Our Program
At The Reading Switch, we’ve embarked on a transformative journey that’s reshaping how children with dyslexia master the art of reading with phonics.
Our vision is simple yet profound: we aim to capitalise on their unique thinking and learning styles, all while providing unwavering support to overcome their inherent challenges.
Unlocking Dyslexic Potential
The key to our approach lies in harnessing the incredible power of visual memory, which we accomplish through our intuitive Dual Code Reading System. By doing so, we’ve unlocked an entirely new realm of possibilities for dyslexic learners.
A Thoughtful Sequence for Success
Our program is meticulously crafted, thoughtfully sequenced, and expertly presented. It’s tailored to empower dyslexic strengths, emphasising vital skills like big-picture thinking, visual memory, and pattern recognition. We understand that these are the building blocks to success in their reading journey.
The Reading Switch Program is expertly designed for primary school-aged children who may find themselves below the expected reading standard for their year level. Early intervention is crucial, as gaps in learning may start as early as Year 1 or become more apparent by Year 2.
Before embarking on this transformative journey, children should be familiar with the alphabet, able to identify each letter by sight, and have basic knowledge of the sounds each letter can make.
We understand that learning can vary from child to child, especially when facing reading difficulties. The Reading Switch empowers your child to progress at their own pace. Our program consists of 103 sequential lessons across five levels, offering a scaffolded approach to mastering phonics-based reading skills.
We acknowledge that children often have short attention spans, which can be further shortened by processing difficulties and cognitive fatigue. That’s why our program is designed for short, highly effective sessions.
Our Word decoding exercises take no more than five minutes to complete. As children become more familiar with the Dual Code Reading System, their reading abilities will grow, enabling them to work through exercises more efficiently.
We recommend two daily sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, for optimal learning outcomes.
Word Decoding Exercises
Our carefully crafted lessons group words with the same vowel sound, providing exposure to letter sound patterns that support long-term memory processing. This method encourages efficient learning through gentle repetition over several days.
Dual Code Reading System
The Reading Switch facilitates faster phonological information processing, reducing the burden on working memory. Our Dual Code Reading System taps into visual memory, helping children connect letters and sounds more rapidly, making the learning process significantly easier.
Learning how to read begins with the ability to recognise letters, make connections to sounds and decode words. Learning how to decode words is the first step, and for many children with reading difficulties this can be quite a tiring and overwhelming process.
Nonetheless, from the very outset of learning to read, children need the opportunity to build their word decoding knowledge and word reading skills as well as having time to practice what they’ve learnt with words that are familiar (and some that are not) in simple sentence form eventually building up to more complex stories.
The Reading Switch provides level appropriate reading exercises and simple stories within each level with the aim of boosting the readers confidence and reading ability.
- Improved letter sound knowledge
- Knowledge that there’s a predictable relationship between phonemes and graphemes
- Proficiency in associating letter combinations with sounds and blending them into words
- The ability to recognise that a letter can represent more than one sound
- Differentiate between short and long vowels
- Proficiency in reading words with short vowels, common long vowels, complex vowels, consonant digraphs, consonant blends, and silent letters
- Proficiency in reading words with single and double syllables
- Improved in orthographic processing
- Transition from single word decoding to reading sentences and stories
- Enhanced reading ability
