Backstage With Your Favorite Characters

Hello!  My name is Benita Brown.  I teach reading through phonics instruction.  I have an undergraduate degree in Elementary Education from Appalachian State University and a graduate degree in Language and Literacy from Salem College.  I also have a National Board Certification in Reading Studies. I have an additional certification with the North Carolina School Improvement Project.
 When I was a very little girl, my mother, a teacher, would bring home books from her school library for me to read.  I loved to hold the books in my hands and feel the smoothness of the front and back covers.  I loved to turn each page and look at the letters in black ink. When I would open the books and begin to read, I became lost in a world of fun, fantasy, and even fright as the words unfolded before me. There is nothing like the joy of settling down with a good book and becoming immersed in new stories and fresh ideas.  I want to make sure that every child has the opportunity to not only learn to read but to learn to LOVE to read. I believe that learning to read can be accomplished with explicit instruction in phonics and decoding.  Once the sound-to-symbol
 (sound/letter relationship) connection becomes automatic, a child can learn to decode almost anything.  When that happens, the brain is free to focus on the content of what is being read. In other words, when decoding is effortless, a child can read for meaning- and more importantly, enjoyment.  Let me show your child how fun learning to read can be. Join me as I show your child the wonders that life has to offer by opening up the pages of a good book.