
Explore the simple view of reading, modeling reading as decoding plus language comprehension. Determine whether dyslexia manifests as decoding difficulty, language difficulty, or comprehension difficulty - and tailor interventions accordingly.
Explore a UK-based overview of popular literacy programs and interventions, from color-coded phonics and grapheme-sound mappings to structured sequences like Bangor Dyslexia, letters and sounds, and Jolly Phonics.
Identify phonemes and map them to corresponding graphemes, then practice multi-sensory writing to reinforce memory and help dyslexic learners spell words more automatically.
Explore how children learn to decode by identifying letters, mastering letter sounds, and blending phonemes into words, using multisensory approaches and addressing dyslexia and phonological difficulties.
Explore decoding challenges in children with phonological difficulties and dyslexia, covering the phonological route (sounding out and blending) and the lexical route (sight words) for unfamiliar words.
Explore how consonants are articulated and paired as voiced or voiceless sounds, across places like bilabial, labiodental, and alveolar, with fricatives and affricates, to support reading development and dyslexia-friendly instruction.
Understand articulation of sounds to inform reading and writing instruction for dyslexic learners. Leverage phoneme perception and sound production insights to apply coloured phonics across methods without dependency.
Demonstrates consonant articulation from back of the mouth to the uvula, including ng nasal, voiced and voiceless g, pharyngeal and glottal stops, with regional pronunciation notes.
Explore semivowels or glides, not consonants or vowels, because they don’t form the syllable nucleus. See how these glides appear in words like fuel and water and link to diphthongs.
Learn how to pronounce the final ed in regular past tense verbs, choosing between t, d, or id sounds based on the preceding consonant, with examples like asked and packed.
Identify consonant clusters as two consonants in one syllable, not digraphs, such as str, and guide dyslexic blending with finger and mouth cues using Read Write Phonics.
Understand how double consonants in multisyllabic words signal a short vowel and split syllables, with examples like addition and decision, and identify digraphs and trigraphs as single-sound letter combos.
Teach dyslexic readers to recognize syllable structures and vowel patterns, including long and short vowels, digraphs, and consonant clusters, to improve accurate word decoding.
Explore closed and open syllables, how ending consonants shape short vowels and open syllables reveal long vowels, and learn about the magic e and split digraph spellings.
Explore multisyllabic words in English, with and without vowel reduction, and learn how stress and reduced vowels like schwa and open transitions shape pronunciation.
Explore the schwa sound in various word positions, understand vowel reduction and syllable rhythm, and apply practical literacy strategies for teaching primary-age readers.
Introduce a colors-based literacy sequence for helping children with reading and writing difficulties, combining phoneme–grapheme color coding, vowel focus, and a personal dictionary as in the dyslexia system.
Build the word step by step by counting phonemes in swift, using finger cues to identify sounds, and guiding children to write letters that match each sound.
Explore building the word grow by segmenting its sounds, identifying the consonant cluster, and spelling the long o with multiple spellings, while writing the word as students articulate each sound.
Make writing the word multisensory to strengthen learning and add variety; let students practice by writing words in the air, including an eyes-closed variation for challenge.
Lead students through reading words by color-coding phonemes and graphemes for the o sound, building automaticity with varied word lists and meaningful sentences.
Engage learners in an oral phonological awareness activity, where they identify and switch phonemes to transform words. Use non-words like swamp and storm to practice the pattern and stay engaged.
Engage in dictation to reinforce reading and writing of words and sentences, using multisensory practice, repetition, and error checking to train phoneme i and the diphthong i.
Explore dyslexia-friendly sos for difficult words by practicing simultaneous oral spelling drills for tricky contractions like wouldn't.
Demonstrates daily word work with students, tailoring exercises after mastering the system. Illustrates writing-focused practice with real and pseudo words to reinforce graphemes and split digraphs.
Teach dyslexic learners to read and write with coloured phonics, focusing on simple vowel sounds. Build skills with scaffolding, word banks, and phonological awareness before advancing to complex patterns.
Learn to use color-coded phonics charts to build an internal representation of phonemes for dyslexic learners, linking sounds to colors, and practice spellings through grapheme-building and dictation.
Train phonological awareness using colored rectangles to differentiate diphthongs and schwa through multisensory, scaffolded practice. Repeat with pointing, colors, and games to build recognition and blending of phonemes in words.
Learn vowel sounds charts and materials, including long vowels, diphthongs, and reduced sounds with color coding and spellings. Apply gradual instruction from phonological awareness to split digraphs with practice examples.
Explore consonant spellings and pronunciation with color-coded charts. Understand g, j, th, f, c and s sounds, voiced and voiceless patterns, and ed endings in everyday words.
Demonstrate a structured intervention for a dyslexic learner, using colored charts and phonics map with color-coded graphemes to teach short vowels in closed syllables and long vowels in open syllables.
Color-code the lyrics of a popular song using a bespoke phonics system to highlight schwa and vowel sounds, helping dyslexic students practice decoding and reading aloud.
Learn how reading comprehension builds from background knowledge to mental imagery, text linking, and active engagement, while addressing dyslexia and language difficulties with dialogic reading and memory-friendly strategies.
Develop reading comprehension through adaptable scaffolds, pre-reading frameworks, graphic organizers, and explicit vocabulary work; visualize ideas, discuss connectives and anaphors, and encourage self-questioning and prior-knowledge activation.
Practice developing inference by identifying pronoun references, making necessary guesses, and using a clear framework with questions and connectives to support dyslexic readers.
Practice dialogues use inference to support comprehension and activate text representations without excessive discussion. Explore anaphoric reference, voice, and structure using Horrible Science excerpts with visuals.
Improve reading comprehension by practicing inference, vocabulary, and text structure, using examples about humans who devastate forests, grasslands, swamps, and rainforest.
Use silent animation and wordless cartoons with coloured phonics prompts to help dyslexic learners generalize phonics into writing through structured practice, memory, and targeted spelling.
Develop written expression step by step by guiding inner ideas through prompts, building sentences gradually, and using scaffolds and memory activities to support dyslexia and language difficulties.
Apply coloured phonics to descriptions using busy scenes to support generalization and language skills for dyslexics, guiding students to describe actions, wants, past events, and future plans.
Explore how to use cartoons and silent animation to teach phonics through narrative writing, with connectives, time adverbs, retellings, and writing exercises with help and less help.
Are you working with a child who struggles to read? Does your student read too slowly, or with too many mistakes? Do you find the relationship between sounds and spellings in English confusing? If you do, you are not alone!
If English is not your native language, or if you have not learned English using a phonics-based method, this course will help you to have a much clear and useful view of the links between sounds and spellings in English. Even if you are a native speaker, you may have never reflected on how phonics work and you find yourself sounding out graphemes (letters or strings of letters) in order to explain them to a learner.
The course is delivered in a friendly manner, and you will feel that you are in a class with me practising some basic techniques to clarify how the sound-spelling system works. The techniques include evidence-based techniques from the Orto-Gillingham approach, one of the most widespread systems for reading remediation.
As most students with reading accuracy difficulties will also develop reading comprehension difficulties, I have added a section on reading comprehension, with downloadable materials to use as help sheets while working with a student.
This course will benefit teachers, parents and assistants working with children who have not managed to read and write words accurately. It will enable learners taking the course to develop a clear inner representation of the English phonological system, which in turn will allow you to better help your student. There are also additional resources to practice the most difficult consonant spelling patterns and all of the vowels and dyphthongs in English, with a step-by-step multisensory routine. You can also use the routine for other texts you have access to or want to use in your intervention.