With True North Reading, students have learned to read faster, smoother, and with 100% comprehension…

• with one-on-one teaching
• in private classes* with homeschooling families
• in private co-op learning groups
• in public and private school classrooms, with teachers who want to reach all of their students
• with English as a second language (ESL) children and adults
• and in video classrooms across the world.

Please see the ABOUT page for more.

• Preschoolers ages two through five—to start out right (and never struggle)
• Elementary-aged children who want to read but lack confidence or struggle with reading and spelling
• Gifted elementary-aged students, to move through reading faster and “not miss anything”
• The student who can read—but struggles with spelling
• Teens in middle and high school who need help reading faster and with more comprehension
• ESL students (learning English as a second language)

Even college students and adults have used True North Reading to increase their reading skills and increase reading speed and comprehension.

True North Reading is complete—specially designed for exactly what you need to read well. If you want to learn to read faster, smoother, and with 100% comprehension with True North Reading, go here.

If you’ve never taught a child to read before, this program gives you expert direction and content, to teach your child to read at the highest levels.

You can watch the short, how-to videos with your child and walk through the activities with your child (many parents simply “click in” and follow the lessons).

Or you can watch the videos by yourself, as the parent-teacher, and then be your child’s reading teacher directly (away from the videos). In this way, you can move ahead, printing the pages, collating them into a how-to binder (and referencing them/using what you need “in order”).

This is just like a how-to master’s level training course, to help teach your child to read. With Erin on the videos as your guide, you have the exact and complete training by a master teacher of 30+ years on how to make your teaching just right.

Again—here’s why it works…

It’s complete.
You never have to worry that something’s missing. Every single part of learning to read is covered and then some, so you can give your child the best reading instruction.

It’ll be easy…
Everything is presented in simple, easy-step understanding—to help your young child never feel that he or she “can’t do it”—and give feelings of accomplishment, pride, and confidence right from the start.

It’s hands-on…
Because kids learn best in active, sensory-centered learning, we help you to know exactly what to do. Your child learns with hands-on manipulatives; body movement, including large play (vestibular stimulation), push-pull (proprioceptive movement), and touch (tactile stimulation); sound and sight (hearing, speaking, and seeing); game-play learning; and personalized motivation (infused throughout each lesson). We show you how to get to your child’s heart with the truths of reading—so that your child can start reading right and get excited about reading.

It’s fun…
It’s critical that your child enjoys reading right from the start—to read easily, with no struggle and become a lifelong reader. That’s why everything we do is presented in a game—to create happy, enjoyable feelings around reading.

It’s child-centered…
It’s never about the teacher—it’s always about the child. That means learning is presented in short bursts, for exactly what’s appropriate for your child’s age and development. Your child isn’t forced into a mold; the personal, unique characteristics of your child are taken into consideration in all of your child’s teaching and learning.

It’s child-centered…
It’s never about the teacher—it’s always about the child. That means learning is presented in short bursts, for exactly what’s appropriate for your child’s age and development. Your child isn’t forced into a mold; the personal, unique characteristics of your child are taken into consideration in all of your child’s teaching and learning.

If this sounds right for you and your child, you can get it now at this page.

• Lack of Fluency: Reading is choppy
• Lack of Speed: Reading isn’t fast and smooth 
• Missing Words: Words are skipped
• Substitutions: The student reads one word as another (“wrong words”)
• Difficulty with Memory/Comprehension: The student doesn’t remember what was read, asks to repeat information, or 
• Spelling: Struggles with spelling from the start (or can read well but struggles with spelling)
• Learning Problems: Dyslexia, auditory or visual processing disorders, speech challenges, or other physical, emotional, or mind-processing challenges negatively influencing reading
• Lack of Interest or Focus: Easily distracted/not able to concentrate/not desiring to learn reading
• Lack of Confidence: The student feels badly about/dislikes reading/doesn’t want to read

When a Child “Reads Great” at the Start—and then it all begins to fall apart…
Quite commonly, because of the inaccuracy of the reading program a child is using, the student was able to “read just fine” up to about 3^rd grade level (where phonics and other programs “break down ” )—but now, the student is showing signs of struggle.

Unfortunately—this is the state of more than half of the students learning to read English today. The way that reading is taught actually hinders a child’s ability to read with fluency, speed, 100 percent comprehension, and enjoyment.

