We live in an information-based society where we are ultimately judged on our ability to read. It’s no wonder many people feel overwhelmed by the amount of information they have to process everyday.

In all of our workshops you will learn silent reading fluency which is simply efficient reading. It’s the ability to read better and faster with improved comprehension, retention, and recall. Silent reading fluency is efficient reading, and at The Literacy Academy, we define speed reading as nothing more than efficient reading.

Workshop Benefits

Participants will learn new reading skills that they’ll be able to use on a daily basis. These skills will become as permanent as those of riding a bike.

First, participants will be instructed on How to Unlearn the Habits and Skills of Slow Readers – for example, reading one word at a time and vocalizing each word as they read. Doing this limits one’s reading rate to the rate at which they speak.

Participants will then be instructed in How to Learn the Habits and Skills of Fluent Readers – Effective and Efficient Speed Readers. Here participants will learn to read more than one word at a time without vocalizing. This increases reading speed to several times the rate at which the average person speaks.

Cost of Reading

Corporate, federal, state, and local government organizations pay an estimated $26 million per year for the time every 1,000 employees and staff spend reading.

Investment in speed reading training pays off with a powerful ROI in terms of increased productivity, reduction in errors, and improved self-image.

Corporate courses address the cost of reading and show how just a small improvement in reading speed turns into large benefit of increased productivity and efficiency. See our Cost-Benefit Analysis for more information about calculating the cost of reading.

Students spend an unnecessary amount of time on their homework and reading assignments because of their slow reading skills. Doubling or tripling their reading speed will save hours of homework time and free up time to learn and relax.

It’s all About Results!

Each participant will leave the workshop with a solid understanding of how to read three to five times faster, with improved comprehension, retention and recall. Participants will also receive a copy of The Reader’s Edge® speed reading software program ($149.99 value) and Speed Reading for Dummies book ($16.95 value) so they can continue to learn, maintain, and improve their reading skills on their own. Participants enrolled in ACT or SAT Test Preparation courses will also receive Cambridge Test Prep books ($79.95 value).

Take the next step and enroll in one of our Upcoming Workshops!

• Accelerates reading tempo
• Increases comprehension
• Improves recall
• Enhances retention
• Produces reading excellence

By increasing comprehension, speed and effectiveness of their reading skills, Andra knew that the company would benefit from increased productivity, improved employee confidence – at all levels – and greater internal efficiency.  Because employees are increasingly burdened with reading material – handbooks, emails, articles, etc., the demand to stay current and informed exerts mounting pressure to perform.

Fifty employees from a major Detroit-based company – Rush Trucking – were initially registered users of The Reader’s Edge.  These individuals, all with average computer skills, were selected to take part in a three-week program. Of the 50 participants, 45 finished the three-week course.

Participants were asked to commit to spending a minimum of 15 minutes, every other day for three weeks, and agreed to take initial, interim and final reading speed and comprehension tests.

Initial reading speed and comprehension tests established the participants’ base-line reading speed (word-per-minute) and comprehension scores.  Students who understand how and why The Reader’s Edge program works do better in the program.  Therefore, the introductory lesson explains how and why the program works — and conveys to each participant a sense of confidence that they are able to dramatically improve their reading skills.

Upon completion of the course, participants were tested for their reading speed and comprehension.

All participants showed improvements in their reading speed (WPM), compared to their initial WPM scores.

Number of Participants & Post-Test Reading Speeds

• 25 – 300 WPM (50% increase)
• 15 – 360 WPM (100% increase)
• 5 – 600 WPM (300% increase)

(WPM= Words per Minute)

Being able to read faster is not reading better if readers have poor comprehension and poor recall.

With this in mind, the numerical scores are a multiplication of reading speed (WPM) times comprehension.  If WPM scores are high but comprehension is low, the score is low.

All participants in The Reader’s Edge program realized an increase in their reading comprehension.

• Initial comprehension averaged 60%
• Post comprehension averaged 80%

… Indicating that not only did they increase the rate at which they read, but they also increased their reading comprehension — and their enjoyment in reading.  With the skill to not only read but also comprehend more data in a shorter period of time, employees are capable of executing their roles more effectively and the company benefits from a keen, dedicated and informed workforce.

“The results have been so positive that I am expanding the program to all employees and will give those who complete The Reader’s Edge a free computer.” ~Andra Rush, CEO Rush Trucking

Does your organization have an interest in participating in a case study?  Contact us at marketing@readfaster.com and you could see your story posted here on our blog!

