Who is this program for?

Parents, grandparents, or caregivers can use the program at home as a complete program for their young learners, or as a supplement to another program .

Teachers or tutors can use it to supplement their classroom programs.

ESL learners can use it, too!

Where to start?

At the beginning! No matter what your reading level, start at the 1st lesson. If your reader is already well versed in the sounds of letters, this will be a quick, fun review (the videos are all very short). Your student will recognize when they need to slow down and give more time to practice and review. They will likely hear some surpises along the way ... like ‘q’ is always followed by ‘u’, so we just teach it as ‘qu’ and its sound is actually two sounds ‘k’ + ‘w’   ‘kw’.

All about reading (and where we fit in)

Learning to read is a complex and ongoing process. Even as literate adults, we all continue to learn new vocabulary and become increasingly fluent the more we read. 

The  first stage of learning to read is phonological awareness (being aware of the distinct sounds in language). 

Our you can read program teaches the second stage, the letter-sound correspondences.

This builds to word recognition, which allows for the development of all aspects of text comprehension.

Because your child’s reading level (the words they are able to read) will likely be different from their interest level (the books they would like to read), we recommend that your child reads decodable texts at their level in the morning or afternoon (giving them success and confidence), and you read to them in the evening (inspiring and motivating them).

Why the order? Why not learn in the traditional ABC ... order of the alphabet?

Before learning to read, you learn the names of the letters, and these are easily learned and practiced in the traditional order; singing the ABC song and learning the names of the letters. But when we are teaching the letter-sound correspondences, we begin with the most frequently used letters and sounds.  This leads to the quickest and easiest route to reading. For example, ‘s’ and ‘t’ are two of the most commonly used letters, but are near the end of the alphabet, so we feel they should be taught sooner than later to give our readers a jump on reading. 

Why do we practice writing when we are learning to read?

The more parts of your body used to learn something, the faster it will be learned and the better it will stick in your memory. Use your eyes and ears as you watch the video. Use your hands and your voice as you write and say the letter and keyword. If you just watch the video, you might remember it, but if you also say and write the letter, you will definitely remember it.

Is this program suitable for kids with dyslexia?

Yes, this program is perfect for all learners, and for many learning differences, but it is especially valuable for learners with dyslexia.

Why all lower case?

We always start with lower case when learning to read and write. First, 95% of the written word (kids’ books and everywhere) is in lower case, so therefore more useful to know first. Second, it’s too much to learn both upper case and lower case at the same time. Third, when written, lower case letters flow, whereas uppercase letters are large separate strokes. So in the long term, lower case letters make writing easier and reading more accessible. Of course, later, we will teach upper case, punctuation and grammar, but for now, let’s master the letter sounds.

Will reading and writing skills progress at the same pace?

Sometimes, but not always. Many students will find one skill harder than the other, but they should continue to work on both reading and writing simultaneously, because the multisensory process of working on both together (in conjunction with speaking and hearing the sounds of the letters and words as you write and read) will help commit the letter sounds to memory. It will also reinforce and build on strengths and weaknesses in either reading, writing or graphomotor skills (the actual art of writing — holding the pencil, forming shapes on the page). But don’t be disheartened if one skill advances faster than the other. Also, don’t forget that reading and spelling are quite different subjects. See “ay” and you’ll know that it says “ay”’, but hear “ay” and it could be spelled many ways: “ai”, “ay”, “eigh”, “a_e”. Wow, English is hard.

Why are the printouts not in colour?

The printables are in black only, so that everyone can print them out, so your learners can colour them, and so they have the fewest distractions on the page to keep your reader focused.