You can fix these and many other problems when reading is taught…

• Correctly—With correct information, by a phonemic or sound-based approach
• In Small Steps—Through simple and accomplishable steps that grow confidence
• With a Game-Based Approach—Allowing the student to stay with learning tasks longer and feel positive emotions about reading
• With All of the Senses—So the student learns easily and more deeply
• Within Memory Groups—So the student remembers and can easily recall information 
• Covering Learning in All Areas of Reading—including auditory discrimination, visual discrimination and decoding, vocabulary, critical thinking, and comprehension

Students who come to True North Reading later on (after they’ve started to read) often start with the Combination Code—to understand fully how reading words and “rewire” the mind, to read more easily and without struggle.

If this description fits your child and you want to fix it now, go here to sign up.

Phonics, which is a sight-based method of reading, is like that: It starts out with many portions that are “right”—but because it’s not sound based or complete, a bunch of “rules” have to be included…those “exceptions” that pile up and make reading complicated… and more…

“Memorizing whole words” (like many “baby reading programs”) start out well, but our minds can only hold so many memorized pieces (without “tricks” like the loci system) before it starts “substituting” wrong words.

Kids who learn to read by memorizing whole words can struggle deeply in mid- and later-grade reading—because the child didn’t learn that reading is truly “a bunch of Sound Pictures put together.” Knowing the Sound Pictures of all the sounds in the English language helps the child decode any and all reading, now and in the future.

So even though your child can be “reading well” now—that doesn’t mean that he or she will have the exact tools and know-how needed to read in upper-levels of learning and life. As a university professor for decades, Erin (the designer of True North Reading) has observed and worked with thousands of students in universities who aren’t reading at their highest level. In businesses and in life in general, adults all across the world struggle with reading fast, reading higher-level content, and remembering the content well (without feeling like “it’s giving me a headache to read this”).

It’s important to give your child not only beginning reading—but also to give your student the tools of how reading works—so that he or she can figure out any word in high school, college, and beyond. Whether it’s simply being able to read the back of a medicine bottle, having no struggles at university, or being someone who enjoys reading as an adult—reading with excellence affects all of learning and life.

If your child is struggling…
And if your child started out reading well—but he or she is starting to show issues in reading—then most likely, your child has come up with a way to read that doesn’t work now. The sooner you can get your child thinking and learning to read correctly (in the way English really works), the faster your child will learn to read well.

With True North Reading, what you get is complete—you don’t have to buy any other program, for ALL your children, for ALL your grades.

And you get expert one-on-one video instruction by a Master Teacher—where you, the parent, receives one-on-one mentoring for how to teach your child to read in the most complete, best way possible.

True North Reading’s CEO, Erin M. Brown, knows firsthand that homeschooling allows you to tailor learning to your child. As a 34-year homeschooling parent of eleven children by birth and adoption, she designed this program to work perfectly for homeschooling families. Used by homeschooling families for 25 years, it has proven to be a “first choice” by homeschooling parents across the US and world.

You might ask, are workbooks “easier” for homeschoolers? The better question might be, what does my child really need, to become an exceptional reader who loves to read and learn? Workbook-centered programs may not be complete, can be boring, and most likely won’t give your child a love of reading. Yes, for the parent—it may be easier as a parent to sit your child down with a workbook. But the results most likely will not be the best for your child.

And as a homeschooling parent, you know that you homeschool because you want the best for your child.

In fact, students with dyslexia who learned to read with True North Reading are now adults successfully working at Apple, at major hospitals, in office receptionist positions, and in all areas of commerce. Learning to read with True North Reading, students with dyslexia have even become writers and published authors—successfully reading and writing as adults by using the True North Reading strategies even today.

