Basic Reading Series, Level D Reader, A King on a Swing: Classic Phonics Program for Beginning Readers, ages 5-8, illus., 192 pages

The BASIC READING SERIES K-2 phonics program is back!

The BASIC READING SERIES (BRS) is a successful and proven phonics program for beginners. It has a dedicated and faithful following among teachers and parents who want an alternative to discredited teaching methods. The BASIC READING SERIES is now available in a low-cost, paperback edition for homeschool and classroom learning.

* For Every Kind of Learner—Children of all ability levels benefit from BRS. That’s because the program puts such a strong emphasis on the regular and predictable features of the language before any irregular or confusing elements are introduced.

* Structure, Pattern, and Consistency—The carefully controlled structure of the series and the incremental buildup of predictable spelling patterns (or “word families”) makes the program almost self-teaching for many children. Once they learn a pattern, they can unlock dozens of words that fit the pattern.

* Discovery: A Natural Way to Learn—We know that all children have a natural capacity for inductive learning. After all, they come to school possessing language — a language they learned wholly through observation and discovery. BRS builds on that natural ability and enables children to discover how the written form of their own language can be turned back into the words they already know and speak!

* Decoding Underlies Comprehension—The language children already comprehend is the basis for their first decoding efforts. A brisk and concentrated approach to code learning produces confident, successful readers who can then undertake greater comprehension challenges.

* Independence Is the Goal—BRS turns beginners into independent readers as early as possible. By achieving early mastery of the phonic code, BRS students can more quickly give their full attention to meaning without interference from mechanical difficulties.

* Comprehension in BRS—The Basic Reading Series lays the foundation for comprehension of every kind: literal, interpretive, critical, and creative. At an appropriate level of sophistication, each of these is developed at every level of the program.

* BRS Components: 7 Readers and 6 Workbooks

Level A: A Pig Can Jig (Parts 1 & 2)
Level B: A Hen in a Fox’s Den
Level C: Six Ducks in a Pond
Level D: A King on a Swing
Level E: Kittens and Children
Level F: The Purple Turtle

* What's covered in Level D?

Everything in Levels A-C, plus consonant blends, clusters of 3 consonants, and 55 new sight words (mostly common contractions).

The BRS Story

Dr. Donald Rasmussen and Lynn Goldberg developed the BASIC READING SERIES (BRS) in the early 1960s at the Miquon School, a small parent-teacher cooperative near Philadelphia. At that time, most children were taught to read using the “sight” or “look-say” method epitomized by the “Dick and Jane” readers, and many were left behind. Don and Lynn knew there must be a better way, so they spent five years developing their own reading program based on the work of the renowned linguist Leonard Bloomfield. They called their method “inductive whole-word phonics, with a strong linguistics research base”.

After tryouts in inner-city and suburban schools around the country and almost a dozen revisions, the BASIC READING SERIES was published by Science Research Associates (SRA) and enjoyed great success. Over the years, other reading methods have come and then gone out of favor. Now, decades later, phonics is recognized as the scientific approach to reading instruction, and the BASIC READING SERIES is once again available for young readers.

Dr. Donald Rasmussen became fascinated with the work of renowned linguist Leonard Bloomfield as an undergraduate at the University of Illinois. After many years as a college professor, he became principal of the Miquon School, a small teacher-parent cooperative near Philadelphia. There, during the 1960s, Dr. Rasmussen and co-author Lynn Goldberg put Bloomfield's theories into practice by developing the BASIC READING SERIES, a whole-word phonics program originally published by Science Research Associates (SRA), later by McGraw-Hill, and now in its 6th edition.

Lynn Goldberg was a public school teacher in Philadelphia and reading specialist at the Miquon School during the 1960s, where she and co-author Donald Rasmussen developed the BASIC READING SERIES, a whole-word phonics program that involves the teaching of sound patterns. In the 1970s, Mrs. Goldberg successfully adapted her reading method to the Philadelphia School District's Parkway Program, a remedial program for high school students. She lectured on beginning reading at numerous universities and reading conferences, and her writings were published in professional journals.