The Fastest Way to Learn Letter Sounds
The Process of Learning Letter Sounds
It seems so easy, the process of learning letter sounds.
Twenty-six simple letters that must be learned. Not even their names. Just their sounds.
Plus the long and short sounds of five vowels.
For some kids, though, this process isn’t easy. It’s torture. They might as well be asked to fly to the moon and back.
Letter Sounds and Dyslexia
Before your child can read with confidence and accuracy, the twenty-six alphabet letters must be known inside out – upside down – and in between. But that’s not all. Those pesky vowels enter the scene – each of the five with two distinctly different sounds. One long. One short.
Hmmm. Now it’s starting to sound a bit more difficult.
Most kids learn the sounds of the alphabet – including those tricky vowel sounds – without a hitch. But if your child has dyslexia, those twenty-six letters might as well be written in another language! That’s because children with dyslexia learn differently than other kids.
Traditional Reading Programs Cater to the Masses
And unfortunately, even though twenty percent of school children have dyslexia, reading programs cater to mainstream children, not to those who learn a bit differently.
Did you know that a symptom of dyslexia is to have average or above average intelligence? That’s why teachers, parents, and family members get so frustrated. They know their dyslexic children are verbal, smart, and brilliant.
Yet…twenty-six letter sounds can send them over the edge.
Teaching Letter Sounds Their Way
Most kids with dyslexia are hands-on or tactile learners. This means they need to “do” to learn. They don’t learn by seeing or hearing. The problem arises for these kids when they are force fed large doses of traditional reading programs that rely heavily on visual and auditory means to teach letter sounds.
Phonics worksheets. Flashcards. Matching pictures to sounds.
These mundane, traditional ways of teaching letter sounds to children don’t work for kids with dyslexia! Children with dyslexia need to move to learn!
Large Motor Movements Make a Difference
And not just any movement will do. They need large motor movement where their entire arms and shoulders are involved in the process. They need to cross the invisible vertical midline of the body.
Cross. Dab. Cross. Dab. Over and over, the movements that make sense to them make learning letter sounds easy.
That’s the language they speak.
It’s physical. It’s busy. It’s bold!
Flashcards Won’t Work for Kids with Dyslexia!
Flashcards won’t work for this type of learner. You might as well be holding up a card with another language written on it because a child with dyslexia doesn’t learn this way.
Phonics worksheets don’t work for your dyslexic child, either. The process of matching sounds to pictures without movement is foreign to them, because they have compromised visual and auditory learning systems.
The dyslexic child relies heavily on movement for learning to make sense. Not staring glumly at a meaningless flashcard with a letter written on it. No matter how cute or colorful that letter might be…that language of learning is wrong for the child with dyslexia.
The Sensory Component
Children with dyslexia have compromised or weakened visual and auditory processing systems. That’s why they rely so heavily on movement to learn. Movement is their main learning sense, so why not speak to them in the learning language they intrinsically understand?
It’s really not that hard.
At Bravo! Reading, we know the dyslexic learner. We know your child must move to set in letter sounds, and that to your child, movement is fun.
When learning is fun, then your child will stick with it. Happily. Eagerly.
Kids with Dyslexia Need a Multisensory Approach!
Kids with dyslexia need a multisensory approach to learning letter sounds because their sensory routes aren’t strong – those visual and auditory routes of learning.
Remember…movement is their jam!
Traditional reading and phonics programs rely heavily on visual and auditory modes of learning to teach the child to learn letter sounds. They show flashcards with the letter while the child practices the sound. The child is expected to match pictures with sounds.
This doesn’t “stick” with the dyslexic learner because these are visual and auditory routes of learning. It’s like wind blows through their ears when these methods are used. You get frustrated. Your child’s teacher gets frustrated. But even worse, your child gets frustrated.
If something isn’t done, self-esteem suffers. Grades drop because reading is difficult. Homework becomes a nightmare.
The Right-Brain Dominant Learner
Most kids with dyslexia are also right-brain dominant learners. This means they are more in touch with their creative side. Movement, rhythm, music, and art are all right-brain dominant activities.
Do you know what activity isn’t?
Phonics.
Phonics is a left-brain dominant activity.
So just by the nature, just by the definition, can you see how traditional reading programs that rely heavily on phonics simply won’t work for the right-brain dominant learner?
Phonics Worksheets Don’t Work for Kids with Dyslexia, Either!
Phonics worksheets and flashcards seem like a natural way to learn – if you don’t have dyslexia or if you aren’t right-brain dominant. It’s a logical system of learning, after all, and it’s worked for years.
Or so most people think.
Even though twenty percent of school aged children are dyslexic.
Even though these methods are failing one fifth of their entire population, these traditional reading programs stay in the forefront of teaching children how to learn letter sounds in most schools.
A Different Approach is Needed
If your child has dyslexia or is struggling to learn letter sounds, then phonics and flashcards, endless workbooks of these activities simply won’t work for your child.
You child needs to try something new. Something different than phonics sheets and flashcards.
