Reading for Children

o The Hickey Multisensory Language Course (3rd edn) Edited by Augur and Briggs, Whurr Publishers, London 1999. A fundamental and successful approach for teaching all SLD children. Probably most suitable for professional tutors.

o Alpha to Omega 6th edition by Hornsby, Shear & Pool 2007 Heinemann Educational. Similar to Hickey, but can be implemented more readily even if not a professional tutor, and the basis of the Wordshark computer program

o The Complete Phonic Handbook by Diana Hope. It would be useful if this book was systematically worked through with the student by a tutor in order to develop his/her knowledge of the mapping between sounds and letter patterns in words.

o Dancing Bears – Part of the Sound Foundations Program. Available at www.prometheantrust.org/soundfoundationsbooks.htm or from the Foundation resource library.

o Phonics Handbook by Tom Nicholson, Whurr Publishers 2005. This book takes a phonological approach and is set out in the form of lesson plans designed to be used instantly, requiring no preparation.


o Toe by Toe - A Highly Structured Multi-sensory Reading Manual for Teachers & Parents by Keda & Harry Cowling. This is a highly scripted program that can be used by a “coach” with minimal training, and so it can be implemented in the school situation where some assistance is available.

• Knowledge of word families increases reading vocabulary by building on root words. This is useful for both spelling and reading. A new addition to the Resource Library is a series of workbooks called Word Families: High Interest Activities to Develop Reading Skills.


• Football Phonics card games are a fun way of learning about letter-to-sound associations (for reading and spelling) and can be borrowed from the DSF Resource Library.


• Play games which focus on long and short vowel sounds. This can be a whole class activity such as Heads and Tails where the teacher says a word and students must place their hands on their head if the word contained a long vowel sound (like in bone) or on their “tail” if the word contained a short vowel sound (like in cat).


• A good computer program developed by the British Dyslexia Association is WordShark. It focuses on the development of both reading and spelling skills using games involving phonics, onset and rime, homophones, spelling rules, common letter patterns, visual and auditory patterns and other aspects of literacy.


• To improve reading fluency, repeated readings helps. It is important to start with text passages that are easy, then the difficulty level can be slowly increased. The focus should be on accuracy rather than speed. The first step is for the tutor and the student to go through the passage together, ensuring comprehension. The student then practices silently until ready to read aloud. The tutor times the reading and points out parts read well and mistakes made. The passage is re-read until the time reaches a “plateau”. At this stage, the focus can move to reading with expression and correct use of punctuation and intonation.


• A useful program which also focuses on fluency training is Heather Harvey’s Intensive Reading Program which has a range of activity and work books for students of different ages and levels of reading development.


• Comprehensive Assessment of Reading Strategies (CARS) by Deborah Adcock provides explicit instruction and opportunities for practicing reading comprehension strategies. Strategies to Achieve Reading Success (STARS) also provides exercises to practice these skills within a wide range of genres. The books contain lessons and assessments that could be worked through at home or with a tutor, and are available at the DSF Resource Library.