This class is loosely based on a curriculum (EdMark) that focuses on repetition and a variety of different modalities to present single words to learners at a time. I have found tremendous success with this program within the public school system with students in first, second, and third grade who were greatly struggling to identify letter sounds, and had difficulty blending those sounds to read simple consonant-vowel-consonant words (such as hat, pin, or cub). Students with severe ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and diagnosed specific learning disability in reading have FINALLY been able to learn how to read through memorization of words. Most of these students do, eventually, start grasping the idea of sounding out words as the curriculum progresses.

The curriculum is divided into levels, based on how learners progress. I have broken level 1 down into 3 parts, each part consisting of 5 weeks, with Monday - Wednesday presenting the words (3-4 new words each day), Thursday is a review and assessment class (often involving a game), and Friday is a day off. Depending on the rate of learning by your student, this timeline may change.

Additional weeks/days may be provided depending on how the student is progressing. I have also found that students who cannot learn to read in traditional methods, while they do find tremendous success with this curriculum, still struggle greatly with simple sight words (such as the, and, a, I, etc.), so I also recommend the use of flash cards in between classes to continue working on these words.

While the words are presented individually, and seems very easy and basic at the beginning, within no time at all, learners are able to read phrases and sentences with minimal prompting. Classes are presented via powerpoint slides and provides opportunities for the learner to practice writing the words, phrases, and sentences on their personal white boards.

Most lessons will similarly follow the provided outline of lesson 1, presented below:
1. horse - introduction, spell it, write it, read it in different fonts, write it again, identify if it is spelled correctly.
2. a - introduction, write it, create a phrase (a horse), read it in different fonts, write the phrase.
3. car - introduction, spell it, write it, create a phrase (a car), read it in different fonts, write the phrase, identify if it is spelled correctly.
4. yellow - introduction, spell it, write it, create a phrase (a yellow car) read it in different fonts, write the phrase, identify if it is spelled correctly.
5. Quick review of all words from the lesson individually and within phrases.