Our Phonic Reading Program

Vee Ledson, daughter of Sidney Ledson, author of Teach Your Child to Read in 60 Days and Raising Brighter Children learned about teaching children to read by successfully using her father’s methods for more than a decade at his school, with children of all ages, including those with identified learning disabilities, including dyslexia.  When she opened Laurel Academy, she took what she had learned and developed her own series of five “Rainbow Readers” that offer a similar step-by-step approach, with fun and amusing stories and rhymes that children love.

The Rainbow Readers allow children (including preschoolers) to learn to read at a natural, comfortable pace and level.  Parents of our youngest students are surprised and amazed when their three-year-old suddenly sounds out “sss…ttt…o….ppp….STOP, Mommy!  Stop!  The sign says STOP!”  Preschoolers are ready and eager to learn to read, and to explore the wonderful world of words!  New elementary students who may have struggled with reading in other schools find that our reading program allows them to make the progress that seemed impossible before. 

Our excellent program offers the following features.

• Phonics-first – Our reading program teaches children that letters stand for sounds.  As children develop skill with reading phonically-regular words, they are introduced to the exceptions.
• Explicit – Children are taught the letter-sounds explicitly, and then they are given many opportunities to practice those new sounds by reading them in words, sentences, and stories.
• One-on-one – Each budding reader reads one-on-one with his/her teacher or our reading teacher every day.
• Individualized – Each child works at a level and pace that is comfortable for him/her and allows him/her to master concepts before moving on to new material.
• Systematic – Children start by learning the basic letter sounds, one at a time, progressing onto new sounds only as they show mastery with the sounds already introduced.  This approach builds confidence in the young reader and prevents confusion or frustration.
• Simplified – Our reading program has been simplified so that even two- and three-year-olds quickly learn to sound out words and read stories.
• Fun! – Full of silly stories and rhymes, our reading program makes learning to read a pleasure for teacher and child!
• Accountability & Parent Involvement – Every day, the teacher records in the child’s Reading Folder what he/she read that day.  Copies of the material are sent home, for optional home review.  This keeps parents up to date with their child’s progress and serves as a permanent record of progress.
• Supplementary materials – A variety of “cut and paste”, matching, and other worksheets and workbooks reinforce new sounds and phonic rules.