To successfully teach a student with dyslexia to read, the program and methods must…

• Understand the giftedness aspect of dyslexia, and work within that giftedness ¹
• Understand the multi-faceted reach of dyslexia, and address learning within all domains ²
• Understand and use a multisensory approaches to learning ^{3, 4}
• Use visual discrimination and visual training as a separate element in the teaching and learning of reading ⁵
• Address phonological awareness (hearing/processing sounds) ^{6, 7, 8}
• Use perceptual anchors ⁹ and physical/motor/movement anchors ¹⁰

And even pay attention to details such as…

• Using no-serif font (sans serif) ¹¹
• Using pitch and music in learning¹²
• and more…

What’s special about True North Reading is that it…isn’t a whim, a fad, or a gimmick. It’s not repackaging or slick marketing of what’s been done. It’s cutting edge and revolutionary, because True North Reading…

• Takes research on the best ways that we know how teach and learn…
• Blends the research with the best methods of how reading works and the teaching reading…
• Integrates results from across the many disciplines of excellence about children, teaching, and learning
• And packages how to read in a simple, in-order, easily accessed online program for you.

Resources
¹ https://www.amazon.com/Gift-Dyslexia-Smartest-Revised-Expanded/dp/0399535667/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2R66BPDSZFO01&keywords=the+gift+of+dyslexia&qid=1572538526&sprefix=the+gift+of+dys%2Caps%2C191&sr=8-1
² https://content.taylorfrancis.com/books/download?dac=C2016-0-01879-1&isbn=9781315405582&format=googlePreviewPdf
³ https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=9cijCwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=dyslexia+teaching+methods&ots=TTLXUgzDMM&sig=kfdztsPpsrQ6TlfpLjjTsCFMZHQ#v=onepage&q=dyslexia%20teaching%20methods&f=false
⁴ https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED529098
⁵ https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09588221.2014.889716
⁶ https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.0963-7214.2005.00376.x
⁷ https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/00346543073004407
⁸ https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/PL00010690
⁹ https://www.nature.com/articles/nn1800
¹⁰ https://content.taylorfrancis.com/books/download?dac=C2010-0-37397-5&isbn=9781135372842&format=googlePreviewPdf
¹¹ https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0142159X.2017.1302080
¹² https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0305735600282010

• Dyslexia
• Auditory Processing Disorder
• Language Processing Disorder
• Visual tracking issues
• Vision loss, low vision
• Deaf, hard of hearing
• Speech and language challenges
• Learning differences
• Processing deficits
• Autism Spectrum
• FASD
• ADHD/ADD
• Dyspraxia
• Executive functioning challenges
• Non-verbal learning disabilities
• Visual-perceptual and visual-motor deficits
• Working memory challenges

For information regarding guarantees and other policies, please see this page. Thank you!

Gifted students might also read high above the typical reading level for his or her age—but may also struggle with spelling…

When you use True North Reading with your gifted student, he or she moves faster to complete reading, with no struggles later on in both reading and spelling.

Gifted students who have learned to read with True North Reading are now doctors, occupational therapists, engineers, and published leaders in their chosen areas of expertise.

1. Young Beginner (ages 2-4)

• Video lessons with simple games and fun, begin to learn the Basic Code Sound Pictures by sight and sound
• Increase phonemic awareness needed for reading success
• Learn to make the sounds of our language and start pairing Sound Pictures (letters) with the sounds
• Lay a strong foundation for how reading and spelling works, so there are no struggles in learning to read and spell
• Learn what’s needed for reading and fluency, including visual tracking, left-right reading movement, and more

2. Basic Code 1 (ages 5-8)

• Video lessons, materials, and activities to learn the 28 Basic Code Sound Pictures by sight and sound—in ways that make reading EASY and FAST
• Learn to hear and say sounds correctly using Sound Signs and games
• Increase phonemic awareness that leads to upper-level fluency
• Begin reading words individually and in stories
• And more

3. Basic Code 2 (ages 5-8)

• Video lessons, activities, pages, and reading to learn all of the Basic Code Blends
• Increase the number of words read, including words with multiple sounds/Sound Pictures and sentences
• Increase visual (sight) and auditory (sound) discrimination for reading and spelling fluency
• Practice visual tracking for smooth left-to-right reading
• Activities to grow in enjoyment and confidence with reading

4. The Combination Code (ages 6-15/adult)

• Advance reading by learning to decode 49 combinations of letters, where multiple letters represent one Sound Picture
• Learn and solidify decoding skills while gaining confidence and fluency
• Increase enjoyment and skills for reading sentences and paragraphs fluently and for meaning
• Increase upper-level vocabulary
• Increase reading comprehension, summary, and synthesis of reading and written ideas

