Steps to Literacy

Steps to Literacy is a new remedial literacy course designed for pupils of 8 years and upwards with a reading/spelling age of between 7 and 10 years.  It can be used outside those parameters, but pupils with lower reading/spelling ages than 7 will need considerable extra support and consolidation.  A �starter� course is being prepared for this group and will be ready by the beginning of next school year. 

Pupils of above a 10 year level are likely find the word lists too easy, although other, �skill-building� aspects of the course will be very appropriate.   These pupils benefit from a more individualized approach and resource materials for this group are currently being developed.

The course is designed to last approximately one year.  It is divided into four levels, each of which is about one term�s work.  Each level is divided into 8 units (approximately one week�s work each).  

Each pupil has a workbook which contains all the work for that term.  At the front of each unit is a checklist which details the work in that unit and also activities from Wordshark (a specialist software literacy programme)  which are designed to reinforce that unit.  The course can be used with or without Wordshark, although it will be more effective and enjoyable with Wordshark.  Wordshark is available from The Learning Staircase Ltd.

There is a a teacher/parent�s manual accompanying the course, which contains detailed teaching notes, extra game activities and, of course, the answers!  There will also be a resource pack with each level, which contains a range of games which can be played in pairs or groups.  These are designed to provide variety and enjoyable reinforcement.

The course is designed to develop the processing skills involved in literacy and also to incorporate a considerable amount of reinforcement in different ways.  Phonic and orthographic knowledge is developed in a systematic and logical way, but the skills of phonological awareness, visual discrimination, sequencing, visual and auditory memory and working memory are also high priority.  Words are also seen and used in context.  The course differs from materials already available in that it is multi-sensory, highly structured and not just �more of the same�.

The prototype for this course has been trialed by SLD tutors and with pupils at St Andrew�s College.  It has proved highly successful and pupil feedback has been very positive.

If used correctly, it should be realistic to expect an improvement in reading/spelling ages of between 18 months and 3.5 years over the course of a year, provided that the pupil is of adequate intelligence and motivation.  These improvements (and more!) have already been seen and measured.