Homeschooling with Davis Symbol Mastery
The Davis Symbol Mastery program is ideal for parents who are homeschooling, or for after school activities and enrichment. The use of Symbol Mastery is not restricted to children who have learning difficulties, but is a helpful tool for all learners. Some advantages of using Symbol Mastery are:
- It’s Adaptable for All Ages.
- It’s Self-Paced and Individualized.
- It’s Compatible with Any Curriculum.
- It’s Ideal for Beginning Readers.
- Items Needed for Symbol Mastery
The Davis Symbol Mastery Program & Homeschooling
It’s Adaptable for All Ages
Symbol Mastery is a study method that can be adapted for and will appeal to students of any age. Several children in a homeschooling family can work with clay at the same time, on very different levels. A 4-year-old might be learning to roll and shape the clay, and starting on the first letters of the alphabet. His 7-year-old sister might be working through the word list contained in the Symbol Mastery manual. Their 10-year-old sibling could use the same techniques to master new terms encountered in reading a science book.
It’s Self-Paced and Individualized
With Symbol Mastery, the child moves at his own speed and according to his own comfort level. There are no worksheets to complete or written tests. Further, it rests on a concept that should be embraced by all homeschoolers–mastery. Mastery means that the child will fully understand a particular idea or concept before moving on, whether it is an aspect of reading, math, or any other area of study. Once mastered, there is no need for repetition or drill.
It’s Compatible with Any Curriculum
Symbol Mastery also fits in with whatever approach to homeschooling is followed. A parent following a structured schedule of instruction at home would probably create a specific time and place for Symbol Mastery. A parent who “unschooled” might prefer to leave the clay, dictionary, and a word list accessible at all times, encouraging but not requiring the child to do Symbol Mastery at any set time.
It’s Ideal for Beginning Readers
Symbol Mastery is an ideal way to introduce children age 4 and up to reading concepts, and to provide a beginning reading vocabulary. It gives children an understanding of both the meanings of connective words and their logical relation to other words in the sentence. This increases comprehension skills. Symbol Mastery also provides an important bridge between reading methods based on phonics instruction and those based on a broad exposure to children’s literature.
To do Symbol Mastery at home, you will need the following items:
- Non-hardening plasticene clay.
- Printed Samples of Letters, Numerals, and Punctuation Marks.
- An illustrated children’s dictionary.
- A Grammar Book.
The book The Gift of Dyslexia explains the steps of Davis Symbol Mastery, as well as providing instructions for other Davis tools for mental self-regulation and for building reading fluency and comprehension. For homeschoolers, a Davis kit is a terrific investment, as it can be used for many years and shared among all the children in the family.
The Davis Young Learner’s Kit is geared to primary level children, age 5-7. It includes an instruction book which explains modifications of Davis techniques geared to younger children, and suggestions for multiple fun and engaging learning activities.
The Davis Orientation and Symbol Mastery Kit provides all materials needed for working with children ages 8 and up. The Davis techniques integrate well with any curriculum, and provide an approach that can be applied to a wide variety of subjects at multiple reading levels.
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