Why It Works

The Mastery 7 Principle

True North Reading is based on the Mastery 7 Principle—the principle that when Seven Critical Elements are present in learning, we can learn anything faster and more successfully.

Used in curriculum design, teaching and learning, and classrooms from preschool through college since the early 1990s, the Mastery Seven Principle was created by True North Reading’s CEO Erin M. Brown to help parents, educators, and curriculum designers help students learn to their absolute best ability.

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Teaching and learning with the Mastery Seven Principle is absolutely essential to learning to read well—because, when applied right, we can use these Seven Principles to master anything.

The Mastery Seven Principle is…

While learning, involve all of the senses and learning styles.
Make sure you’re using correct information.
Break learning into small, accomplishable tasks.
Use “just right” repetition—with high-interest techniques that are proven to work.
Create positive emotions within the learning experience—with positive memories, games, and laughter.
Use memory groups to learn and completely recall the information faster and better.
Connect what you’re learning to real life—tying it into what you know and making it apply to right now.

True North Reading uses all of the key elements of the Mastery Seven Principle—to bring your child the highest success possible, with complete mastery.

Using hands-on manipulatives

1. Learn with all of the senses…

See. Listen. Say. Move the body. Taste and Smell. When we use all of our senses, we learn faster and remember more. ¹

True North Reading uses a hands-on, see-hear-say, touch-and-move way of learning that’s fun and stays in your student’s mind and heart—because it includes full sensory integration, which combines learning power in a way that’s better than using any single method of learning.

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We all learn best when using all sensory learning styles (multi-sensory learning)—with visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning (vestibular, proprioceptive, and tactile/touch) that’s proven to help remember what’s learned faster. And when the body is involved—especially for kids—we not only remember more information and remember more quickly—we actually enjoy learning more…so your child learns to love to read.

Here at True North Reading, your child will use all of the senses and hands-on manipulatives—small items to move—along with hold-move-see-say cards, cubes, weights, colors and textures, writing and tracing surfaces, and dozens of creative learning methods—so he or she can learn in ways that increase imagination, ideation, critical thinking, understanding, and memory.

Does your reader…

Have trouble remembering the letter sounds?
Have trouble blending sounds?
Read slowly?
Have low or no interest in reading?
Say, “I can’t read” or “I don’t want to”?

Do you want…

No problems remembering the sounds and decoding (reading) words?
Faster reading?
You child excited, confident, and looking forward to reading?

With True North Reading, you can address these problems and get faster, confident reading with simple, easy-and-fun learning through all five senses.

¹ For resources on the academic support of multi-sensory learning, email truenorthreading@gmail.com.

Marking word lists

2. Use correct information…

To learn to read quickly, smoothly, and with 100% comprehension, we must have correct information—information that comes from research, not from fads or simply from what people have done in the past.

Many reading and phonics programs are presented poorly and incorrectly: they’re not complete; they skip critical information; they move too quickly or too slowly; they teaching “all over the place” in non-linear, circular or add-on methods; and they have too many exceptions with “rules” that confuse or make reading hard to remember.

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Worse yet—many how-to-read programs actually teach reading completely backwards—in ways that hinder the ability to read both now and in the later grades. So much of what’s “out there”—including whole-word memorization in “baby reading programs,” “graded level” reading books from major publishers and bookstores, and well-marketed (but poorly-written) programs—can hurt your child’s ability to read well.

(And because of this “poor” and incorrect curriculum—if your child is struggling, the probability is really high that it’s not your fault.)

It’s critical that a reading program is both laid out well and full of research-based truth, clearly presented within the best, most effective ways to learn. True North Reading is based on research and is complete, not leaving anything out—so that your child doesn’t miss critical information and can learn to read well.

Does your current reading program…

Feel like it’s missing something?
Have longer words like “alligator” show up in grade-level reading books—words where the sounds haven’t been taught yet, forcing your child to memorize those words?
Show a hot pot next to a dog and a log—and you (and your child) can clearly hear that the sounds for the “o” aren’t the same (So why are these words taught in the same lesson?!)?
Doesn’t even make sense to you, as an adult… so how could it make sense to your child?

Do you want your child to…

Have no trouble learning all of the sounds, to decode all words well?
Never struggle to sound out words—because every single sound in the words has been learned ahead of time—and there’s no guessing?
Feel relaxed and happy reading because everything is “accomplishable”?