In conjunction with The Reader’s Edge, the #1 rated speed reading program, Speed Reading For Dummies is The Literacy Company’s newest tool in its effort to expand the Nation’s reading curriculum to include teaching Read-To-Learn skills. The goal is to change the way people read and the way reading is taught.

Speed Reading For Dummies is a practical, hands-on user-friendly guide that will facilitate more efficient reading of books, newspapers, magazines, e-mails or technical journals. The combined teachings of Speed Reading For Dummies and The Reader’s Edge will greatly assist in learning how to read better and faster with improved comprehension, retention and recall.

In today’s information-based society, in which individuals are ultimately judged on how well they read, improving ones’ reading skills means improved efficiency and productivity. Here’s a partial list of the important topics covered in Speed Reading For Dummies:

• Why everyone can become a speed reader
• Why silent reading is so important
• How to read groups of words without vocalizing
• Tools, techniques and exercises to improve your reading skills
• Vocabulary building techniques
• Forms to monitor your speed reading progress
• Exercises for eye health
• Tips for making your speed reading skills as permanent as those for riding a bike

To learn more about Speed Reading For Dummies or The Reader’s Edge Speed Reading program, visit The Literacy Company’s web site at www.readfaster.com/products.

International Standard Book Number (ISBN): 9780470457443

To arrange a book signing or interview, contact The Literacy Company at (866) ReadFast (732-3327) or send an email to support@readfaster.com.

Learning to read fluently is the result of the satisfactory evolution from oral reading to silent reading, a practice which is almost virtually ignored after the third grade.

Knowing the differences between oral and silent reading is vital to an individual’s educational lifetime:

1. Oral reading provides the thought from the printed page, while silent readers absorb the thought from the text.
2. Oral reading actually follows an instant recognition of a thought, while silent readers immediately get the thought.
3. Oral reading is a complex process, involving mental interpretations based on eye sweeps of the text accompanied by vocalization, while silent readers simply interpret the material through a series of eye sweeps (without delays resulting from vocalization).
4. With oral readers, the pronunciation of the words is most important; with silent readers, the meanings of the words are most important.
5. Vocalization reduces (and limits) the speed of oral readers, a problem that doesn’t affect silent readers.
6. By now, it should be evident that reading rates of silent readers are likely to be considerably faster and varied (according to individual differences), while reading rates of oral readers are likely to be considerably slower, with little variation.

Some of the adverse problems experienced by oral readers include vocalization (reading aloud or with lip movements); excessive eye fixations (reading one word at a glance instead of whole phrases or “thought units”); distortion of the author’s intent (usually a matter of reading so slowly that inattention distracts the reader from the text); and failure to grasp meanings of unfamiliar words (rather than achieving an understanding of an entire thought unit).

Benefits of effective silent reading include steady improvement of educational efficiency; exploration of a wide variety of reading material; learning how to read with purpose; and confidence in dealing with all forms of reading, whether for school, business or leisure.

The successful evolution of oral reading to silent reading includes learning to give proper attention to different kinds of reading material; determining the most important ideas of reading text; grasping main ideas (thought units) with minimum eye fixations; tying together closely related ideas in the text; achieving comprehension of the text without difficult; and subconsciously determining what might be best for recollection later.

In other words, oral reading is vital in the beginning, while silent reading is beneficial for a lifetime.  The Reader’s Edge software program was uniquely designed to address the topics covered in this article.  With sound reading methodology in place to guide your fluent reading journey, all you have to do is fasten your seat belt and enjoy the ride.  Becoming a fluent reader is as easy as saying “yes” to The Reader’s Edge!

The First Printing Press

The introduction of printing with moveable type in the Middle Ages marked the beginning of the Information Explosion.  Printing has been called the great German contribution to civilization; so much so that in its early days it was known as “the German art.”  After the invention of printing with moveable type (about 1440-50) by Johannes Gutenberg (a goldsmith in Mainz), printing presses similar to the Gutenberg press (shown below) were disseminated with a combination of missionary zeal and heightened commercial value, largely by Germans and largely along merchant trade routes.

By 1500 there were presses in some 60 German towns.  From there, printing spread to Denmark, Sweden and eventually Russia (though the first printer who went to Russia was apparently murdered before he could achieve anything, but that’s a story for another day).

