Why This Is the SECOND MOST IMPORTANT PAGE on the INTERNET

You might not agree with me, and generally that's okay with me. There are certain to be no shortage of people who disagree this is, or ever will be, the second most important page on the internet. And if you think that the title is the most egotistical title you have ever heard then you probably have never read my book, The Day I Changed the Shape of the Universe, have you? Indeed if you decide to pick up a copy and read that book, that alone could eventually make this page THE most important page on the internet because some day some bright young (well, probably young, since young people seem more open to new ideas) person will read that book, and it will change the future of mankind because of the understanding it gives them about the nature of matter, energy and gravity. But that is only incidental to the purpose of this page.

It is my intent to make changes in the world. Small and personal, bold and radical, evolutionary and revolutionary, changes that will make the world a better place and life less of a frightening battle between hunger, starvation and poverty, illness and death for at least a large number of people who see little else in their lives because that is the whole of the reality they live in. I plan to bring some of that about as a direct result of what appears on this page (and I plan to put this page on more than one of the "social networking sites" to make it more widely available too).

I am going to talk about things that you might not have thought about, some that have bothered you for years, and some that are on the tip of everybody's tongues (because they are in the "news" at the time I write about them).

But, in particular, I want to help people whose children are having difficulty learning. I have already written two books for students in the "middle school" grades (6th, 7th, and 8th) who are not reading up to their grade level. These books are depicted in the "header" graphic for this page (on the wordpress.com blog at least) and have sold rather poorly thus far. They use several techniques to "lure in" the poorer readers of middle school based on observations I personally made of that type of student in the classrooms. They tend to gravitate toward books that are "picture books" and in particular look like they are written for the lower (primary) grades. That is exactly what Puppyfish and Puppy Goes to Lambergarten do. They are written at a reading level of an advanced 4th grade reader, so can also be used as challenging reading for very advanced 2nd or 3rd graders too. But they are specifically designed to be used for middle schoolers by attracting them to the format of colorful illustrations of cartoon style animals on the cover, and continuing the illustrations in the pages of the book, yet introducing them to "chapter book" style content, not the one or two sentences they expected to find in primary grade reading materials. The stories are simple and easy to follow, but the text is extensive.

One of the best ways to employ these books is to turn these children who are struggling themselves into the "tutors" for children in primary grades, especially using these books (or books like them)(I can't write them all). If the middle school students are given these books to read out loud to primary grade children as part of a mentoring program for those younger children, the responsibility of being chosen for this "honor" will strengthen the middle school student's self-esteem. It will help motivate them to learn to read better, and indeed in some cases, they may find that the younger students actually end up mentoring the middle schoolers on how to work out pronunciation through phoneme recognition or just having a more extensive established vocabulary.

If you have a pre-teen who is struggling to keep up with school work because of their difficulty reading up to grade level, you might want to become a regular reader here. Not everything on this blog will be just on that one subject, but it will probably serve as the freely available “newsletter” for http://helpkidsread.winfotech.com as well as http://remedialreaders.winfotech.com and http://whykidscantread.winfotech.com (which for the present at least, all point to the same content). Those sites will also have suggestions for members on products to buy, reports to read, and techniques to help young readers to be better readers.

READING is FUNDAMENTAL to ALL SUCCESS. Reading MORE is IMPORTANT so developing ENTHUSIASM for READING is almost more important than developing the mere reading skills. The LOVE of READING will teach someone to read far faster and far better than any formal technique. And that is why this page is so important. We want to promote the LOVE of reading as well as the ABILITY to READ.

The “people of tomorrow” cannot be expected to make RESPONSIBLE, INFORMED and INTELLIGENT DECISIONS about themselves, their families and their future without being able to read and understand the choices and the arguments for both sides of any decision, as well as recognize the difference between an irrational emotional appeal and a logical convincing statement of an informative nature. Any hope for democracy surviving as more than a sham, a mere appearance of participation in government will be lost unless we can raise both awareness and intelligence in the citizens who will be voting in elections in just a few years from now.

Those “people of tomorrow” are the students of today. Imagine the horrifying prospect of the majority of citizens who have never had the benefit of reading books like BRAVE NEW WORLD, or 1984, or SOYLENT GREEN, being drawn into an emotional appeal to “save your children” by cutting off all social assistance programs to persons over the age of 80. “What do you want, healthy children or drooling, grey-haired vegetables in wheelchairs? Save the National School Lunch funding! Vote for the New Neocratic Party candidate in your district.”

Think about it.
READ.

Love,

Stafford “Doc” Williamson