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| The nemesis for most of our students is spelling.
Though it is an integral part of our program, it is often where
progress comes the most slowly. Spelling words
used in our Phonics Coach spelling exercises should
not be memorized. Instead they should be examined first for their
syllabic make-up, and then for the phonetic composition of those
syllables. If the spelling-words are memorized,
the spelling exercises will lose their value. Consequently,
instead of understanding syllables and phonetics -- which can aid
in reading and spelling many words -- the student
will understand, and be able to spell, just the one word. |
| What is Phonics Coach? |
| Phonics Coach is a web-based literacy training program
which drastically improves reading and spelling
skills in students of all ages. We use customized interactive exercises
and modules that are tailored to each student’s individual
learning needs.
While using Phonics Coach students will experience a
drastic improvement in their reading speed, reading comprehension,
spelling ability, auditory comprehension, and
concentration. This will directly translate into a more confident,
motivated, and prepared student, and of course, better grades
in school. |
| Who can benefit from Phonics Coach? |
| Phonics Coach was designed for those children, ages 8-18,
who have trouble reading and spelling. This site
can help everyone from students with diagnosed learning disabilities
(e.g. dyslexia) to students who area simply slow readers (e.g.
cannot keep up with their classmates and/or have trouble with
homework).
Although Phonics Coach was originally designed for youth we have
had users as old as 67 who have experienced great results from
the program. Adults with learning disabilities, or anyone who
struggles with the basics of reading and spelling
english (e.g. ESL) will benefit greatly from this site.
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| How is Phonics Coach different than
other educational software on the market? |
There are two major problems with other software and games that
are out on the market:
They do not have the ability to find the specific problem(s) that
are causing the student frustration when reading and spelling,
and
They do not have the ability to tailor a lesson plan that will correct
these problems.
Other educational software and games are static – they do
not have the ability adapt to the student. All lessons on these
programs are pre-set; and does not have the capability to customize
lesson plans for each student. These programs may be fun for a while,
but they cannot actually solve the core problems that are holding
back the student.
The Phonics Coach program is state-of-the-art. It took over four
years to develop this revolutionary program that is unlike anything
else out there. We came up with the name Phonics ‘Coach’
because the program truly acts like a personal coach for the student.
It first surveys the student’s current abilities, discovering
everything it can about the his/her language skills while keeping
track of all the problem areas. Then Phonics Coach creates a customized
lesson plan, unique for each student, that focuses on correcting
these problems. Unlike many teaching tools out there, our program
is constantly monitoring the child’s progress every step
of the way, continuously providing the perfect customized lesson
plan for each child.
With Phonics Coach, the parent, tutor, or teacher also can view
their student’s progress reports online at any time they
wish.
Every learner has unique needs; we recognize this. That’s
the Phonics Coach difference.
|
| How long does it take to complete this
course? |
| Each student moves through the course at their own pace. Once
becoming a member you have unlimited access - you can take as many
lessons as you want each month - there is no limit. In terms of
expected results, after 35-45 hours of using the program, a student
should see a one grade level improvement in reading speed and comprehension.
This translates to taking four to five 30-minute lessons per-week,
for 4-6 months.
The final results are up to you; the longer that the student
uses the software, the more overall improvement he/she will witness.
Our goal is to have the student reading and spelling
every word in their vocabulary, while experiencing a substantial
increase in their reading speed, reading comprehension, spelling
abilities, and auditory comprehension.
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| How do you report results? |
| Here's the greatest advantage to using our program to learn to
read and spell. We will give you answers that are exact! No more
wishy-washy explanations such as 'Johnny seems to have trouble with
some of the vowels...' That doesn't tell you anything nor does it
provide you with any solutions.
We'll tell you exactly what's going on and exactly what we're
going to do about it. For example, if Johnny has trouble spelling
words with the schwa-vowel "a" sound (as in spa), then
we'll find this problem and it will be one of the things we work
on.
