We have many children and I homeschool them.

Hello, My daughter is 8 and has just finished 2nd grade in our home school.

Thanks for providing the materials you have.

Dear Mr. Watt:

WECAN Foundation is a Supplemental Educational Services provider certified by the California Department of Education to provide after-school tutorial services to students in grades K-12. WE CAN works with numerous school districts throughout the Greater Los Angeles area and, as a consequence, we serve students who come from all over the world. Many of them are learning English as a second language. We provide tutors to work with them, one-on-one, after school to help them build their reading skill, which is key to learning in all subject areas. We have used your Alpha-Phonics, A Primer for Beginning Readers since the beginning of our program as the basic primer for teaching basic phonics. Currently, we have over 1200 students receiving our tutorial services.

Alpha-Phonics has been used successfully in other remedial tutorial programs in Los Angeles for many years and, based upon their recommendations, we decided to use it for WE CAN. We have used Alpha-Phonics for thousands of students and have found it to be very well organized and comprehensive in its review of phonics. The students enjoy the large print format and the primer is both user-friendly and durable. It covers the basics of reading very well and is reusable. Being reusable is very important because, as a nonprofit organization, we operate on very limited funds.

Here are some excerpts from letters written by parents of our students explaining how much improvement their children made; sometimes even almost overnight:

“My daughter Marilyn was fortunate to receive tutoring from WE CAN Foundation. Her knowledge of the English has increased significantly: she now knows how to read and wants to use a dictionary. WE CAN is behind her success … as well as the instructional material (Alpha-Phonics) provided.”

“This letter is to appreciate the services my daughter received. My daughter was having a lot of problem in her Reading. Now she is able to read and tell me what she read. She went from a D to a B-. She can now write and explain a lot to me and to her teachers. She advanced overall in her other classes as well because she was able to focus and study much better than before.”

“Mi hija Wendy aprendió mucho con su tutor. Te enseño a leer mucho. Hora le gasta leer porque puede leer….”

Thank you for helping us at WECAN by making the Alpha-Phonics books available at a school discount rate.

Customer appreciates help from Alpha-Phonics Publisher:

Paradigm Co. appears at Homeschool Conference:

Alpha-Phonics to be used with Downs Syndrome daughter:

Retired teacher uses Alpha-Phonics:

Thanks for donation of an Alpha-Phonics:

Has used How To Tutor for 16 years:

Parent with 6 homeschool children uses Blumenfeld's books

...for my granddaughter...

I originally heard of Alpha-Phonics

I've read a lot

A blast from the past:

Buys Alpha-Phonics for her grandchild:

I used Alpha-Phonics

Two sisters tell why they recommend Alpha-Phonics:

Jones Family blog:
Alpha-Phonics:

When teaching your children to read phonics is really the only way to go and Alpha-Phonics is probably the best program out there. This is a no nonsense approach to learning to read. By no nonsense I mean there are no distracting pictures to take the child?s focus away from the letters and their sounds. Ellyn Davis, seminar teacher on reading to home school parents, says: ?You cannot find a more reasonably priced reading program than Alpha-Phonics? I am convinced it is the best reading program available to parents who want to teach their children to read.? It?s true. My sister, Robin, taught all six of her kids to read by it and she used the same manual [Alpha-Phonics] over and over again!

Alpha-Phonics is an effective step by step intensive phonics program for teaching reading to beginners of all ages. Designed for easy use by teachers, tutors, and parents.

I taught my six children, now ages ten to twenty, to read using this thorough phonics program. The lessons are short and simple, easy to implement. After a few lessons, my children were able to read other simple readers. There are no pictures, which I found to be a distraction to children who are just beginning to read. Because of the solid phonics emphasis, my children also received a sound start in spelling. Alpha-Phonics is not only an excellent reading program but very affordable. I was able to use the same book for all six of my children and today they are excellent readers.

Several years ago,

Thanks

Along with a certified course in teaching dyslexic children to read,

Thank you for the reply and information. It is very helpful.

Dear Mr. Watt: (Publisher)

Wow Sam!

Sam Blumenfeld?s Publisher, The Paradigm Company, told Mr. Bradley he was free to copy the Blumenfeld Education Letters so he could have them bound. Anyone is free to copy them at any time)

Dear Mr. Blumenfeld,

Our subsequent children all learned at a later age ( 8-11) but when they were ready they picked it up very quickly and moved on to what we call chapter books and their vocabularies are terrific!