With True North Reading, you can avoid the traps of poorly written how-to-read programs and give your child correct information—to make learning to read easier.

“Early Beginner” Auditory Discrimination: listening for sounds and making tally marks

3. Break learning into small, accomplishable tasks…

As a curriculum designer of over 25 years, True North Reading’s CEO and Creator Erin M. Brown knows that far too many times, programs don’t break down ideas into small enough pieces for true learning to take place.

True North Reading allows your child to master many small, accomplishable tasks, one by one, in single, sequential steps—so that reading is always easy for your child, with no frustration and positive momentum, for faster learning.

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Reading has many “parts”…

Visual Discrimination
Seeing and identifying letter(s) as separate and unique, then “finding” those sounds within words
Auditory Discrimination
Hearing the difference between one sound and another, then being able to see or “visually identify” the sounds within the words (reading) and put the words’ Sound Pictures back together again” (spelling)
Decoding
Knowing what sounds “go with” or “match up to” the single letters and groups of letters. And in English, because our language doesn’t have a one-to-one correspondence, we must know which sounds use the same pictures (e.g. the “ea” letter combination is used to represent—and is “borrowed across—three different sounds, as in team, great, and bread
Vocabulary
Recognizing the group of sounds as a word, and knowing that word’s meaning
Clustering and Chaining Words
Putting groups of words together (phrases and sentences) for meaning
Next-Step Comprehension
Understanding the “bottom line” meaning of a number of ideas placed together; boiling down many ideas into the essence or main idea (summary, paraphrase); and coming up with implied and next-step ideas (synthesis)

When you break learning down into its smallest pieces—with practice at every step—your child learns with Mastery Learning—the ability to master each step before going on to the next new idea. And when each part of reading is learned separately, your child can easily put the whole together.

Breaking reading down—and mastering each of its parts—is a hallmark of True North Reading.

Does your reader…

Get frustrated and want to give up?
Have trouble sounding out words?
Skip words?
Substitute wrong words (that look like the right word)?
Sound out words—but not remember the word he/she just read?
For spelling, have trouble hearing the separate sounds that make up a word?
Read entire paragraphs—and have no idea what he/she just read?

Do you want…

Confident reading?
No trouble sounding out words?
Reading each and every word correctly?
Understanding what was read?

With True North Reading, because each task of reading is “worked on” separately—and every task is broken down to its most simple pieces in small, accomplishable tasks—there’s no struggle, and your child can read correctly, with confidence!

Finding Sound Pictures in words

4. Use “just right” repetition…

Repetition is key to learning anything. But repetition by itself is boring.

True North Reading uses varied and diverse repetition that uses all of the senses—rooting the new ideas firmly into neurological pathways that are strong and deep.

Through changing the ways that we repeat ideas across many activities, the mind isn’t bored—and the brain can easily recall what was learned.

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Simply doing something over and over isn’t the answer. How many of us remember copying spelling words on a list 20 times—and still not remembering how to spell the word (let alone how boring it was)?

The answer is in varying the repetition within different senses, across different games, piquing different areas of interest—which helps your child remember and use the information for reading fast.

Does your reader…

Have trouble remembering something taught just yesterday?
“Forget” sounds that go with letters—and forget entire words?

Do you want…

Your child to remember ALL the sounds within words?
Your child to read each and every word smoothly?
No boredom—with your child asking to read?

With True North Reading, you can get rid of meaningless repetition and use “just right” repetition to help your child learn to read faster.

Playing the “Capture the Box” game–learning with positive emotions!

5. Play games—and create positive emotions…

Do you want your child to have a love of learning? Then use game-based learning!
Games are fun—and can positively motivate us to learn! When we tap into our child’s motivation and enjoyment, we create an inner desire to become involved and learn at the highest and deepest levels of learning. Because when learning is enjoyable, we return to learning again and again.

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Especially for children, enjoyment means games. Games mean fun—and learning with fun and success, your child is drawn to reading.

In recent years, gamification, or the use of presenting learning through game-based curriculum design, has become a big part of schools, colleges, and even in adult learning in businesses. Why? Because games not only make learning fun—those positive emotions also make deeper, stronger memories that help us to remember information faster and with more meaning.

But more importantly—we’re drawn to things that make us feel good. We want our children to feel good about (and be drawn to) reading! Because reading is the number one skill in school (and in learning just about anything) that helps us to be successful.

