Synthetic Phonics Software

• Language Tune-up Kit - Phonics-based software based on the multi-sensory Orton-Gillingham method for children and adults. The LTK Placement Test determines students' reading skills and places the student at the appropriate starting lesson.

• Wordshark - 36 totally different computer games providing high motivation and interest. 'This software has had dramatic results. My student simply can't believe that he can be learning so quickly, and now arrives half-an-hour early, and has asked to stay an hour over his lesson time. This is the first time that he has ever been able to remember spellings - ever. I have had to force him to take breaks each half-hour because he was so adamant that he would complete each module more quickly then anyone else. His progress has been amazing. I did not at first believe this because I thought that as a dyslexic he would probably remember his spellings one week but then forget them after a break, but I have just re-tested him on the modules he covered before the half-term break (three weeks ago) and in a spelling test of sixty words, he got all of them correct without any chance to mug up beforehand', J. W., UK.

• StarSpell - from Fisher Marriott has learning activities that are based on the well-tried Look-Cover-Write-Check approach to spelling, with the advantage that the words are spoken. They are set in a framework, which provides for the development of knowledge about sounds and letters. A major strength is the sets of spelling lists, which can be focused on current curriculum vocabulary. You can easily adapt, create and add your own word lists. You also have the ability to monitor your pupils' progress, ensuring that the word list and any context are relevant to their work. You also now have the ability to incorporate class names and groups. ('a program that I have found useful for several reasons', C.W., Wales.)

• Nessy Learning Programme - Nessy is a British learning programme for all ages and abilities developed at the Bristol Dyslexia Centre. It is ideal for teachers who need to provide a complete literacy scheme for pupils with dyslexia.
Using humour, this highly structured programme makes learning fun and effective. The material in Nessy is organised into 10 islands, a mountain and the beach on Loch Nessy. Each island contains 10 lessons which cover simple vowel and consonant patterned words through to homophones and multi-syllabic words, providing guidance and activities that are printable, including some small reading books.
The interactive games can be accessed using the word lists appropriate to the lesson. The mountain is used for high frequency and irregular words for reading and spelling and the beach covers activities to encourage writing skills. The Nessy Reading and Spelling Checks allow correct identification of the grade which the user should start at from KS1 up to adult level.
'My 8-year-old son is using this software at his school and the results have been astounding. It is a very large and very thorough program and I would highly recommend it to anyone. I think it's being used in quite a lot of schools actually since I know of two other families whose children are using it' .(R.H., UK)
Nessy

• Read, Write & Type Learning System - computer application for ages 6 to 9 to provide support for children learning to read, including phonics, spelling, keyboarding and word processing. It also has features to help children who learn English as a second language or with learning difficulties. It is a research-proven program that emphasizes phonological awareness, letter-sound knowledge and phonetic decoding in reading and spelling. ... More. (W.T., Hong Kong)

Go Phonics - Comprehensive Phonics Reading Program, Go Phonics features six decodable readers with controlled vocabulary in a systematic phonics building block sequence for teaching beginning reading skills. This is a teacher-developed, Orton-Gillingham based multisensory phonics curriculum with K-2 language arts. Integrated tools include fifty phonics games (word decoding & fluency practice), workbooks. This approach is effective for dyslexia and is a comprehensive foundation for beginning readers.

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