Early Publications

Over the next couple of centuries, pamphlets, newspapers and magazines began to take root.  Printing began in 1639 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, followed by Boston in 1674, Philadelphia in 1685 and finally New York City in 1693. However, it was difficult for colonial printers to produce large works because of a shortage of type as American printers had to import their presses from England.  At this time, most publications related to law books, primers, almanacs and theological works.  It wasn’t until the 18th century that the book trade in the American colonies began to flourish.

As books became cheaper to print, it became worthwhile for the ordinary man to learn how to read.  This especially involved such art forms as the prose novel, which appealed to the growing middle class rather than to the old-time clerical class of literates. Middle-class readers soon began to delve into history, geography and the sciences in a way that would have amazed our ancestors who, unless involved in a war, never ventured more than twenty miles from their birthplace – in fact or in mind.

With development in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries of mechanical typesetting and power presses, printed material became cheaper still, so much so that by the 1940s one could buy a paperback book with the wages of a laborer’s half-hour of work.

Modern Times and the “Information Explosion”

Now, in the 21st century, the widespread use of computers and communications satellites will inevitably bring about a greatly expanded Information Explosion, with even MORE impact than what occurred with the invention of printing.  With this explosion of information — be it through electronic books, the abundance of published news, ever growing social media sites like Twitter and Facebook or blogs like this one — increasing one’s reading speed is a necessity to cope with the explosion of information to which we are all exposed in today’s information-based society.

We received the following letter from Anna M., a school teacher and grandmother.  Anna purchased The Reader’s Edge for her grandson who was studying to re-take the ACT.  The improvement in his reading skills is a story you must hear!  The following is the complete, un-edited letter from Anna:

“My grandson is a very bright young man with a very slow reading pace.  He took the ACT for the first time, as an 8th grader and he scored at 29 on the composite.  His reading score was 28.  Most people would be very happy with a 29 on the ACT.  He has had very high aspirations for college since he was in grade school.  For that reason, a 29 was not good enough for him.

He took the ACT, 5 more times and could never raise his reading score.  He did raise his composite score to 31, but that was still not good enough.  I felt like we needed more information about his ability and academic strengths and weaknesses.  I had him given a psycho educational battery of tests and I was a bit surprised at the results.  It showed he had a very high IQ, which I knew, but his learning was primarily auditory.  His visual abilities were just barely average.

By the time I got The Reader’s Edge to him, he had about 3 or 4 weeks to work on it before the next ACT opportunity.  He called me from school when he got the results and he was jubilant.  His composite score was 34.  That was good enough to place him in the second tier of scholarships for college admissions.  When he got the actual results, he called me again.  His reading score was a perfect 36.

I have been in education for 34 years and I have never seen such a dramatic result from any method, curriculum, or practice.  I am getting The Reader’s Edge for my other grandchildren!”

We at The Literacy Company wish this young man the best of luck in college.  Not only did The Reader’s Edge help him get INTO college, but with the skills he’s learned it will help him with his studies while IN college!
]]> http://fluentreading.wordpress.com/2009/07/02/user-review-the-readers-edge-helps-aspiring-college-study-dramatically-improve-act-score/feed/ 0 The Speed Reading Professor http://fluentreading.wordpress.com/2009/06/26/famous-speed-readers/ http://fluentreading.wordpress.com/2009/06/26/famous-speed-readers/#comments Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:22:26 +0000 The Speed Reading Professor http://readfasterblog.com/?p=104 ]]> Numerous famous people have been strong supporters of speed reading and the benefits associated with improving reading speed, comprehension and recall.  Here are a just few of the most well-known speed readers in history:

President George Washington wanted to read anything and everything.  He especially liked English books on agriculture (he considered himself a “country gentleman farmer”).  He even read books while riding horseback.  His reading speed was not particularly fast, but he was consistent and persistent, generally pacing himself through his books without re-reading passages (“regressing”).

President Thomas Jefferson was very disciplined in his reading, covering many topics with purpose and forcing himself to complete his planned reading schedule.  These were the keys to his unusual power of concentration: no distractions, no time-consuming actions through inattention.  He strongly believed in reading with purpose, whether for knowledge or leisure, and made lists of books to be read on schedule.  In addition, Jefferson also used a clock to guide and control his reading time.  One account said his speed, although relatively fast, was “always calm, even stately, like the tick of a tall mahogany clock.”

