MEDIA RELEASE
April 2, 2008
The premise behind dEcode® is simple – All children can learn, some just learn differently!
April 2, 2008, TORONTO - Everyone needs to learn to read and just about every level of society, inclusive of governments, municipalities, school boards, teachers and parents are recognizing the importance of starting this process in the preschool years of a child’s life. Neuroscientific research also supports this position (see The Early Years study by Margaret McCain and Fraser Mustard).
Teaching a child to read is key to building self-confidence and instilling the necessary skills to succeed in school and life, according to the Ontario Ministry of Education.
However, there are an alarming number of children who enter our educational system without these skills.
“We know that 25 per cent of children enter kindergarten without the skills they need to succeed,” says Shirley Bond, British Columbia’s Education Minister.
Why is it so important to teach pre-kindergarten children how to read?
“Textbooks make too many assumptions and move too quickly, as they assume learning has already taken place by the time the child enters grade one and that students have learned all the previous facts needed to move forward,” says Dr. Debby Chesnie Cooper, Developmental and Educational Psychologist and Director of The Chesnie Cooper Educational Centre*, leaders in child and educational psychology. “I discovered this fact twenty-five years ago when I met a child who didn’t respond to traditional methodologies, and when I couldn’t find curriculum that supported this position, it led me to developing ABC dEcode®, 123 dEcode®, and ultimately dEcode® for Kids.”
Seventy-four per cent of children who are unsuccessful readers in the third grade are still unsuccessful readers in the ninth grade (Journal of Child Neurology, January, 1995).
And at least 50 per cent of adults have weak numeracy skills, according to ABC Canada.
With over thirty years of clinical practice, working with hundreds of young children between the ages of three and six, Dr. Debby Chesnie Cooper recognized a need for the very young to have an enticing way to learn about sounds and numbers. The dEcode® for Kids curriculum delivers a solid learning foundation in reading for pre-school children and gives them an accelerated head-start in learning to read.
“In dEcode® For Kids, the way the sounds and symbols are emphasized and contrasted makes it very easy for very young children to grasp and master the concepts and have success with reading,” says Leslie Grant (M.Ed.), Director of The Lawrence Park School in North Toronto, which uses the dEcode® For Kids program. “The dEcode® For Kids Math program, the children really understand what the numbers represent. Both programs are designed for maximum efficiency, which is so important for children at this age whose primary job is to play!”
“It brings out the natural tendency of children to find pleasure in imitation and repetition, and is simpler to implement than any other program,” says Dr. Debby Cooper. “It turns repetition into learning and is unlike other programs which begin where dEcode® for Kids ends.”
“Ten minutes a day is more than enough, and the children really enjoy both the books and the CD program,” says Leslie Grant.
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For further information or interviews contact:
Peter Turkington / Strategic Communications Solutions / ON BEHALF OF DR. DEBBY CHESNIE COOPER / Direct Phone: 905.901.9218 / Email: pturkington@stratcommsolutions.ca
Peter Turkington / Strategic Communications Solutions / ON BEHALF OF DR. DEBBY CHESNIE COOPER / Direct Phone: 905.901.9218 / Email: pturkington@stratcommsolutions.ca