Reading is one of—if not the—most important skill we’ll ever learn. When positive emotions are attached to reading, we return to reading again and again.

Does your reader…

Avoid or out-and-out dislike reading?
Feel uninterested or bored with reading?
Think reading isn’t fun… or necessary… or worth his or her time?
Lack joy in reading?

Do you want your child to…

Be excited about reading?
Look forward to reading?
Be a fluent reader who really enjoys reading?

With True North Reading, when you attach positive emotions to reading, you can make reading fun, create a natural joy in reading, and give your child a willingness (and thirst!) to read more!

Sound Boxes from the Combination Code

6. Use memory groups to learn faster…

Learning to read involves a lot of information. In order to remember and use any amount of information, that information needs to be presented in a correct, sequential system that makes sense. In reading, that sequential system helps our child to not become overwhelmed, get mixed up, feel bad, start guessing and substituting words, or just give up.

Many reading programs have scattered, not-optimally-organized information. And many programs teach just a little bit in one grade, then a little more in another grade, and so on—spreading out information that’s incomplete over many years of learning.

Here, information is grouped in easy-to-remember, like sound “memory folders” or Sound Boxes—and all of the hands-on activities take place within these memory groups.

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Memory groups help your student remember sounds and words faster, read faster, and spell better.

Does your reader…

Forget what was already taught?
Get confused with “spelling rules”?
Learn slowly?

Do you want…

Stronger memory and faster recall for your reader?
The ability to read stories right away?

With True North Reading, by using memory groups that make sense, you can help your child remember more, learn to read faster, and have mastery over reading.

Hands-on, “real life” learning

7. Connect reading to real life!

We all know that making connections is important. But what we may not know is that attaching any learning (any new information) to “real life” helps us to make sense of the new information. Connecting new information to the old is a part of processing the new.

In fact, one of the highest steps of learning is being able to take a new idea, associate it with something we already know, and then apply the new idea to something else that’s new—based on the association. This kind of synthesis is part of next-step thinking, or critical thinking—a skill so very important for us to use throughout our entire lives.

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Making connections—hooking new information into old information—helps us understand and remember the new information. So realizing the real-life connections as we learn is critical to our best learning. When we figure out how the new information fits into our every-day life, the new-to-old association helps us to recall the new information easily.

Linking new information to what we already know, the new information is “anchored” into our heart and mind—helping to make the reading “stick.” Such stickiness is critical to giving our child confidence and the higher understanding that’s needed to read successfully

Beginning with the youngest students, True North Reading encourages and shows our kids how to think in associations—encouraging the meaningful connects that are critical to the highest levels of learning.

Does your reader…

Have trouble remembering the meaning of words?
Have trouble with comprehension?
Not enjoy reading?

Do you want your child to…

Sound out words smoothly?
Read sentences and paragraphs smoothly?
Comprehend what he or she read?
Enjoy ALL of reading?

With True North Reading, from the start, you can help your child become a smooth reader—with 100% comprehension and the ability to think clearly, process ideas quickly, and excel in all of school.

The Mastery 7 Principle helps your child to apply and use the information for reading smoother, faster, and with 100% comprehension—right away. If you want this for your child, then get your child reading better now…

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FAQ

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Because reading is so important, I wanted to make sure that my daughter started out reading right. Thank you so much—in four months’ time, she went from knowing nothing to reading sentences—and enjoying reading—she thinks reading is fun! I recommend True North Reading: The Complete Mastery Reading & Spelling Program to anyone who wants to start his or her child out right.
— Beth, elementary school counselor and mom to a five-year-old daughter

I was a speech-language pathologist before homeschooling my kids (where I specialized in pediatrics) and I love the multisensory approach of your program. The ideas and suggestions for activities in between lessons are exactly what I would have asked parents of my clients do try to when I was in practice as a SLP! It is truly the best program to teach reading that I have come across in my 10+ years of homeschooling.
— J. Peterson

I started out with my four-year-old daughter with True North Reading: The Complete Mastery Reading & Spelling program—and in under six months, she tested at a grade 2.5 level of reading! Amazing!
— Mom to Odessa, in Kalamazoo, Michigan

After just his first year in school, my son didn’t want to read, and his teacher said that he needed help. Now—just two months later—Tristan is happy and smiling and reading words, and he can figure new words out easily. I’ve already told my friends about this program, because it changed our whole outlook on reading for us.
— Michelle, mom to Tristan, age 6

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