President Abraham Lincoln was known to beg or borrow books to read.  He is often remembered for educating himself by candlelight at an early age.  In any event, he was always reading.  Later, he applied his self-taught reading habits as a lawyer, legislator and President.  Although he was constantly reading, his speed was probably “average,” and he often read aloud because he liked to hear the words.

President Theodore Roosevelt was known as a very rapid reader and a tireless reviewer of books.  Even by today’s standards, his reading speed would seem incredible.  One of his reading qualities, besides speed, was knowing when to skim and scan, while still absorbing the thrust of his reading material.  In a letter to his son Kermit about the best way to read Dickens, Roosevelt said: “The wise thing to do is simply to skip the bosh and twaddle and vulgarity and untruth, and get the benefit out of the rest.”  Roosevelt was also fond of reading favorite books more than once.  He even left a list of novels that he had read “over and over again.”  While in the White House, President Roosevelt was said to read a book every day before breakfast, and occasionally reading three books in a day.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt would certainly be included among the leaders in speed reading.  Like most people, he began reading multiple words at a time — he started with just two or three, then stretched that to three or four words, then six to eight words.  Eventually, he was able to read (and absorb) an entire paragraph at a single glance.  He often practiced reading two or three lines at a single glance (“fixation”).  Even more interesting, he would glance quickly at a single page, then turn the page and ponder over what the author was trying to say.

President John F. Kennedy wanted to read faster as a young man, feeling restricted by his reading rate of less than 300 words per minute (WPM).  After studying speed reading techniques, his reading rate increased to about 1,200 WPM.  He attributed some of his speed to an ability to read and absorb large groups of words at a glance.  He also encouraged and inspired many of his staff personnel to learn and apply speed reading in their own lives.

President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, both avidly read and enrolled in a speed reading course while at the White House.  Several of his staff members enrolled in the class as well.

Benjamin Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, taught himself how to speed read prior to attending Harvard University.  Bernanke scored near-perfect on his SAT — 1590 — no doubt a result of his enhanced reading skills!

Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor credited her speed reading ability with enabling her to handle the enormous workload she faced as a Supreme Court Justice.  As a word of advice to those preparing to attend law school, O’Connor urged students (and others in the field of law) to learn speed reading.

Want to see YOUR name on this list?  You can — get started with The Reader’s Edge today!  By practicing with The Reader’s Edge for just 15 minutes every other day, we guarantee you’ll at least double your current reading speed while improving your comprehension and recall.

Research strongly supports that there is a close relationship between reading speed and comprehension.  For example, progress charts of individuals pursuing improved reading training show (in most cases) that when their reading rate dropped there was also a decline in comprehension.  In other words, it seems that reading one-word-at-a time actually inhibits reading for understanding. Conversely, comprehension is generally higher when readers learn to read faster.

Slow readers are adversely affected by several factors that can impede their reading rate.  These factors can include: limited perceptual span, slower perceptual reaction, vocalization, faulty eye movements, faulty habit of attention and concentration, lack of reading practice, fear of losing comprehension, habitual slow reading, regression, inability to identify what’s important in the reading material, and efforts to remember “everything” that is read.

Thus, it stands to reason that resolving any of these adverse aspects can dramatically improve one’s reading rate while also increasing comprehension.  However, speed alone is not enough; it is vital to develop simple strategies that complement increased reading speeds.  These strategies can be explored in numerous special training programs now available to help readers overcome problems and improve their natural reading ability.

There are four basic conditions that should be recognized for anyone wishing to improve their reading rate. They include:

1. Checking for correctable eye defects.
2. Learning to avoid pronouncing words (aloud, whispering or “inward”).
3. Learning to avoid re-reading (regression).
4. Developing a wider eye-span (reading more than one word with each eye fixation).

Another key element in speed reading is learning to read several words, or units of meaning, at a glance while fully absorbing what is read and being able to automatically retain its essence for later recollection.

Reading rates should not be applied equally for all reading material.  Therefore, one needs to learn how best to adjust reading rates to suit the reading material.  As an example, reading a novel might be considerably faster than reading technical material.  With experience, the reader soon learns when it’s okay to speed up and when it’s best to slow down in order to grasp the material with full understanding and comprehension.

The Reader’s Edge software program was uniquely designed to address the topics covered in this article.  With sound reading methodology in place to guide your fluent reading journey, all you have to do is fasten your seat belt and enjoy the ride.  Becoming a fluent reader is as easy as saying “yes” to The Reader’s Edge!