We've got reading and spelling down to a science
and you can follow along in the charts and graphs section to monitor
your progress.
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| Our Philosophy... |
| Our philosophy is simple. People learn language by using it,
so one has them using it as soon as possible. Reading is one skill
that everyone will need, no matter what one chooses to do in life.
It is our belief that an underdeveloped reader will never be able
to truly reach their lifes full potential.
Commonly, teachers are unable to fully ensure that learning disabled
students are fluent in the basics of the English language before
moving on to more complex curriculums. This causes more students
than ever before to fall behind in school and fail to learn in
general. Imagine teaching someone calculus who doesn't fully understand
the basics of addition - impossible. Yet it happens all the time
in literacy. By teaching phonics and syllables, we give students
the information needed to build a solid foundation for learning
language. We start at the base of the English language - phonics
- and carefully structure the sequence of learning making sure
that we cover everything along the way.
After the basic skills are in place, students can focus on sentence
structure, punctuation, and writing style - all of which will
be evident in their written work.
All exercises and modules in this program are based on the student's
individual abilities and growth. Your student will never fall
behind, and will never feel overwhelmed. The root of most language
difficulties stems from trouble with the basics. Mastering phonics
and syllabication will lead to better reading and spelling
skills, allowing individual learners to become the best they can
be in life and to achieve greatness in whatever they choose to
do.
We want to see you flourish in life. Send us your success stories
- we'd love to read them.
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| Do I still need to keep my current tutor? |
| The best way to correct a learning disability is by attacking
it from as many angles as possible. Phonics Coach is a proven program
to significantly improve the reading and spelling
abilities in frustrated readers; but (if you can afford it), having
a private tutor as well will greatly enhance the learning process
and may speed up the results of the program. Bluntly speaking, the
more a student exposes him/herself to corrective exercises, instruction,
and even just general reading, the better that student will be prepared
for a life of reading ahead.
There have been several studies conducted that link one's reading
abilities to success in life (in terms of career, salary, and
overall happiness). The more you can do to correct a reading problem
early on in life, the better.
We do understand that many tutors, learning centers, and programs
are very expensive, and their costs can add up. We at Phonics
Coach strongly believe that money should not determine whether
a child or adult has access to the learning resources that they
need. If the monthly subscription fee is preventing you from partaking
in the Phonics Coach program, please contact us about our Bursary
Program to help subsidize some of the costs.
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| What is phonics? |
| Phonics, basically put, is the correlation between symbol and
sound. We familiarize students with 147 commonly found letter groupings
at a rate controlled by individual performance.
Phonics and syllables combine to make the reading and spelling
words easy.
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| What are Syllables? |
| Syllabication is the breaking up of words into smaller pieces.
We introduce the six kinds of syllables and use special spelling
exercises to implement them in the breakdown of words.
Phonics and syllabication combine to make the reading and spelling
of words easy.
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| A Phonics Coach Lesson... |
| Rather than read all this, you should sign up for a free trial
account.
Reviewing Known Phonics
Once the course gets underway, each lesson starts out with a
review of some known phonic items. By reviewing this letter/sound
information each day, students build a solid foundation for reading
and spelling words.
Priority is given to letters and sounds your student finds most
difficult, as part of our Rapid Readiness program.
Reviewing Known Syllables
All the different types of syllables that your student has been
taught will be reviewed in each lesson.
Covering New Material
New material usually falls under one of two categories. We will
teach you either; more phonics, or a new kind of syllable.
Each student moves through the course at their own pace. New
material is presented when past material has been mastered. The
flow of new material is controlled separately for each student
by our Rapid Readiness program.
Spelling Exercises
These exercises encourage students to apply their knowledge of
phonics and syllables.
Spelling words are chosen based on each student's
strengths and weaknesses. The words we select will help your student
master past material so that they will be ready to move on to
new material as soon as possible. This method is both effective
and efficient. (Part of our Rapid Readiness method.)