5. The Vowel Name Code (ages 8-15/adult)

• Learn decoding skills for the vowel names A, E, I, O, U-OO, and U-EEOO—decoding over 50 Vowel Name Sound Pictures
• Build to high school vocabulary, learn the skills of the dictionary and thesaurus, and increase creative sentence construction
• Increase fluency in sentence and paragraph reading
• Increase comprehension

6. The Imposter Code (ages 8-15/adult)

• Learn advanced decoding skills of multiple ways to write Basic Code and Combination Code sounds and Sound Pictures
• Decode over 70 additional Sound Pictures that “masquerade” as “imposters” for Basic Code sounds
• Gain the tools to increase reading and spelling fluency through high school grade levels
• Decode simple to intricate sentences with high-level vocabulary (high school to college)
• Increase confidence for reading intricate words, sentences, and paragraphs for meaning

Again, each level is broken down into individual lessons with short learning videos, pages and activities to download, and full instructions for reading and spelling.

Because True North Reading is “hands on,” simple, inexpensive manipulatives (hands-on items) are recommended and used throughout the program—but families can also use inexpensive household items for most of the hands-on activities. Everything that you need is explained within the lesson area.*

* The hands-on supplies are simple to get and use. Parents who want to use the program “exactly as is” are asked to purchase a small, hand-held whiteboard and wipe-off marker; 3×5 cards; a highlighting marker; simple items for games such as popsicle sticks or toothpicks; and other simple, inexpensive items that are listed at the start of every level and lesson.

Because the information builds upon itself within each passing lesson, lessons are chronological—meaning that the student finishes each and every lesson “in a row” before moving to the next lesson (not skipping around)…

Individual Teaching
The program can be used as an individualized program, with one-on-one teaching—moving at the student’s pace, for each student’s specific reading needs. Whether you help your preschool child begin reading, help your elementary child read better (and get rid of emerging struggles in reading or spelling), or help your teen be fully prepared for decoding college-level words, mastering higher vocabulary, and reading with high comprehension—parents have used True North Reading one-on-one for 20 years.

Group and Classroom Teaching
Since 2002, True North Reading has been used successfully in groups and classrooms—working on specific lessons each week. Private school classrooms, public school classrooms, and homeschooling co-ops have used True North Reading to teach students how to read.

Flexibility of Design—For All Learners
Parents and teachers have found that the flexibility of design makes this program perfect for all students, including students who are gifted (moving faster); students who are struggling (focusing, to master each skill before moving forward); and students in groups and classrooms (working together, with specific learning time and weekly assignments).

* The True North Reading Levels are…

The Basic Code Young Beginners (Begin Reading Now!)
(Designed for children ages 2-4)

The Basic Code Level 1, Introducing the Basic Code (Start Reading Right!)
(Designed for children ages 5-8)

The Basic Code Level 2, Blends and Fluency (Fluency Right Away)
(Designed for children ages 5-8)   

The Combination Code, Strong Foundations and Decoding    
(Designed for students ages 8-15/adult)

The Vowel Name Code, Mastering the Vowel Name Sounds: Decoding & Reading 
(Designed for students ages 8-15/adult)

The Imposter Code: Advanced Decoding, Vocabulary, and Comprehension
(Designed for students ages 8-15/adult)

The Original Program pages are grouped in one-page areas separated by titles such as Key Documents, Learning Videos, Games, and Pages – with how-to weekly guides and videos for parents.

Whether you want to start our right with your two-year-old—or your 10-year-old needs help—we’ll help you know where to jump in, to get exactly what you need.

It’s clear. It’s complete. It’s easy.

Young children (in particular) thrive with one-on-one, face-to-face parental involvement—and True North Reading completely involves the parent in the child’s learning.

If you’re looking for a reading program where you can simply sit your child down in front of the computer and have him or her “learn on his or her own,” then True North Reading is most likely not the program for you.

But if you want to be involved in your child’s learning, with hands-on activities and clear teamwork to help your child, to ensure that your child learns to read in the best way possible, then this is for you.

For beginning readers…
Because learning is hands-on and game-based, parents are 100% involved in beginning readers learning—working one-on-one with each portion of the lesson, guiding the learning, checking for understanding, and giving praise and encouragement along the way.

