So what’s with all those arrows that make CRESS look so different? Just a little magic if you believe in phonemic awarness. You’ve heard the expression: The economy, stupid. CRESS introduces the idea: The tongue position stupid.
Example 1
- Make a nice long ssssssss, for several seconds.
- Do that again, but slide your tongue tip forward between your teeth.
- If you fronted the s sound enough, you got a th sound.
- CRESS marks a fronted sound with the fronting arrow: S<
Example 2
- Say the word ‘bit’ stretching out the vowel for several seconds: biiiiiiiiiit
- Do that again, while raising your tongue up toward the roof of the mouth.
- If you raised the tongue you got the vowel in the word ‘beet’.
- CRESS marks a raised sound with the up arrow: i^
By simply using the arrows:
- Many unneeded symbols go away
- Thousands of confusions go away
- No need to learn hundreds of special patterns
- All spelling becomes 100% regular
- Spelling teaches phonemic awareness automatically
- Young readers don’t waste years on confusing nonsense
- Teacher’s lives are greatly improved by teaching what makes sense.
- Those with disadvantages are accelerated into skilled early reading.
- Maximum similarity to standard spelling means those who don’t know CRESS can still read CRESS without learning it.
- Faster reading and typing for the proficient when arrows can be dropped and inferred from context.