Something that works for the way your child learns. A program that’s tried and true…one that teaches letter sounds with large muscle movements. Not matching letters to sounds. Not with flashcards.
Brain-Based Learning
Kids with dyslexia are smart and learn quickly when the right modes of teaching are used. Even better, they hang on to what they’ve learned if it’s taught in a way they can understand.
If it isn’t presented in this way, then it flies through the window. In one ear and out the other.
If you’ve ever taught your child how to do something and the next day it seems like new information, that’s because it wasn’t shown in a way your child can understand. The “learning language” is all wrong for your child.
Traditional Programs Don’t Work for Kids with Dyslexia
This is exactly why typical programs geared for kids with dyslexia only get so far. Moving a tile or letter with the fingers from one place to another can be helpful, but for kids with dyslexia, large motor movements work better. Memorizing spelling and reading rules doesn’t work for kids with dyslexia, because they usually have weak visual and auditory memory skills. This is like asking them to play basketball without a hoop!
Large motor movement is their “learning language”!
And since kids with dyslexia learn differently than others, they need brain-based learning to help set in letter sounds. This is the icing on the cake for them, the way to connect movement with learning.
Neuro-plasticity Makes Learning Easier…and Makes it Last
Bravo! Reading has your child use dot dabbers or bingo markers to cross the vertical midline of the body over and over again while pounding colorful letters. When your child says the sounds of the letters out loud while pounding a dot dabber across the page, true learning sets in.
New wiring is formed in the brain.
This is called neuro-plasticity.
Neuro-plasticity is simply the ability of the brain to form and reorganize connections, especially in response to learning. Even better, brain-based learning lasts.
You won’t have to look at your child’s blank face when you’ve already gone over the sound of a letter three times. Because it’s already set in. It’s truly learned.
Large cross lateral motions, predictability, brain-based learning, and a multi-sensory approach to teaching letter sounds is the best way to teach your child how to learn and retain letter sounds.
And letter sounds are the first building block to a strong reading foundation!
The Bravo! Beginner
The Bravo! Beginner uses brain-based learning along with multi-sensory movements to help your child learn letter sounds quickly and easily. Even better, your child will enjoy learning letter sounds while using the Bravo! Beginner…because it’s fun!
Often, kids will use the Bravo! Beginner and argue that they aren’t even reading!
It seems impossible to them that they are using dot dabbers, hitting colorful pictures with them, crossing over a line on the page, and saying word “clouds” out loud for it to be considered reading.
If you’ve tried everything but your child hasn’t learned letter sounds, then check out the Bravo! Beginner! For kids with dyslexia, it’s the best way to learn!
Turned off to reading…
By the time you’re reading this, your child might already be turned off to reading.
It happens so easily.
When flashcards don’t work, your child internalizes it. When phonics sheets are misunderstood, your child’s self-esteem takes a hit. When a teacher asks your child for the name of a letter sound in front of the class and your child doesn’t answer correctly, shame enters the playing field.
It shouldn’t be this way!
Reading should be taught in a fun, relaxed way. In a way your child understands and can apply. Especially letter sounds, which are the entry level to all reading skills.
It doesn’t take long…
Most kids will naturally pick up on letter sounds. From being read to. From the media. From games. And from traditional reading programs.
If your child hasn’t learned letter sounds yet, you might have bought some workbooks or games that promised to help.
Most likely, they didn’t.
That’s because these materials didn’t take your child’s unique learning style into consideration. They didn’t understand how kids with dyslexia process information. At Bravo!, we specialize in how the dyslexic child reads and processes information so we can bring these tools straight to you.
So letter sounds are learned with ease. So reading skills are mastered. So test are passed and grades soar!
The Methods that Work…
When the right methods are used, your child can make excellent progress in learning all letter sounds – even those tricky vowels! Bravo! Reading teaches kids how to learn letter sounds in a way that makes sense to them – not someone else.
Kids with dyslexia who have failed to learn letter sounds with all other methods make huge progress with the Bravo! Beginner. With as little as ten minutes of practice, five days a week, your child can learn letter sounds with ease…
Without teacher’s manuals piled up on the kitchen table. Without flashcards stacked up, causing stress. Without page after page of “drill and kill” phonics worksheets that will never connect with your child’s learning style.
Large motor cross lateral movements are what make the difference for your dyslexic learner!
Letter Sounds are Just the Start
If your child has dyslexia or is struggling to learn letter sounds, the Bravo! Beginner is the answer. It works faster than any other method available. Kids who have struggled to learn and retain letter sounds master them quickly and easily – often in as little as three weeks!
By using predictability, brain-based learning, and large cross lateral motor movements, your child is finally able to master letter sounds with the Bravo! Beginner. Even older kids who struggle to read benefit from going back and making sure consonant and vowel sounds are mastered.
Letter Sounds are the Start of a Strong Reading Foundation
A firm knowledge of letter sounds is the foundation for all reading skills!
Next, decoding enters the stage. In a nutshell, decoding is the ability to sound out letters and blend them into words. Strong decoding skills are vitally dependent on your child’s ability to know, use, and manipulate letter sounds.