I have been home schooling/ real life educating for 19 years now and when asked what I would use for phonics instruction my answer is always, "Alpha-Phonics"!!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

PS. I must add that I had tried several other programs without any success, only frustration and confusion, before I bought the Alpha Phonics.

I am a new homeschooler

This was the answer to teaching my children to read.

Hello. I have to say this is the best reading program out there.

I have tried other programs and after awhile I felt like something was missing from the way reading was supposed to be taught. I never felt like it covered everything that needed to be covered and then I heard about Alpha-Phonics through a homeschooling broadcast. I knew right then and there that I needed to try this program and I have had no regrets since. My daughter has not even finished the program yet and she is an awesome reader. She is to the point now where when irregular words are being taught in a lesson she automatically knows what the word is without being told. Also, she can read stories without hesitation the majority of the time. I am truly amazed at her progress and how well she is reading. She can even read cursive now as a result of my teaching her cursive with every lesson. I take each word or sentence and have her write them in cursive. I am amazed how quickly she picked up on reading cursive writing as a result of writing in cursive. I am planning on using this program with every one of my children. I would highly recommend this program to any child who is ready to read or anyone struggling to read, etc. This program is the only program that truly workes. Thanks so much for such a wonderful program.

Deaf mother teaches all her children to read with Alpha-Phonics

Six years ago, my older daughter Chayah was taught using your Alpha-Phonics book and she learned to read at age 4. Today she collects books such as John Grisham's novels (her best liked books), Nancy Drew; The Boxcar Children, Smithsonian magazines, and she read almost the entire library in my living room. There were times I didn't think some books would interest her but she read from first page to last page in every book. Even rereading them. She reads books like The Complete Book of Food and Nutrition by J.I. Rodale (I always thought these books were for adults but she proved me wrong). This week she is reading "The Beautiful Mind" The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash.

My five year old son, Ru, just read thr entire book "The Fire Truck" to a neighbor who didn't really think he knows all the words. She demanded to know what kind of program I use to teach them. She is spreading the word.

I wanted you to know that your program does really work and I have been trying to convince many friends and relatives that it was a mistake for them to use other program to teach their children how to read. All of them were impressed by our children's (ages 10, 5 and 2- the two year old is recognizing the sound symbols) ability to read. I know you have many people tell you that your program does work but how many DEAF parents have told you that even a deaf parent who teaches children with your program does work. I am the proof because all my three children read. I recently registered my ten year old daughter in Eula public school. They knew I home-school all my children. They were surprised that my daughter has the highest reading comprehension score than anyone in their fifth and sixth grade classes. I put my daughter in public school because she wants to experience the school system and have P.E., Music, and interaction with other students for two years.

What a pleasant surprise to find a copy of Alpha-Phonics in my school mail. For some time now, I have prayed for this day! Every time I pick up a copy of Alpha-Phonics I feel the power of the world's premier phonics reading program in my hands. It is the same year after year. For example, this year most of my second grade bilingual students are already reading on third grade level on their reading inventories. In the classroom or in private tutoring, Alpha-Phonics teaches students to read and spell - quickly and well.

Dear Sam,

About 14 years ago I met you at the Center for Market Alternatives in Caldwell, Idaho at a talk you gave there with Ra!ph Smeed and Peter Watt. I purchased an Alpha Phonics book at that time for my son John Claude Goltry , who was 4 years old. You autographed it. I still have it and used it with his sister who is 5 years younger. I taught John 10 minutes a day about 3 days a week and in about 8 months he could read just about anything. He attended Mae Cardin's school for 2 years before it closed and then was tutored with 2 other of his classmates by a Cardin teacher who stayed in Boise for another year after the school closed. He then enrolled in the 4th grade at Greenleaf Friends Academy in Greenleaf, Idaho, west of Caldwell. He was reading post high-school level in the 5th grade. He will graduate this June, 2001, with straight A's at the top of his class. He achieved a score of 1330 on his SAT. He has been accepted at St. Johns College (the Great Books College, the College of political incorrectness) and will be attending the Santa Fe, New Mexico, campus his first year. He has expressed a desire to then rotate every other year with the Annapolis, Maryland, campus. He senses his Lord is leading him to be an educator.

