Lots has happened since the inception of Direct Instruction. What the previous writers don't seem to be aware of is that it hasn't stayed the same. Yes, "DISTAR" is old, hving initally been developed over 30 years ago. And once the kid hit a decent beginning reading level of around 200 words of vocabulary, I would start weaning onto regular print as fast as possible and introduce standard handwriting and spelling before habits got stuck. You can photocopy the pictures with a white paper over the print and then rewrite in ITA with nice black marker. I would also print up - by hand if necessary, or by computer as there must be ITA fonts available - oodles of copies of stories for the kids to read so they aren't locked into a ghetto of limited materials.
I would use Distar myself for a kid who simply wasn't catching on to regular print - in fact tried to use it once but the school board wouldn't approve it. Also if standard spelling is not an expectation early enough, weaning off the ITA, you can raise a confused speller. If it's left much later, you have kids who are literate in a foreign language and although they can read their specially prepared books in school, they can't read street signs or video games etc., and this is a frustration for both the kids and families. According to plan, this should be possible at least by mid-Grade 2, if not earlier. The disadvantages are that the teacher needs to learn the alphabet modifications and use them consistently (the advantage of the program being consistency, if you (the model) break the rules, the whole thing collapses) there are very very few books available outside of the texts, so it's hard to give the kids the real reading practice that is a vital part of a good program and the handwriting developed out of this program is disgusting - the modified alphabet forms don't follow our regular handwriting patterns, and after two or three years of initial learning using these forms, the student has ingrained lousy handwriting habits.Īnother thing that can be a disadvantage, if the program is poorly implemented (not the fault of the program itself, but of low expectations) is the question of weaning kids off the ITA and onto standard print. Writing is easier because if you can say it, you can write it. Learning to read will go much faster and more easily at the beginning without all the battles learning irregular words. The advantages are that it is direct and logical and absolutely one-to-one.
With Distar, you get truly phonetic reading/writing/spelling - one letter equals one sound. Distar is a form of modified alphabet, based on the Initial Teaching Alphabet or ITA.
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