ABSTRACT
Parent-Assisted Instruction in Reading and Spelling (PAIRS) is a specific project developed within the Walsall Schools Psychological Service and extended to involve a number of Walsall schools. The key features of the project emerged from existing work with pupils experiencing difficulties within mainstream education. The procedures of probing and charting — although quite straightforward in themselves — were unfamiliar to parents and therefore likely to cause anxiety. In the development stage of PAIRS, parents visited the Child Guidance Centre which is situated near the town centre. Once confidence grew in the methods and appropriate materials had been prepared, it was decided that neighbourhood schools might act as a more convenient base for parent workshops. Parents are reminded of the materials required, shown how to arrange them to maximum effect, given a set of instructions to give the children prior to probing and taken carefully through the steps involved in administering the probe.