For older elementary-aged children…
Depending on your child’s skills and motivation, your older child may indeed thrive working through True North Reading independently. Knowing your older elementary-aged child’s strengths and weaknesses is key to knowing when to help and when to join in.

Once an older child understands and is “in the swing of things” (knows the system), parents can often let an older child move ahead with the program with regular “checks ins” for the games, activities, and work. (We let you know exactly how to be in that “check in” role.)

Siblings can also learn together—and if you have an older child who struggles, placing your older child in a mentoring, leadership role for your younger child is a great “behind the scenes” way to shore up your older child’s skills (without the older child feeling self-conscious).

For teens…
Most teens can absolutely work through the program independently. Again, it’s recommended that parents regularly check in on the teen’s progress, to ensure your teen’s highest learning.

• It’s research based, using what works to teach reading in the best way possible
• It gathers how-to information from across the top how-to-learn-best disciplines and integrates “best practices” from across each and every one
• It goes beyond phonics to a revolutionary way of teaching—completely restructuring the way kids learn to read to make it easier, faster, and more complete
• It brings joy to reading
• For those “going back” to “fix” issues, it gets rid of struggles
• It gives confidence and brings hands-on fun to reading

Here is the Basic Code:

In the Basic Code…

1. The letters are in a different order than the alphabet.
2. The letters are learned vertically
3. Some letters are placed next to each other
4. For two of the Sound Pictures, there are two letters together (ck and qu).
5. There are additional Sound Pictures (ck and s-buzz).
6. The two “two-sound Sound Pictures” are placed at the end.

Students learn sounds and their Sound Pictures with the Basic Code—and are able to see and use the alphabet, too. In fact, almost all of the learning pages show the alphabet next to the Basic Code, so students are familiar with both.

The basic code is different on purpose—and every single special piece of the Basic Code different for a reason: to teach your child to read faster, smoother, with more understanding, and with more comprehension.

When we learn how English works right from the start, we learn to read faster (because we’re learning to read in the best way possible).

There are many specific and intentional reasons why the Basic Code is in a different order, including…

In the Basic Code, the Four Truths of Reading are addressed fully—right away—so that your beginning (and advanced) reader learns to read correctly, in a way that is logical and makes sense, and in a way that helps your reader learn to read with more understanding, with more speed and fluency, and with more accuracy.

See The Four Truths of Reading.

Later on in the upper levels, we use the vertical layout in games and activities to show how many sounds in the language are simply imposters or copies of the Basic Code sounds.

The vertical layout easily supports the second Truth of how the English language works: In English, one sound can be drawn many different ways (“One sound, many different pictures”). And the games and activities with the vertical layout help the student make connections, remember the sound, and become strong spellers.

For example,
a
b
c, k, ck

Becomes…
a
b
c, k, ck, kh, ke, che, qu, que
(and so on, for the entire Basic Code)

Stacking the letters and sounds vertically allows students to visualize and remember all of the ways to draw the sounds—which, in turn, helps a student not only decode and read with excellence—but also become a better speller.

See the question above, “Why is the Basic Code taught vertically?” (The answer is embedded in the previous question’s answer.)

Because your student understands both how and why of how English works (“way beyond” learning just the alphabet), placing Sound Pictures next to each other helps your student jump ahead in understanding—and learn to read faster.

See the question above: Why is the Basic Code in a different order than the alphabet? (The answer is embedded in the previous question’s answer.)

The letters placed next to each other supports the first Truth of how the English language works: In English, more than one letter can represent one sound (“Many letters, one sound”).

When your child understands the how and why of how English works—right away—then he or she can jump ahead in understanding and learn to read faster.

1. Markings help the student learn the Sound Pictures faster.

True North Reading’s activities and games center around “finding the Sound Picture” and “marking the Sound Picture.” Finding and marking allows the mind to associate multiple letters together as a picture for one sound.

Marking help the student learn: The act of marking with the eyes, the ears, and the body (multi-sensory learning) among many different games and activities.

Decoding is the first step to reading. Understanding that sounds can be drawn (spelling) and the converse—that groups of letters can be decoded into sounds—is the cornerstone to both reading and spelling. When decoding is mastered with fluency, students read quickly and can increase comprehension.

2. Markings help the student completely understand different sounds that have “same pictures.”

The third Truth of reading English states, one Sound Picture can be shared among different sounds
(“One picture, many different sounds”).

