Bannatyne Reading, Writing, Spelling and Language Program
Third Edition
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I noticed that you use a wide variety of story themes, legends, science fiction, etc., in the Bannatyne Program, but in college our reading professor said to use everyday homespun themes, words and material very familiar to the student when teaching reading.
Your professor is more than forty years out of date as to what "homespun" is these days, as are most writers of children's books. Almost all modern children are raised from birth on a "homespun" diet of television, soap operas (at mother's knee) and movies (videos), not to mention dramatic news stories such as the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Look at their science fiction toys, their Barbie dolls and the array of materials that goes with those toys. See how most children dress up at Halloween and ask them who their favorite pop star is! Watch their Saturday morning cartoons, Star Wars, E.T., Shrek, Monsters and even Disney's films. Examine the video games they play. I could go on and on, but I think the point has been made. Note, too, that these statements apply to school-age children almost everywhere in every culture from Baltimore to Bangkok, from Fiji to Finland.
Now, the Bannatyne Program uses many of these kinds of themes in much more benign ways in order to catch students' interests and thus motivate them to want to read the stories. In doing this, the Program also utilizes many historical stories, some of them quite factual. One young student after going with his parents to the IMAX Theater to see a film featuring the story of how Howard Carter found the tomb of the ancient Egyptian king Tutankhamen excitedly told his Bannatyne Program teacher that it was just like the story "The Tomb of Tutankhamen" in the Program. The story itself capitalizes on the "Indiana Jones" films and the popularization and romance of archeology. This popularization caused, among children, an interest that continues into the new century. This is what education is all about.
The words, themselves, need not be familiar to students, although the majority of the words in the Bannatyne Program are known by almost all students because they are collected from word-usage frequency lists. Because the various meanings of every word used in the Bannatyne Program is first taught conversationally by the Teacher, it was possible for me to structure the Program linguistically and morphologically in terms of the sequence and timing of word introductions. The Bannatyne Program never uses a word in a Story or Game Activity until it has been thoroughly taught in all its forms by the Teacher and thoroughly learned by students.
The term "education" literally means (from the Latin) to lead out from ignorance, and I make no apology for broadening children's (and many teachers') horizons in all kinds of ways through the Bannatyne Program. Even the food we may eat these days may come from many international cuisines (Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, American, Mexican, Polynesian, Middle Eastern, Greek, Thai, New Zealand, Jewish, Spanish, etc.,) and that is also true of the continuing mixing of international cultures, beliefs, goods and ideas. You will find soccer, tennis, yoga, Harry Potter witchcraft, Buddhist philosophies, Kung Fu, science fiction, ballet, pop music, pets, computers, and "success" philosophies permeate many, if not most, living rooms around the world. We cannot resist, or repress this momentum, and nor should we try to do so, because (to repeat) "educate" means to lead out of ignorance, not by condemning ignorance, but by transforming it and transcending it. The wider one's viewpoint, the more likely we are to unfold into that benign transformation--which is where our children need to be. Repression, fear, encircling walls and a village mentality always cause neuroses and weird behaviors, e.g., terrorism.
Openness, understanding, positive motivation and harmony are the essence of transformation and transcendence.
The Bannatyne Reading Program is an excellent, tested reading program. The Bannatyne Reading Program is unlike any other reading programs currently available. This means you will find many features which are only in the Bannatyne Reading Program. In some Commonwealth countries the program may be referred to as: Bannatyne Programme, or Bannatyne Reading Programme.
Bannatyne Reading, Writing, Spelling and Language Program -- Copyright © 2003 Alexander Bannatyne, PhD
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