Although this skill is learned on the computer, from a screen, it (the skill) is absolutely transferable to reading print, to reading billboards, or to reading any form in which print is presented for the eye to see.

Another common question asked is, “What is the difference between reading from the computer screen and from print material?” The general consensus of various experts is that reading from a screen is slower than reading from print.

Our view is that the basic level of your reading skills is the determining factor, i.e., if a person is a slow reader reading from print material, then that person will also be a slow reader when reading from a computer screen.

Our experience and research indicates that it is too broad of a statement to say that reading from a screen is slower than reading from print.  We believe that in either medium, it depends on what content is being presented and how that content is presented.  The similarities and differences between content for the web is compared to writing for print.  There is no question that guidelines for good writing for the web, and for print, are beginning to coincide.  This is good news for all of us… Web and Print Readers.

The guidelines for writing for the Web vs. Writing for print highlight the developing science which is devoting to making reading from the Web easier than reading from print.  Let’s review seven basic guidelines:

Guidelines for Web Writing

1. Before worrying about CONTENT, recognize and address inseparability of text, design, format and navigation.
2. Based on the assumption that reading from a screen is slower than reading from print, keep Web content no more than 50% of equivalent print.
3. Web Writers write for scanability (using keywords, headings and lists) because web readers tend to skim before reading content in full.
4. Web Writing acknowledges that readers read to find specific answers (more efficient). Readers tend to leave a site if they are bored.
5. Web Writing provides content that is split into more easily digested and understood “chunks.”
6. Web Writers can’t control where readers will start reading, i.e., different pages.  Therefore, each page is designed as an independent segment.
7. The goal of Web Writing is to provide text in columnar formats to ensure shorter easier-to-read sentences.

Guidelines for Print Material Writing

1. Write for CONTENT with less (minimal) thought to text, design, format and navigation.
2. General advice is to use fewer words and shorter sentences.  However, in print, this guideline rarely produces a shorter document.
3. This advice is suggested for Print Writers but is not followed as strongly as by Web Writers.
4. Print Reading is not nearly as oriented to providing content and format designed to please a reader and provide for efficient reading.
5. Although good advice for Print Writers, who still tend to focus on content rather than creating easy to read and understand communication.
6. Print Writers are advised to use chapter headings and topic sentences at the beginning of each paragraph, with shorter sentences and words to facilitate efficient reading.
7. Print Writing is typically in a single column format.  This limits the amount of “white space” around the text and makes pages look “overflowing” and cramped.  Hence, this makes single column material, such as hardcover and paperback books and 8 1/2 x 11 documents, very difficult to read.

In conclusion, many of us read as much (or more) text from computer screens than from printed material.  Other than eye strain from either medium, there are more similarities than differences between reading from computer screens vs. printed material.  The reason: Web Writers are focused on providing content in an efficient and effective format that ensures maximum readability.  Because of the competition between the two mediums, Print Writers are employing the same guidelines to ensure optimum communication with their readers.

The competition between the two mediums will ultimately benefit all readers.  Remember, with The Reader’s Edge, you will learn Fluent Reading skills that permit you to see and read groups of words with each single eye fixation.  Then, you will be better prepared to read, in either medium, better and faster with improved comprehension and recall.

The following user review is from Patrick L., a High School Freshman, who is using The Reader’s Edge to improve his English language and reading skills.

“I want to give you my greatest appreciation.  I am a foreign student who has only been in the United States for five years.  When I first came I only knew “Yes, No, and stop” and, although I’ve learned English over the years, I still am struggling in English, especially reading.

I took the wpm test and I had a 140 wpm reading speed, and a 100 wpm reading comprehension.  After 30 minutes of practice every day, for about two weeks, I am reading at 608 wpm with 486 wpm comprehension! This is one of the greatest achievements I’ve made in my whole entire life!

Thank you so much!

English is so much easier now.  Instead of reading every night for hours, I can finish my work about three times as fast and have more notes and homework done.  This is amazing!

You’ve forever changed my life, and the way I see English as a subject.”

We at The Literacy Company know that everyone wants to read better.  That’s why we designed The Reader’s Edge to work for ALL readers, even those with limited English proficiency.  If you can read and comprehend English, we guarantee you will benefit by practicing with The Reader’s Edge!
]]> http://fluentreading.wordpress.com/2009/06/13/user-review-the-readers-edge-helps-esl-student-improve-reading-skills/feed/ 0 The Speed Reading Professor