In the advanced levels, True North Reading’s activities and games center on knowing the shared Sound Pictures.

Because the one picture used among different sounds is marked differently for each sound, students learn to “try out” the different sounds that the Sound Picture “carries,” to read (and understand) the word correctly.

For example…

The Sound Picture “ea” is shared three times:

1. “ea” = A, as in “great” – marked with a box around the letters
2. “ea” = E, as in “pea” – marked with what we call a “z picture”
3. “ea” = /e/, as in “bread” – marked with an “underline-v picture”

Sound confusing? It’s really not—because when students are actively involved with their eyes, speaking/hearing, writing/marking, and playing games, the students get excited, enjoy the activities, and learn quickly. Learning to read is interactive, fun, and more memorable.

Qu
“Qu” is the picture for the sound /k/ and the OO sound (as in too), together.

X
“X” is the picture for the sound /k/ and the /s/ sound, together.

Because these two Sound Pictures are unique—in fact, “double sounds”—they are placed at the end of the Basic Code.

The Sound Sign movements are not random (like tapping arms). The movements are specific and chosen—movements that are tied to Speech and Language Pathology and actual speaking, for reading…

Some of the Sound Sign shapes (and movements) have ties to American Sign Language (ASL)—and because of that similarity, the Sound Sign’s hand shapes help your student to remember a letter or the source of a sound (where the sound originates in the mouth, tongue, or lips).

Using Sound Signs, your student can learn to read faster and spell with certainty.

Each sound’s Sound Sign helps the student…

* Sound Signs show how a sound is correctly produced

In order to read well, students must be able to correctly say the sound—and then the student can “assign a picture” (letters) to the sound.

And in order to spell well, students must be able to hear the sounds—and then segment, or pull apart, the sounds in each word. If a student doesn’t know each sound, then separating sounds for accurate spelling is nearly impossible. Sound signs help students hear separate sounds.

And by showing exactly how to say the sound, Sound Signs help students learn the sounds faster.

* Sound Signs give the student a physical anchor—to easily recall the sound and picture (letters)

Physical anchors are movements that help bring ideas to mind. In order to read faster, students must be able to easily and quickly recall “the sound that goes with the picture.” Sound Signs are physical anchors that help students to, by way of a physical memory, recall the sound.

There are a number of excellent ways to increase memory; memories can be made (or “cemented”) into the mind in many different ways. Physical movement is one of those ways.

The simple act of assigning a movement to a sound gives the mind another access point to the memory. Sound Signs’ physical movements increase recall. Because the memory has multi-sensory roots—through sound, sight, and physical movement—the student has more access points to the memory.

That means your student has the potential for stronger, faster recall.

The sounds of English are long and short. Long means, you can say the sound of the Sound Picture “forever” (or as long as you have breath!).

For Example…

• The sound for /a/ is long: You can hold it out in a long “aaaaaaaaaaaa” voice.
• The sound for /t/ is short: You cannot hold out the sound. Once you say, /t/, it’s done, complete, over.

It is easier to blend long sounds. And when a word is made up of all long sounds—like am, man, sun, and swim—the words are easier to read. (You can hold each and every one of those sounds out long, as long as you have breath.)

True North Reading teaches your child to read with long sounds first—for success right away.

The sounds of English are also voiced and not voiced. Voiced means that you are making a voice or spoken sound with the letter. Our long /a/ sound is also voiced: when you say /a/, your voice is “in play.”

For Example…

• Not voiced sounds include the/h/ sound and the /s/ sound. Both /h/ and /s/ can be held out long—but there is no voicing of the sound. (Try it!)
• Some short sounds are voiced, like /b/ and /d/. Some short sounds have no voice, like /t/ and /k/. And some sounds are simply air, such as /f/. (Try it!)

ALL of this information is taken into account—placing the letters in a special order for learning—an order that gives your child the highest probability of success.

True North Reading teaches uses “best practices” from Speech and Language Pathology to remove the “natural barriers” of sounds in our language—teaching reading in an order that gives your child the easiest learning experience and smooth fluency.

To find out what the markings are for, read the answer to the question above, In the Basic Code, why are there boxes drawn around the “ck” and “qu” letters?