His mother and I have always been thankful that God put us in contact with you and your wonderful book - Alpha Phonics. Once our children had the finest "reading tool" possible with AP they could then access the world of knowledge with ease.

Thanks again, Sam, and hope you enjoy knowing what a marvelous contribution you have made to at least one set of parents and their 2 children.

Christian Freedom International
Washington, DC
June 22, 2001

Dear Sir,

Recently Christian Freedom International sent a team to Thailand, near the Thailand/Burma border, to teach a two-week intensive systematic phonics course. The class consisted of about thirty teachers of the Karen ethnic group, who are native to Burma. Those teachers will use this training in the Karen schools of both Burma and Thailand.

The team decided to use "Alpha-Phonics" as the main curriculum. Each Karen student received their own copy to have as a resource for teaching their classes later on. We chose your curriculum because it was not only simple and compact, but also very ESL-friendly. Everything that our teachers would need to instruct others was contained in the one book. This makes it much easier to take this course deep into the jungles of Burma.

Another aspect of the curriculum that the team was impressed with was the fact that this curriculum had the teachers reading words and sentences in the first few lessons. This helped them tremendously in seeing how the English letters relate to each other in a word, and then how those words relate in a sentence.

Each day our team taught three to four class sessions lasting about 1 hour each, separated by 15 minute breaks. Each session began with a flash-card drill of the various sounds of the English language. The first day was completely focused on the different sounds in the English language. We wanted to make sure that the Karen teachers understood those sounds, could write the English alphabet, would know the names of the letters, and would be able to say the sounds relatively well. On all the following days our team spent most of the time going through the "Alpha-Phonics" curriculum.

During the classes, our CFI teachers simply went through each lesson one at a time, showing the. Karen how to use the curriculum. The teacher's instructions in the back not only made the job easier, but also were a great resource for them for review and future reference in their own schools.

In the second week, we began having them teach not only their peers, but also some of the children from a Karen refugee camp in Thailand. This provided practice for use of the curriculum with children. They did very well and by the end of the two weeks, most of the class felt very comfortable using the "Alpha-Phonics" curriculum individually.

As a team, we were very pleased with the results that we saw from the course. The "Alpha-Phonics" curriculum helped tremendously and provided a great foundation for the students. They not only improved their knowledge of the sounds of the English language, but were also equipped with tools to pass this knowledge on. .

Thank you for the materials that your company provided. We are looking forward to using your curriculum in subsequent courses that CFI will provide.

Thank you for Alpha-Phonics. We have ten children and I have used the program for each child thus far. I am currently teaching number seven. I appreciate the efficient use of my time and energy. With no "fluff" built in, Alpha-Phonics is not frustrating to teacher or student.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
SANTA BARBARA NEWS-PRESS

December 2, 2000

Reading primer would aid students

Recent proposals to improve education in Santa Barbara are very nice, and I am sure they are well intended. But with regard to "rescuing the 10 to 15 percent of students who now enter high school barely reading," there is a much simpler and cheaper solution: purchase copies of Samuel Blumenfeld's book, "Alpha-phonics: A Primer for Beginning Readers. "

Buy one for each student.

My children learned to be top readers with this book. Those 10 to 15 percent can, too.

When faced with a specific problem, find the simplest and cheapest tool to deal with that problem, not expensive programs, the scope and direction of which will be a bone of contention among competing political interests for decades to come.

June 17, 1994
Dear Mr. Blumenfeld,
I just had to write to tell you how thrilled I am with Alpha-Phonics. It is incredibly easy to use! It works marvelously! What a joy it is to teach my own child to read. It adds a special dimension to our relationship.

You have made Alpha-Phonics so simple; it's brilliant. I started home-schooling my five year old son, with four children and a brand new baby. With Alpha Phonics, any time I had fifteen minutes to spare, I'd just turn to the next lesson and we'd do it. Michael was progressing beautifully, and so naturally. Reading was not difficult. It was just systematic and took time and attention. It did not require strain.

One day I found my three year old at the kitchen; table reading S am, Sam; m an, man, and so on, completing Lesson 2 all by himself. I had not taught him. I had just taught him his letter sounds. He picked it up and did it himself. And that's just how simple this book is.

As we got along in the book, we would review, daily, earlier lessons and then do a new lesson. With your book, reading can be mastered, without stress or strain.