Strong decoding skills are vitally important for reading fluency and comprehension scores. It is a means to an end, the true route for reading success. And the first step for decoding success is to make sure your child has a firm grasp on letter sounds.
Add in Automaticity…
Knowing letter sounds with automaticity is the first step of decoding. Automaticity means that your child can do something without using conscious thought.
It’s like driving a car.
When you first got your license, you had to put a lot of thought and effort into staying in the lines, braking, steering, and watching for oncoming traffic.
But at some point, you realized you ended up somewhere without knowing how you got there! That’s called automaticity.
This skill of automatically doing something is very important for all reading skills, not just knowing letter sounds or decoding.
Automaticity…a Fancy Word for Doing Something Without Thinking About It!
Knowing letter sounds like the back of your hand is important. If your child has to stop and think about each letter sound, then there’s a pause in learning. The flow of learning stops and your child must redirect. Fluency is stalled. Comprehension takes a back seat.
Fluency is your child’s ability to read with accuracy, speed, and proper expression. Your child needs to know letter sounds with automaticity for excellent fluency skills. When fluency is poor, your child will stammer and stutter over words. This not only leads to poor grades, but it can lead to embarrassment.
Excellent fluency scores lead to better comprehension skills. When fluency occures with automaticity, then your child is able to focus on comprehension – on the meaning of text – instead of laboring over individual letters and trying to blend them into words.
The Learning List that Lasts…
The Bravo! Beginner offers your child:
- cross lateral movements to make sure letter sounds set in for life – not just a few hours or days
- large muscle movements to teach your child in a way that makes sense
- color cues because most dyslexic readers are weak in visual processing skills
- picture cues because your child most likely has weak visual processing skills if it’s difficult to learn letter sounds
- “word clouds” with sayings because kids with dyslexia usually have weak auditory processing skills
- auditory cues because your child most likely has weak auditory processing skills if it’s difficult to learn letter sounds
- gradual weaning of cues so true learning takes place and not just memorization of letter placement
- multi-sensory approach to make sure all avenues of learning are used; research tells us this is the best way for kids with dyslexia to learn
- brain-based learning because kids with dyslexia learn differently than other kids; building new neural pathways in the brain makes true learning takes place
- predictability because kids with dyslexia live in a “topsy turvey” world and will often get frightened if something is new and difficult without warning
- first steps in decoding to ensure decoding success for life; this leads to strong fluency and comprehension skills
- instills automaticity so reading can happen quickly without conscious thought; this allows your chilcd to focus on meaning (comprehension) instead of struggling to sound out words.
Get the Bravo! Beginner in the Complete Bravo! Reading System and Save Money!
When you get the Complete Bravo! Reading System you won’t just save money! You’ll help your child overcome reading issues. You’ll get the Bravo! Beginner along with all eleven levels of the Bravo! Reading System. You’ll also receive all of Bravo! Reading’s expansion packs.
The expansion packs you’ll receive are the Bravo! Booster Pack, the Bravo! Super Booster Pack, the Bravo! Decoder Pack, the Bravo! Race from Reversals Pack, and the Bravo! “Seeing” for Reading Pack.
All for only $399.99
Value: $1969.83
The Bravo! Reading System Turns Your Child Into a Reading Shark!
The Bravo! Beginner and the Bravo! Reading Expansion Packs Make Reading Easier
Speaking Your Child’s Language
Kids love learning letter sounds with the Bravo! Beginner. That’s because it speaks in their learning language – not someone else’s. Most kids who struggle to learn letter sounds have dyslexia, and that means they learn differently than other kids.
Traditional reading programs cater to kids without dyslexia. They use methods that don’t work for kids who struggle to learn to read and spell. This isn’t what your child needs!
Since most kids with dyslexia are weak in visual and auditory skills, they learn best with large motor movements. Add in brain-based learning where they cross the midline of the body, and suddenly, they’re smiling!
When kids are having fun, they stay on task longer. Staying on task equates to learning, so having fun is important if letter sounds are to be learned.
When Traditional Methods Just Won’t Work…
Each step of the way, the Bravo! Beginner helps your child learn letter sounds. It’s an easy process, not one that causes tears, meltdowns, or frustration.
…because flashcards only serve to upset kids with dyslexia.
…because phonics is a left-brain dominant activity that makes absolutely no sense to a child with dyslexia.
…because matching letters to pictures is a language that makes little or no sense to a child with dyslexia.
…because letter sounds can be learned in a flash if the right learning language is used!
By the end of the Bravo! Beginner, all letter sounds are mastered, including both long and short vowel sounds.
This is the only program available like this, and it has been used with massive success in the Harp Learning Institute learning centers for over twenty years!
You’ll receive the Bravo! Beginner immediately as a digital file, so you can get your dyslexic learner going right away.
The Bravo! Beginner was designed for kids with dyslexia, but it works for any learner. Even young learners master letter sounds with ease by using the Beginner! Teens who have haven’t mastered letter sounds (usually vowel sounds) also thrive with the Beginner.