Many different markings are used—all in recognizable patterns, with meaning. Making meaning with patterns allows your child to know how to recognize, pronounce, and remember Sound Pictures.

Here’s an example of a Sound Box from the Combination Code:

Here’s an example of a Sound Box from the Vowel Name Code:

Here’s an example of a Sound Box from the Imposter Code:

Sounds and Sound Pictures are taught in Sound Box groupings just like the Sound Boxes above.

With Sound Boxes grouping like-sounds together, your student can perfectly learn all of the sounds of the English language—and bring the sounds to mind quickly.

So your student easily recalls Sound Pictures, quickly decodes, fluently blends words and sentences, and reads faster.

1. In English, more than one letter can represent one sound.
(“Many letters, one sound”)

Example

• The sound /t/ (one sound) can be drawn with one letter: “t.”
• The sound /aw/ (one sound) can be drawn with two letters: “au.”
• The sound /g/ (one sound) can be drawn with three letters: “gue” (as in “vague”).

2. In English, one sound can be drawn many different ways.
(“One sound, many different pictures”)

Example

• Example 1: Sound /k/
  • The /k/ sound can be drawn nine different ways:
    c (cat); k (kit); ck (sock); ch (Christmas); kh (khaki); ke (Brooke); che (ache); qu (mosquito); que (antique)
• Example 2: Sound /s/
  • The /s/ sound can be drawn seven different ways:
    s (sun); se (house); ce (peace); sw (sword); st (castle); sc (scent); ps (Psalms)

3. One Sound Picture can be shared among different sounds.
(“One picture, many different sounds”)

• Example 1:
  • The one (1) “Sound Picture” (letter) “a” can represent four (4) different sounds:
    /a/, as in “cat”
    A (the letter name), as in “baby”
    uh, as in “America”
    /e/ (sometimes called the “schwa” sound), as in “Evan”
• Example 2:
  • The one (1) Sound Picture “ou” can represent four (4) different sounds:
    ow, as in “shout”
    O (the letter name), as in “soul”
    OO, as in “you”
    /u/, as in “couple”

4. You can combine different letters and get a representation for an entirely new sound.
(“Different letters/Sound Pictures put together can become one new sound/Sound Picture.”)
(“One letter/sound + one letter/sound = same letters, new sound”)

• Example 1:
  • The letter “s” can represent the /s/ sound (as in “sun”).
    The letter “h” can represent the /h/ sound (as in “hat”).
    Put the letters next to each other (“sh”), and the letters no longer represent their original sounds. The one new Sound Picture, “sh,” represents the /sh/ sound (as in the word “ship”).
• Example 2:
  • The letter “u” can represent the /u/ sound (as in “sun”).
    The letter “g” can represent the /g/ sound (as in “gum”).
    The letter “h” can represent the /h/ sound (as in “hat”).
    Put the letters next to each other (“ugh”), and the letters no longer represent their original sounds. The one new Sound Picture, “ugh,” represents the /f/ sound (as in the word, “laugh”).

All four Truths of how English works are included in the Basic Code. So when your child/student learns the Basic Code, he or she also learns how English works. Our magnificent minds tend to use those correct understandings and methods—to continue to apply the logic to all that it sees.

With the right how-to thinking, our mind begins to logically “work on reading on its own.” Our minds have what it takes to say, “If this Truth applies here, I can now apply it here, too.”

This is the correct information needed, to teach a child to read. And this is one of the many reasons students with True North Reading often learn to read faster and with more success.

Here is some of the special vocabulary of reading:

Here is some of the special vocabulary of True North Reading: *

And there are fifteen (15) games that you’ll learn, too.

* The words above are trademarked terms for the True North Reading method of teaching and learning.

1. Picture Knowledge

First, we must know the Sound Pictures that go with (are assigned) for each sound. We can’t “find” the Sound Pictures in a word unless we fully know (and can quickly recognize) the Sound Picture.

This Sound Picture Knowledge part of decoding is the very first step of reading.

Picture knowledge is 1) knowing a sound (in our language) and then 2) knowing what picture goes with that sound (“what to draw,” or letter(s) that represent that sound, or are assigned to that sound).

By the way, with True North Reading, this Picture Knowledge skill (and how it works) is why we call the letter combinations Sound Pictures: the letter(s) written down represent a sound.

