Turbo Reader

by Phyllis Schlafly

Turbo Reader

Turbo Reader can be used to teach reading to students of all ages or for ESL students. Brief instructions, presented in just a few paragraphs each for every lesson page, make it easy to just pick up the book and begin.

Schlafly primarily uses a consonant-vowel approach. Students begin blending sounds as soon as they learn the first two letters, “a” and “m”—and here is one of a few instances where she uses a vowel-consonant approach. She works through an orderly progression of short vowel sounds to long vowel sounds to the alternative vowel and vowel-combination sounds.

Both upper and lower case letters are taught simultaneously. Brief instructions to practice writing the letters is in the first few lessons, then you’re on your own to remember to include instruction in letter formation. (Note: This is not intended to be a handwriting program, so you will need to provide other instruction in how letters are formed.) Compound words and suffixes are also taught.

Instruction is purposely kept brief, but that means that some odd things are left to you to explain or figure out. For example, on page two, students have learned the letters “a, m, t,” and “s.” They are learning words that blend these letters, one of which is “sass.” However, there is no explanation for the double “s.” Page three continues, likewise, with “mutt” and “muss.”

Instructions for p. 10 note that the word “dog” is italicized because “it has a slightly different sound.” But I don’t see what that difference might be. Likewise for the words “fog” and “egg.”

When the /s/ sound for the letter “c” is taught on page 73, the lesson is confusing since it also introduces words that end with “ce,” which has yet another sound and includes a silent “e,” yet this isn’t explained.

The program teaches some sight words so students will be able to read more interesting sentences. However, some words are introduced as sight words early in the program even though they won’t be sight words once students have learned a particular phonogram. A few such “sight” words are “with” and “off.” Rules are kept to a minimum, so some words, such as “he” and “she” are taught as sight words while other programs might teach them with a rule.

Students practice with lists of words, often arranged with similar phonetic elements so students learn to differentiate between words such as “send” and “sent.” Quite early in the program, students are reading complete sentences. Further along, poems, fables, and short stories are used for reading practice.

Patriotism is an occasional theme, and especially toward the end of the book, it becomes clear that Schlafly has is mind that Turbo Reader might be used by ESL students preparing for U.S. citizenship. Despite the advance reading level, the words to “America” and “The Star Spangled Banner” are included.

Turbo Reader is printed as an oversized, hardcover book, but with an unusual metal comb binding inside the hard cover so that pages lie flat. Full-color, photographic illustrations are used throughout the book and the paper quality is very sturdy.

A reading assessment at the back of the book that will be useful if you are beginning with an older or remedial student. Results are very general—if the student makes 45 to 60 mistakes it tells you: “Will have problems at next level in school. Use Turbo Reader now.” I doubt this will be helpful in most homeschooling situations.