Deciding on an Early Reading Program

Basics About Our Reading Program

All of our early reading programs are based upon a methodology called vertical phonics by many educators. This is a contrast to “horizontal” phonics, in which sounds, particularly vowels, are introduced gradually with soft vowels introduced first, “long” vowels next, and so on. By contrast, vertical phonics introduces all the sounds made by a letter or phonogram at once. Here are some helpful things to know about this method:

Vertical Phonics

• offers students a way to feel confident that they know what sounds a letter makes.
• encourages students to feel confident about trying different sounds.
• generally allows students to start decoding very quickly, and to develop very good spelling skills.
• advocates writing the letters while saying the sound aloud, so that many learning avenues are used.
• provides easy learning of phonics concepts often thought of as “advanced,” because the phonograms make so much sense to the student. For instance, a student learns that five phonograms say “er” -- ear, ir, ur, er, and wor. Imagine how many words are unlocked by this knowledge, and how easily!
• Advocates using smaller writing paper than traditional programs use to access use of fine motor skills, and build a self-disciplined writing style. The smaller format requires that students develop good habits from the start.

Practical Solutions

Together with a fantastic phonics learning system, you also receive the best in practical helps that you and your student will love. Wonderful hands-on accessories and ideas are prepared for you to use at home or on the go. And they’re easy to do!

An Active Learning Approach

Parents love the active learning approach, but students love it even more! Fun resources and lighthearted activities will encourage curiosity for young students.

Another Help

Students who have not “grown up” with vertical phonics may need to take time for some grounding in vertical phonics and phonograms so that they can be on-track with our early reading programs. This is not to say that our language arts programs are more difficult, but rather that skills learned easily with the vertical phonics programs are assumed to have been assimilated quite early in reading instruction. As to other skills, many of our resources are graded by a national educational provider, and they are included in levels right “at” grade level. We strive to grade our language arts at an average level. You’ll find below several options, two of which might be just right for a review emphasis.

Comparing Our Early Reading Programs >