Your approach also totally fits my style. I am a busy person, like most of us today. I don't like alot of fuss and unnecessary frills. This one book does it all.

My sister-in-law showed me a reading program she recently purchased. There was this book and that book and this tape and that tape. And it was over $200.00! I didn't have the heart to tell her all she needed was Alpha Phonics, this unassuming looking book is brilliant, not to mention a small fraction of the cost. A thousand times thank you. You have made it simple and economical for any mom to impart to their own child the most important skill they will ever learn.

April 26,1997

Dear Friends,
I am writing to let you know how much we appreciate Alpha-Phonics. I bought it to use with my 6 year old last year. I had tried other curriculum with my older son, yet all programs were so much more complicated to teach and understand. In just a few minutes a day my little girl has successfully been able to learn to read!

Alpha-Phonics has not only worked for my little girl, but I have also been using it for a little boy I have been tutoring. He has been 'labeled' learning disabled and his teachers have just thrown him away. By the way, he first went to a local Christian School and now he is in Public School. This little boy is now learning to read. I see no difficulty at all in his learning ability! I am seeing an eager little boy learn to read when the professionals said he could not ever learn to read... by the way, I am just a mom with only 1 year of college!!

I think Alpha-Phonics works because it is straight phonics without all the Fluff! PLUS, I can now say personally that it works for all learning styles and even learning deficiencies... If there be any!! I will personally be recommending this wonderful program to all families that I counsel for curriculum needs! (My husband and I lead our area support group of 250 families and serve as coordinators for our church school.)

Well, may God continue to bless your work for Him!

October 2, 1991
Dear Mr. Blumenfeld,

Thank you for Alpha-Phonics!

We have a 14-year-old son who has Downs Syndrome. He began his formal "education" at age of three. After 10 years of special education in the public school system, he had a reading vocabulary of 76 words. His teachers used a sight-word recognition system and considered that a "good score". He was very frustrated with his inability to read, so he would copy his siblings by pretending to read.

I began to search for a reading program. In reading through the home-school book section at the library, I found a recommendation for the book How to Tutor. After reading that book, I started our son on the phonics program immediately. Within one month, he could read over 100 words--more than he had learned in 10 years of schooling! ! ! I was thrilled and so was he.

We spent about a half hour a day after school, and he continued his progress slowly, but surely. Many of the words were unfamiliar to him, such as "rap" and "jab", so I explained the meanings and his vocabulary expanded. We have seen a remarkable change in his articulation. When he learned the "th" sound and saw that "bath" ended with "th", he stopped saying "baf". His speech is much clearer and his sentences are more complete.

It has been a year since we started the Alpha-phonics program and he is finishing the last pages. He is so pleased to be able to read library books, sing along with the hymns at church, and inform the driver what the signs along the road say. Our son does not have a very high I.Q., but he was able to learn to read using phonics. I am sure there are many children in special education programs that could also learn using this system, and I would highly recommend it to other parents. Thank you for Alpha-phonics!

Beth
Curriculum: Alpha-Phonics
Subject: Phonics
Author: Blumenfeld
Grade level: K and up
Dates used: August 2001 to present

Review:

If there was one correct choice I made in curriculum when deciding to homeschool, it was Alpha-Phonics. I got the $30 book (combined with the teacher's instructions in the back) and am thrilled with it. It is a no nonsense approach, and takes just a few minutes a day with wonderful results.
My 6 year old is now reading far above where he would if he were in school. I have started Alpha-Phonics with my 4 year old, at a very slow pace, and he too is already beginning to read.
I supplement this with Bob books and with Explode the Code (when my son was a little older) mostly to get used to spelling and writing.
I can't say enough about Alpha-Phonics. A fantastic program!

Danielle (66.44.40.61) kdc1@erols.com
Curriculum: Alpha-Phonics
Subject: Phonics Instruction
Author: Sam Blumenfeld

Review:

I can't say enough good things about this reading curriculum! It is non-consumable, so you could use it with more than one child, very inexpensive, simply presented and systematic. My child learned to read proficiently using one short lesson per day, and she is only four. The only thing it "needs" is a set of beginning readers for further practice, but the company does sell these, separately.

"Saw this product in the Rainbow Resource Center Catolog. Used Alpha-Phonics with both of my children and it works."

"I am a repeat customer and this is the best reading program I have used!!!"

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