Literacy News

ONLINE READING PROGRAM

I am often asked about online reading programs to support families in engaging their children in the process of learning to read. Having young children myself, I have committed to researching the programs which support and align with the Science of Reading.

Some of you may have heard of 'Nessy'. It is a program aimed at 6-11 year olds and focusses on phonics and early reading instruction. It is also widely used for children with dyslexia.

It sets itself apart from other popular online programs by teaching sounds first, prior to constructing words with these sounds (phonemes). We call this the 'part-whole' approach. We build sounds to make words instead of teaching words first, then breaking them apart. The research shows that when students are taught using the 'part-whole' or Structured Synthetic Phonics approach, significant gains in learning to read are made.

This is one of many programs using this evidence based approach. If you would like more information, click on the picture below: