LETTER

A large majority of American children grow up without learning how to read well, but in Robeson County that number is exceedingly high.

Robeson County has a minority population of about 70 percent, and history has shown that people of color have been denied educational access, and the lingering effect is many do not read well, sentencing them to a life of less because it is true that reading is fundamental. While the person who lacks reading skills is the main victim, there are societal costs as well, including high unemployment, high crime, poverty as well as high rates of substance abuse.

All of these are rampant in Robeson County.

Dr. Reginald Oxendine, a longtime professor at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, has developed a web-based instructional program that not only is designed to help students develop reading and literacy skills, but is fun, literally bringing an array of tools to a student’s fingertips.

Developing reading skills will no longer be a chore for students but will be a task that they eagerly seek out.

Reading Solutions Inc. offers online reading and literacy learning resources for students in grades kindergarten through 12th grade but also can work for adults. The site has more than 400 hours of instructional activities and more than 1,200 full motion videos.

Using the program, students can teach themselves letter recognition, long and short vowels, beginning and ending sounds, beginning and ending clusters, consonant diagraphs, blends, vowel diagraphs, basic sight words, word attack skills and much more. Other free reading information is available.

Students will learn the types of sentences, punctuation, synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, prefixes, suffixes, root words, syllabication, parts of speech, comprehension, and other essential reading skills.

Imagine your child sneaking quietly off to his bedroom to board a ship with Captain Bob and his Cartoon Crew and taking a voyage to improve their reading and literacy skills quickly and efficiently.

Dr. Oxendine’s career in education dates all the way back to 1968 when he began as a seventh-grade teacher and ended as an assistant professor in the School of Education at his alma mater, The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. He earned a Master’s Degrees in Educational Administration and Curriculum-Instructional Specialist, all from East Carolina University, and a doctorate in Education at N.C. State University. He is also a longtime entrepreneur and currently is president of Reading Solutions Inc., a software company established in 1995.

Dr. Reginald Oxendine

Reading Solutions Inc.