for kindergarten age children
Wednesdays 9:00-12:00
9/3-12/19
$270/month

When taught correctly, right from the start, children easily unlock the code! Our kindergarten program is steeped in oral language, storytelling, singing, crafts, games, and movement. We involve the whole child in learning - head, heart, and hands. We create a social environment where friendships are formed, and memories are made.

Children learn the correspondence of 24 speech sounds to upper and lowercase letters. They learn handwriting skills, writing conventions, and drawing. We ingrain phonemic awareness at every level. Children learn to blend and segment for reading and writing with accuracy and confidence.

for first grade
Tues/Thurs 9:00-11:30
9/2-12/18
$420/month

Students will learn the Basic Code level of the English Alphabet Code. They’ll gain a reflexive knowledge of all 39 letter-sound correspondences, and develop their blending and segmenting skills through targeted reading and writing activities. Students will develop their handwriting, and learn writing conventions while participating in fun and meaningful lessons with their peers.

for second grade
Tues/Thurs 1:30-4:00
9/2-12/18
$420/month

Ms. Deva and Mr. Deveaux will lead children to learn the Complex Code level of the English Alphabet Code. This is the point they learn and practice spelling variation and code overlap. We carefully provide the logical framework for dealing with the complexity of having multiple ways to spell the same sound, and letters that represent more than one sound. We train children’s visual memories and teach strategies for learning to spell.

Children will learn writing conventions and spelling while participating in fun and meaningful lessons. They’ll engage in collaborative conversations and projects with their peers, practicing and developing their oral language.

for all ages and levels
once/week for 75 minute sessions
$450/month

Many students need the support of a one-on-one tutor for their literacy journey. A child may have any number of special challenges.

In the context of a safe and supportive environment, instruction is tailored to student need and learning style. The nature of our instruction is highly suited to the needs of students who are dyslexic, have any kind of sensory deficit or cognitive delay, a speech disorder, autism, Downs Syndrome, etc. The logic of the code is presented in a very clear way and instruction always meets the developmental level of the learner.

In a short time, children make fast progress, enhancing their self esteem and academic success.

The learner practices all the reading subskills: blending, phoneme segmentation, and phoneme manipulation, in the context of creative and meaningful lessons. There is room in each session for students to have choice over their activities. Students develop a friendship with their teacher over time, and they look forward to class. 

Individualized instruction is for students who have some sort of stumbling block:

-Kids who have a lot of reversals when they write their letters and numbers. They need lots of opportunities to practice writing letters and numbers, until the movements become reflexive. Students also need activities designed to help them become oriented to direction - when they learn their left from their right, letters start to be written accurately. In addition, we provide games and activities which strengthen children’s visual discrimination skills.

-Confusion with b’s and d’s when reading and writing. They may also confuse p’s with d’s and b’s, and p also gets confused with q and with the letter g! The letters u and n get confused, and there are other issues of orientation that need to get worked out to be successful with the code.

-Trouble hearing words when blending. Sometimes this can be because recall of letter sounds is slow. Other times it’s because kids haven’t been taught to ‘blend automatically,’ and their recall of letter sounds is choppy. Another reason for poor blending is they’re not saying letter sounds cleanly, obscuring the word recognition which is the point of decoding.

-Trouble segmenting sounds in words for writing. In order to successfully spell our code you have to write using a phonological strategy. Kids who constantly drop or add sounds in words need to learn how to ‘say the sounds’ while writing, and make it a han

-Slow blending. Many times children can’t keep track of the meaning of what they’re reading because the act of decoding each word is so very laborious. Sometimes it’s the accumulation of bad instruction by well-meaning parents and teachers, who’ve trained the wrong reflexes with the letters: letter names and that extra /u/ sound on consonants. Many new students in the RFL program are in the process of UN-learning, and they are often very slow down the runway when it comes to reading. These kinds of kids are often quite nervous about reading, but they really need to do a lot of it to improve.

-A tendency to drop or add sounds when reading. This is VERY common. Many times it’s the result of previous ineffective instruction that didn’t teach the phonetic code properly or completely, or both. Kids need to be trained to break down each and every grapheme into speech sounds, then synthesize those sounds into a word. Kids who drop and add sounds often resort to a guessing strategy. These kids really need immediate intervention.

-Kids who need repeated practice to reinforce and really “get it.” Some kids need more repetition than others. Sometimes children process visual and auditory information more slowly than average. Often these are kids with a low level of confidence, which makes them reticent to take chances, which impedes their progress. In a fail-safe environment kids are given whatever level of support they need to gain crucial skills and code knowledge.

-Kids who are habitual whole-word guessers. These kids have probably been trained on ‘sight words’ and have gotten the impression reading is about knowing words instantly when you see them. These kids need to learn to actually read our phonological code. And they need repeated and habitual practice doing it to become good at it, and for reading to become fun.

-Kids who need extra handwriting support. Sometimes kids are enrolled whose lowercase letter formation knowledge is limited, and they need extra instruction to catch up with the rest of their group. This is because we use writing as a tool for learning the code. Kids need to be trained to ‘say the sounds’ as they’re writing in order for writing to become a phonological reflex.

-Kids who need extra attention and emotional support along with their literacy support. Kids enjoy the bond they share with their teacher, and the undivided attention and genuine interest shown to them. We create an atmosphere in which they can safely practice their burgeoning skills and build the confidence that comes from success.

-Kids who simply want/need extra reading practice. ‘Buddy reading’ is not something that we’re able to do often with students individually in a group setting, and is so valuable if the child doesn’t feel comfortable reading with a parent at home on a daily basis. If this is the case they really need expert support with this, because of all the learning opportunities reading together brings. Kids who read with their teacher get better at it quickly, and their confidence increases substantially, encouraging them to read more, and get better at it more quickly, which makes it more fun. We love to start this snowball rolling!