Reading Tutor consists of Development Tutor in addition to a comprehensive reading and spelling exercise. Once the learner has completed the three Development Tutor exercises, they will be guided to the Reading Exercise.
Phase 1 of the Reading Exercise consists of 27 sets of 2- to 4-letter phonetic words, ending with the silent ‘e’ (tap versus tape, etc.). While Phase 1 teaches phonemic awareness, Phases 2 and 3 also build a “visual dictionary”. Neuroscience has discovered that skilled readers can recognize words at lightning fast speed when they read because the word has been placed in a visual dictionary in the brain.
Phase 2 consists of 63 sets of 4- to 9-letter words, covering the different spellings of different phonemes, as well as initial and final consonant blends. Phase 3 consists of 54 sets that teaches advanced words such as the silent p in words like pterosaur, receipt, psychology, psychiatry, pseudonym and pneumonia.
While the input required by the parent (or tutor) is minimal when the learner is doing Development Tutor, the parent’s role is crucial when the learner is doing the Reading Exercise. The parent must be able to communicate with the learner, therefore using earphones when doing this exercise is not a good idea.
When doing the Reading Exercise the learner will be required to read aloud. The parent must ensure that the learner is indeed reading aloud. At the end of every round the learner may click on the words to reveal the words’ meanings. Since the learner might not be able to read the explanations, the parent’s assistance here is imperative. Thereafter the words will be flashed, and the learner must say each word aloud before the answer is provided. The parent must be ready to click on the green button every time the learner read a word correctly, and on the red if the learner said a word wrong, or answered too late.
The final exercise is the Spelling Exercise. Words that have been covered in the Reading Exercise will be flashed to the learner, after which they must type the words.
Based on the learner’s performance in the Reading and Spelling Exercise, they will move to a new set or repeat a previous set.
The parent should feel free to provide a few minutes of extra practice of the words that the learner struggled with. Also, if a learner is not familiar with using the keyboard yet, the parent can temporary let them write the spelling words on a sheet of paper and type the words on their behalf. Obviously, the idea is not to correct the spelling on the learner’s behalf as this might make them progress to a higher level, which they will eventually not be able to cope with. This is only temporary and the intention should be to teach the learner to use the keyboard as soon as possible.
Enjoy the journey! Reading Tutor is not a quick-fix but definitely time well spent as it will certainly help the learner to enjoy the gift of reading in abundance!