Beverley BlountBeverley Blount lives in El Paso, Texas and Mexico City where she completed 30 years of training Montessori teachers in her schools. Under her pen name, B. Palma, she has written seven bilingual books for young adults, weaving her husband's tales of rowing up on his family's haciendas with her own adventurous teens in the Mexican countryside. Their lifetime love of horses is reflected in these Palo Alto adventure books. Her latest book, Silversuit III is Science Fiction. This phonics book is the result of Beverley Blount's life's work in sharing with children and adults her passion for reading. Blount is currently dedicated to the training of Montessori Teachers and giving educational consulting in Montessori schools in Mexico and the United States. By using Montessori techniques and hands on progressive reading materials, Blount believes that all children can learn to read without problems and without becoming labeled as having a reading dysfunction. The secret in avoiding reading problems is in giving the student progressive individual steps as is explained in the first part of this book. The proper age for teaching reading is somewhere between the ages of three and seven. It is most important to be able to perceive which child is ready by four and which child needs to be older. One must give the child the proper steps when he or she is ready, not before or after or according to some lock step curriculum. Certain indications in this book will help show the student's readiness for starting the process. As he or she progresses through the steps, even the most brilliant will have moments when they should not be pushed on but encouraged to do other unrelated activities to allow his or her subconscious time to assimilate what they have been absorbing through the material. We have used this process with many special needs children and they have learned to read regardless of their individual problems The author feels that the day one learns to read is possibly the most important day in one's education and that destroying this moment by using crude techniques and not properly preparing the beginning reader nor understanding when they are ready should be considered a crime. Read More Read Less