If you are a parent who enjoys working with your
child, who finds that time spent together in academic
pursuits is productive and rewarding, and if your child
needs reinforcement in the area of reading, then you may
wish to consider the Neurological Impress Method
(N.I.M.) devised by R.G. Heckelman, PhD. This method has
proved so successful it has been used by thousands of
parents throughout North America. The reason for
N.I.M.'s success is that it truly combines seeing/
hearing/speaking for simultaneous learning.
It is a particularly effective home method because no
special training is required and the cost involved is
negligible. All you need is reading material at the
proper level for your child. Dr. Heckelman recommends
2-3 grade levels below the child's actual grade level.
The material can be borrowed from the school or checked
out at the local library.
Don't be misled by the simplicity of the N.I.M,. it
works! And, it is particularly effective in the
one-to-one setting of parent and child. Only fifteen
minutes a day (on consecutive days) for a period of
eight to twelve hours is required. Generally, positive
results will occur at about the fourth hour of
instruction. (If no gains have been noted by this time,
there may be other interfering difficulties that are
limiting the child's progress with N.I.M.)
Seat the child slightly in front of you so that your
voice is close to the child's ear. Dr. Heckelman
recommends that the parent sit on the right side of the
child.
From the very first session, you and the child will read
the same material out loud together. It is generally
advisable in the beginning sessions that you read a
little louder and slightly faster than the child is
reading. Initially, the child may complain that he
cannot keep up with you but urge him to continue and
ignore any mistakes he may be making. An alternative is
to slow down slightly to a more comfortable speed for
the youngster. By re-reading lines or paragraphs several
times together before going on to more reading material,
this discomfort on the part of the child is quickly
overcome. You will find that you and he will establish a
comfortable rhythm in a very short time. In most cases,
only two or three minutes of repetition is sufficient.
Very little preliminary instruction is necessary before
the reading begins. The child is told not to think of
reading since we are training him to slide his eyes
across the paper. At no time is his reading corrected.
As you and the child read together, move your finger
simultaneously under the spoken words in a smooth
continuous fashion at precisely the same speed and flow
as the verbal reading. This gives the child a clear
target, keeps his eyes from straying all over the page,
and helps establish left-right progression.
If desired, the child may later take over the finger
function. If he experiences difficulty, reach out and
place your hand on his finger and guide it to a smooth
flowing movement. Pay particular attention to the end of
a line where the finger should move rapidly back to
where the new line begins. It is common for people not
to move their fingers back rapidly enough (something
like a typewriter carriage returning to position at the
end of a line).
Be sure that your voice and fingers are synchronized.
Very good readers tend to look ahead and run their
finger ahead of where their voice is. In using the
N.I.M., it is absolutely essential that the finger
movements, voice, and words all be synchronized.
Not only should you never correct the child's misreading
of words, but at no time during the session should you
stop and ask questions about word recognition or
comprehension. The major concern is with style of
reading rather than accuracy.
Usually, by the time it is apparent that a child needs
some remedial reading, he has accumulated a number of
poor reading habits and eye movements and has lost
confidence, all of which produce inefficient reading
pattern. He is apt to read word by word, and often that
is accompanied by body rocking back and forth as he
tries to force recognition and comprehension of each
word as it comes along. One of the most important
aspects of the N.I.M., as far as you are concerned, is
to forget conventional reading approaches you may have
heard of and think more in terms of exposing your child
to a correct reading process.
Even after the child's reading has speeded up
considerably, word recognition will probably improve
somewhat more slowly. Word recognition lags behind the
functional reading process by a year to a year and a
half. Not to worry! Once your child has begun to read in
newspapers and magazines at home voluntarily and has
gained confidence in this new skill, he will make rapid
strides in word recognition.
"Pacing" is another extremely important aspect of the
N.I.M. Pacing means that the material should be
periodically speeded up, and the youngster is literally
dragged to higher rates of speed in the reading process.
This is done only for a few minutes at a time, but
probably should become a part of every reading session.
The material used is of extreme importance to the
success of the N.I.M. As mentioned earlier, it is
suggested that the child be started on material that is
two to three grade levels below the child's actual grade
level. But care must be taken not to spend too much time
at the lower levels of the child's reading ability.
Over-exposure to difficult words is far more important
than under-exposure.
One of the reasons for the success of the N.I.M. seems
to be the enormous exposure readers have to words. An
ordinary session of N.I.M. reading, for fifteen minutes,
will run as high as 2000 words! It is not at all
uncommon in elementary-level books to range from 10 to
20 pages of reading material in one session. Too little
exposure is more detrimental than too much. There have
been no instances reported where tremendous amounts of
exposure to material have been harmful to any child.
A Word of Caution
Care must be exercised in using the N.I.M. method that
you do not try to push your child beyond his
intelligence expectancy grade level. For example, if a
child has approximately 100 I.Q. and is in the fifth
grade, it could be assumed that he would read up to the
fifth grade level. Many times this grade level can be
achieved within about 8 to 12 hours of the N.I.M. if the
child has started at the third grade level. If you
continue on with the N.I.M. after expectancy has been
achieved, very little additional gain is to be expected.
However, if you wish to spend a few hours of
instructional time experimenting to make certain the
child has reached his optimum level, this may be well
justified. It will not harm the child if you are sure
not to press for results beyond his capacity.
Make It an Adventure!
The attitude of the parent is going to make or break the
success of the reading sessions. Your approach should be
cheerful not business like. For example, "Okay, we are
going to read for 15 minutes. I've been looking forward
to it all day." Tune out any negative signals you may
receive from the child. Simply get out the materials,
sit down on the couch, and pat the place next to you
where you wish the child to sit. The sessions are so
short and so undemanding, we can promise that the child
will cooperate, especially when he begins to notice
signs of improvement in his reading-and he will notice.
Don't stint on praise-but keep it honest. A pat on the
head accompanied by, "Wow! You were great today," will
do much to keep the level of enthusiasm high.
Do not allow any interruptions. This is your time with
the child for a specific purpose and he is not going to
take it seriously if you bound up to take a telephone
call or answer the door. Have another adult or a sibling
posted to run interference during these important
fifteen minutes.
Scheduling the reading session at the same time and in
the same place every day helps not only to bring
organization and structure to the commitment but also
places a value on it. "This is the time when Johnny and
I read together but I can see you in fifteen minutes."
It should be carefully noted that not every parent is
capable of working with his child on an academic level.
Very simply, some parents work extremely well with their
children-others find it a frustrating, exasperating
experience. If you are one of the latter, waste no time
on feelings of guilt, we cannot all be all things to our
children. (You're probably terrific in a number of other
parent-child activities.)
Parents who can work well with their children and who
want to help in the academic situation often don't know
what to do or how to do it. Happily, the Neurological
Impress Method of Reading is one thing a parent can do
with confidence and with every chance of success.
