How Our Mission is Accomplished

The Laubach Way to Reading series grew out of the work of the late Dr. Frank C. Laubach (1884 - 1970). Dr. Laubach spent more than 40 years of pioneering work in literacy education in 103 countries.

The "Laubach method" he developed starts with the known - the spoken word - and moves to the unknown - the written word - in easy steps that elicit the correct response from the student and reinforce it immediately. The emphasis is on learning by association rather than by rote memory. In the first five skill book lessons, sound-symbol relationships are taught with key words and pictures superimposed with letters. These pictorial memory association cues are phased out as the student attains independence in work attack skills. Lessons stress reading for meaning from the very beginning. Writing skills - beginning with the formation of letters - reinforce reading skills.

The Laubach Way to Reading

The Laubach Way to Reading is a basic reading and writing series developed primarily for adults with little or no reading ability. The series consists of four skill books and correlated readers for student use. The teacher's manual for each skill book gives detailed instructions and lesson plans.

The series provides a systematic development of basic reading and writing skills. Each lesson includes vocabulary development, phonic or structural analysis of words, the reading of a short story, comprehension checks, and writing practice. The lessons progress from the sounds and regular spellings of basic consonants to those of the short vowels, the long vowels, and finally to irregular spellings and more difficult reading, writing, and grammar skills.

The skill books and correlated readers may be used with both speakers of English and those who are learning English. A separate series of manuals, the Laubach Way to English, provides complete instructions for teaching the skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing English to the non-English-speaking student.

Although designed primarily for adults, the Laubach Way to Reading may also be used successfully with high school dropouts or students in intermediate grades who need remedial work in basic reading, writing, or spelling. Classroom teachers, teacher aides, and volunteer tutors may all use the books effectively.