchildren, and my husband who is dyslexic. After 12 months I am extremely impressed with the results and would recommend it to anyone with problems. Thank your for reading this letter. Keep up the learning tools and books for children. They are a blessing for our future generation. Yours faithfully Mrs Annette Adams.

Timothy G.Spokes - Australia: My name is Timothy G. Spokes. I would like to share with you a story, one I will attempt to make brief, but one that shows the importance of programs that you have written. At the early age of Grade three it was thought I was "slow" at school and needed to be placed in "remedial" or "special" class as I had a great deal of difficulty in writing and spelling. I hated reading as the words made no sense at all in the way they were constructed. I could not understand how "f" would make the same sound as "ph". The result was a young man leaving school earlier than possibly normal. At age 15 years I left school on the advice of my teachers as they felt I would never get a job and should take the first job that came my way. That's what I did. As I grew up in the "real world" I rapidly saw the application of English and Math, something I was far from in the classroom. I worked damn hard and entered night school studying to improve my education when an Auntie saw that I was not as bad as teachers had described. I completed year 11 and 12 in the same 12 months. I entered university only to meet a Psychologist who recognized that I was slightly dyslexic and had not achieved a reasonable English education with a very slow reading ability. In the space of two months, while attending normal classes during the day and structured classes at night to become interested in reading, I slowly improved. Today I hold 2 biology diplomas, 3 science degrees and a Master Degree in Nursing. I work for the Royal Flying Doctor Service as a Trauma Nurse Consultant. I am now making application for entry into Medicine: Sucker for punishment. If only your program was around when I was young I may have already been a Doctor. There is no question that the delay in my reading development delayed my progression in education. I can only recommend your programs Reading Master and Reading Master Math. I am delighted to say they are now prominent tools in our house. Thank you for doing the research and constructing the aids for parents like myself - my three girls will benefit for certain. Regards Timothy G Spokes MRCNA Rn Rm M Ning. (Clinical Nurse Consultant: Trauma)

Sharon Sutherland - Brisbane Australia: The most rewarding experience for us as a family, and the most surprising for his teachers, is the knowledge our oldest son has shown with the concepts of reading, and sounds. At the age of 4 and half our son was diagnosed as a selective mute and for almost 2 years the teachers at his school had not heard his voice ...with the constant use of your programme (mainly CD Rom - he could do it himself) they were amazed with the depth of knowledge he had for reading. Now, at age 7, our son is at an above average level with his peers of the same age. My husband and I are very pleased with the outcome. All our children have been given a wonderful head start, thanks to your fantastic programme.