Trainertext Magic
So what is the unique difference to All Aboard Phonics?
The answer is our use of “trainertext”. Let me explain why.
There is no question that a child has to learn to read through a phonics approach. English text is literally a letter-to-sound code. So to read any word, you need to know that code.
But… the problem is that the code in English is so inconsistent! Around 50% of the words in English have letter patterns that could be pronounced in more than one way.
That makes learning phonics tough for most children. Sometimes it is so tough that they never learn to read confidently. That is around one in six children and it has always been that way, until now.
Often it is the brightest children who have the most difficulty, because they have the ability to memorise words by sight. That works well when there are just a few dozen words in a book. But once there are hundreds or thousands, then it becomes almost impossible to progress.
So, what’s the trainertext solution?
We teach the children a single image for each sound. We then place those images above the text. So now, the child can decode any word. As soon as the letters are a bit confusing, the images above are there to guide them through it.
Those moments of frustration and failure are now turned into a mini triumphs. The impact on the child’s psychology is huge.
And… by decoding the words each day, their brain maps all the letter patterns and they find themselves starting to flow through the text. They are learning to read in the same way they learned to walk, talk and play with a ball.
It really is like magic.
The hidden extra is that you will find the spelling follows naturally. Committing spellings to memory is virtually a waste of time. But if you are reading in the right way, your spelling will improve naturally.