Spelling exercises are also one of the tools
we use to assess problem areas and plan future lessons.
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| Reading... |
THE RIGHT MATERIAL For the purposes of this course, the intellectual
content of reading material does not matter. Encourage students
to gather knowledge about topics which interest them, even if it's
gossip about their favorite band in Rolling Stone magazine. Keep
in mind that if material has been published, it has been past an
editor. Therefore exposure to published sentence structure and writing
style will be useful even when the intellectual content is low.
A Feeling of Accomplishment It is important that each time you read
with your student they feel as if they have accomplished something.
Do not stop halfway through an article or chapter. This will rule
how reading material is selected. If together you choose to read
a novel, flip through to make sure the chapters are a suitable length
to read in one sitting. When Selecting What to Read Every student
has different interests. Rather than you selecting what you think
they'd like, ask them to give you some options. You can still make
the final decision. If selecting a novel, have them read the back
of the book to you. If they can read the back of the book reasonably
well, the book may well be at a suitable reading level. (Don't forget
to check the length of the chapters.) Just So You Know Most mainstream
magazines and newspapers are written at a grade 6 to 8 level, so
that most people can enjoy them. Publications that specialize in
one field, such as The Financial Post or The Medical Examiner, market
to a very well-educated audience and are at a higher literacy level.
Reading Together It is best to sit side by side and take turns reading
aloud. When it is your turn to read make sure your student follows
along. If you and your student are not comfortable seated side by
side, then use two copies of the material for both of you to read
and follow. Check periodically to ensure your student is following
along because it is very beneficial. Most notably it will help them
understand how punctuation affects the way things are read. Tackling
Big, Nasty Words Do not help! We cannot stress this enough. When
a student encounters a difficult word, tell them to sound it out
one syllable at a time. In english, the really intimidating words
are generally comprised of perfectly phonetic syllables. Unfortunately
there is an exception to the "do not help" rule. If your
student is becoming discouraged by the number of big words, you
may need to make an agreement. For example, arrange ahead of time
that you will help them with a certain number of words per page.
This kind of co-operation will take some pressure off the student
so they can enjoy the book they have chosen. Reading Alone When
reading alone, students may read out loud or to themselves. This
reading can be assigned by you or assumed to be something that occurs
in regular schoolwork. If your student is reading alone and comes
to you for help with a difficult word, encourage them to sound it
out loud.
READING OUT LOUD vs. SILENT READING What follows could be thought
of as the abridged version of a very brief summary. For the purposes
of this course, tutors need only acknowledge that these exercises
have different benefits and should both be implemented.
Reading Out Loud Oral reading will act as a strong reinforcement
to the phonics portion of this course, and have a tremendous impact
on spelling. It is also the time punctuation will
be most apparent to your student, as you will be taking turns reading
and they will follow along to your example. Silent Reading Silent
reading will exercise a student's ability to focus and may be more
enjoyable than oral reading. This is because there is no pressure
when nobody is listening. It is also a time students will be trying
to catch their own mistakes, thereby building independence in learning.
Again, difficult words should be attempted by sounding them out
loud. |
| Miscellaneous Literacy Problems |
| It is perfectly natural to have problems while acquiring or developing
a skill. Literacy skills are no exception. Our course is designed
to take the struggle out of reading and spelling
words. Once a student can read and spell words easily, they can
focus on punctuation, sentence structure, and other tasks. The objective
is to get students reading and writing independently because those
are the exercises that will be of greatest benefit. By reading they
will be exposed to how things are written. By writing they can apply
all relevant pieces of information they have absorbed. As a guide,
you should inform the student of what they need to pay special attention
to. For example, when students first discover the comma they may
over use it. So the next time you are reading together tell them
to pay extra attention to the author's use of commas. This will
not correct the problem immediately, but over time it will correct
it naturally. (See Natural Growth in Literacy for more information.)
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