Program FAQ

The program is suitable for primary school aged children who are at below expected or at risk of falling below the expected standard for reading in their year level.

Gaps in learning may begin to appear when a child reaches Year 2 (although difficulties may be evident toward the end of Year 1). The earlier interventions can be put in place for reading difficulties the better it is for a child’s well-being and academic progress.

Prior to commencing the program, children must be already familiar with the letters of the alphabet, able to identify each letter by sight, and have knowledge of the basic sound each letter can make.

The Reading Switch puts the needs of the learner at the heart of every stage of the program. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses that underpin the dyslexic thinking and processing style, has enabled us to build a system that effectively bridges the learning gap, enabling consistent layering and progression of reading skills. The Reading Switch puts the learner back on the path towards reading fluency.

We have re-imagined phonics so that it plays to the strengths of the dyslexic learner whilst supporting the weaknesses. The Reading Switch taps into the power of the visual memory through the use of our intuitive visual phonics system. The program is carefully sequenced and purposely presented to harness dyslexic strengths such as big picture thinking and pattern detection skills.

Yes, The Reading Switch can be used by any child who is having difficulties learning to read.

The only prerequisite for using the system is that a child is already familiar with the letters of the alphabet, able to identify each letter by sight, and have knowledge of the basic sound each letter can make.

The Reading Switch is a five (5) level, visual phonics, learn to read program which is delivered online. The program consists of 101 sequenced lessons. Each level consists of instructional guides, Word Decoding Exercises and level appropriate Reading Exercises.

Learning exercises provide a consistent format throughout the program, giving students a level of comfort and familiarity with the learning materials. Lessons are displayed in a flipbook format.

Levels 1-3 of the program focus on developing reading skills with a base of short and long vowels and adding silent letters, consonants that make more than one sound, consonant blends and digraphs, double syllable words.

Levels 4-5 introduce more complex vowel sounds and letter patterns.

Yes, the program is designed to be used with the assistance of a supportive adult to facilitate the learning sessions.

The program puts the learner in the driver’s seat by providing them with the tools and strategies to decode words with accuracy and confidence.

The Reading Switch Program is most effective when used twice a day with a short session held in the morning and another held later in the
day.

The good news is that sessions are purposely designed to be short in length. The core learning elements of the program focus on building word decoding skills and word reading. With the guidance of a supportive adult this section takes no longer than five minutes to work through. The supplementary Reading Exercises transition the learner from practising single word decoding skills to reading sentences and stories.

We understand that the attention span of children can be short and fleeting. We are also conscious of not overloading the working memory unnecessarily. Smaller bursts of learning really do maximise the learning outcomes for children when using The Reading Switch Program.

However, if a child insists on wanting to read more, we would never discourage their efforts.

Yes, your child can work through the system at their own pace with guidance of a supporting adult. Lessons can be repeated as many times as needed.

Yes! We recommend children to start the program at Level 1, to ensure a strong foundation in reading is in place before progressing to higher levels. Children who struggle with learning to read often have gaps in their learning. By starting at Level 1 these gaps are able to be detected, corrected and reinforced to establish a strong foundation in reading moving forward.

The only prerequisite for using the system is that a child is already familiar with the letters of the alphabet, able to identify each letter by sight, and have knowledge of the basic sound each letter can make.