Here, Picture Knowledge is referred to as the mastering “the sound to picture” skill.

It’s also the skill we need for spelling.

2. Picture Finding

Next, we must be able to see, or identify, or find, the Sound Pictures (letter combinations) inside of a word. Once a picture is “found,” the mind goes to work—translating the picture into the sound that the picture represents.

This Picture Finding skill of looking inside the word and figuring out the “groups of letters” for each sound is critical to reading.

Why? Because good readers actually “see” the Sound Pictures before blending through the word.

We look inside the word—before reading the word.

In other words, a good reader is “taking an airplane view” of a word before it’s read. They’re seeing Sound Pictures in the word, recognizing the sounds, and then blending (reading across the word) the sounds, to read the entire word.

Much like the driver of a car using peripheral view to see the entire surrounding area, the reader is taking a mini peripheral view of the entire word—an overview of sorts. Most reading programs ignore this part of decoding.

This look inside skill is critical to fluency.

3. Picture Blending

We know the Sound Pictures by themselves.

We can “see” or recognize the Sound Pictures inside the word, before we read it.

Then, left to right, we blend across or through the sounds.

For fluency, the brain taking a split-second overview of the sounds before reading is critical because of our language’s short and long sounds. As stated here earlier, you can’t blend a short sound to the next sound.

Fluent readers see “inside sounds” (and hold the sounds in the mind) before blending.

Here’s how beginning readers can FLUENTLY read the word, top.

1. The /t/ sound is short. It stops. Because the sound stops, the /t/ can’t connect to the /o/ sound. You can’t blend /t/ to /o/. It’s not possible… unless…
2. We see the /o/ first. We “find” the o-picture on the inside of the word… we recognize that the o picture represents the /o/ sound…
3. We “hold the sound in our minds.” /ooooooooooo/.
4. We attach the /t/ sound to the /o/.
5. While we’re holding the /ooooo/ sound, we attach the next sound: /p/. The /p/ is short. So as a beginning reader, because we can hold out the /o/, we think, t/oooooooooo/. And what’s great is that the long /o/ sound helps to give us time to think about the next Sound Picture.
6. We finish the word: t/oooooooooo/p.

In True North Reading, through games and easy, hands-on, step-by-step learning and practice, we pay attention to each step of decoding—Picture Knowledge, Picture Finding, and Picture Blending. And we pay attention to short and long sounds, in order to read fluently and quickly.

Many letters are similar in shape:

o, a
i, l
h, n
f, t

Many letters are similar or identical in shape but are “flipped around”:

w, m
n, u
p, q

With True North Reading, because Visual Discrimination games and worksheets are a regular part of each lesson, your child learns to clearly, quickly visually discriminate and know each letter (or Sound Picture letter group) and its corresponding sound.

Similar sounds (and mouth shapes) include…

a and e
f and th (as in “thin”)
n and m

Research shows us that the correct hearing and speaking of sounds influences our ability to read and spell well. So at True North Reading, we make sure that each and every sound of the English language can be easily heard—and spoken—and then “matched” with its Sound Picture.

Reading is not simply “learning letters and the sounds that they make”—and then “putting the sounds together.” The simplistic, linear reading model ignores the brain’s complexity and ability to think on many levels simultaneously.

For example…

Do you play the piano? If so, you know that playing the piano has two parts: 1) reading/playing the melody, and 2) reading/playing the chords. The two skills work together. Pianists are aware of the melody and the harmony—simultaneously. Reading is like that.

The act of reading has two parts at once, too: 1) identifying the interior Sound Pictures (the sound that are IN the word), and 2) blending the sounds (then reading THROUGH the word).

Reading is not about memorizing whole words, either. Whole word reading is a strategy that breaks down—because our minds can only memorize and hold a certain number of words before substituting words and guessing.

Great readers are using two skills at once:

1. “Reading in” (identifying, or finding, Sound pictures in the words) and
2. “Reading through” (adding those “found sounds” together, left to right). 

True North Reading teaches “reading in and through.” Starting with the very beginning readers, through games and activities, students train their mind to see within the word, first… and then across or through the word.

By the way, most phonics instruction (and its style of straight-across blending) ignores “reading in.” To read fluently, one must use both skills.

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