Speech Pathologist

There are many computer programs on the market that claim success in helping children to read. Some are certainly better than others and this is definitely one of the better ones.

Jeanne has a background in special education and as a teacher of mathematics. She has designed the program so that it can all be activated by two switches such as Big Mac or Jelly Bean switches, thus making it accessible to students who have a physical disability. Other children just use the mouse or keyboard.

The main menu shows an awareness of the importance of pre-reading skills. There is a program devoted to developing recognition of rhyme and another to identifying the number of sounds in a word. Throughout the DVD Jeanne has made a conscious decision to expand vocabulary as students who have a limited vocabulary are invariably poor readers. The positive reinforcers for getting the correct answer are both auditory and visual but there is not a cartoon character in the whole DVD. All the pictures and video clips are of real people in real life situations, often humorous ones.

One of the main plusses for me is the Australian accent. This is particularly important for the recognition of vowel sounds. An added bonus is that Australian animals are used as illustrations. For example, in Kinaesthetic Letters, a kangaroo is used to illustrate the letter K and there is a rhyme about a kicking kangaroo.

The importance of writing as a tool for teaching spelling has not been overlooked. The correct way to form each letter is demonstrated on the screen and the DVD includes programs from which work sheets can be printed as required. This is a great bonus as most programs sell work sheets separately, if they are available at all. For a one off cost of $75 this is a phonically sound Australian program that I have yet to see bettered anywhere. .