The science around how best to teach reading is not settled and is constantly evolving.

No clear empirical evidence supports a reductive, singular approach to reading. All we know for sure if that children must be ble to connect the letters that are graphemes, and the sounds (phonemes) they correspond to. Phonemies - spelt with an i - represent those speech sounds, and our code mapping algoithm shows the graphemes. It is the only in the world that does this.  

We know from decades of research and theory that reading is far more complex and nuanced than most “science of reading” advocates claim. However, what everyone agrees on is that moving towards orthographic mapping relies on the brain connecting letters and sounds in both directions.

That is why phonics was created – to kick-start the process with around 100 commonly used GPCs. This is primarily print to speech, that is, grapheme-to-phoneme correspondences (GPCs).

However, we still see, to this day, that schools also teach hundreds of high-frequency words as whole words to be memorised by sight. Why? Because so many of these words include GPCs that are never explicitly taught, yet teachers know those words matter. They are everywhere. They just haven't figure out how to teach them all - because they can't. 

Phonics instruction is restrictive, and the full 350+ correspondences (as seen in our Spelling Clouds) are not shown. The hope is that children start to self-teach, to understand this whole code via implicit learning.

We know that many children learn to read and spell with this kick-start, but 1 in 4 are not reading in England by age 11. Synthetic phonics has been mandated for over a decade, which is long enough to see how many children still do not get there with this initial boost. They may pass the PSC or a phonological awareness screener but still cannot read fluently. One in four is huge. They need to be shown the whole code. This is the problem we have solved.

At least 1 in children cannot look at a word and self-teach through recoding, even if they can deduce it. They are not applying Set for Variability (SfV) to adjust their pronunciation when decoding, and they are not storing words or reaching the stage of learning more about “the code” by exploring the code or learning more about reading through reading. After two years of daily systematic phonics, they are stuck, and many are tired of trying. They can decode “and” but not “any”. They cannot use a dictionary because the sound they hear does not match the expected first grapheme.

That is the problem we have solved. They can use the MyWordz® tech to check the universal spelling code, in the way that adults who do not speak English as a first language check the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). Lots of other things can prevent children from reading with fluency and comprehension but this one was a pretty good hurdle to overcome.

There is no “phonics instruction” here. Avery is simply shown the code. His brain can then bond the speech sounds, spellings, and meanings. We know this happens naturally for children who do not struggle, but this approach gives every child the same information. Add meaning and the system works.

Children learn the sounds of the Phonemies (Speech Sound Monsters) very quickly because they love them. They can also be used as a fun way to practise pronouncing sounds. And let’s be honest, what two-year-old wants to repeat isolated sounds unless there is a fun character in front of them doing the same thing?

It is an easy way to show the bi-directional nature of the code and to talk about the sounds you use when speaking. Phonics is, in many ways, a manufactured system. A lot of mental gymnastics needed.

No one else is showing how letters and sounds connect for any word of English, because no one else has transcribed phonetic symbols to graphemes and then back again, and created tech that uses the algorithm to make the whole code visible. It's a work in progress but kids are not only reading early - with very little instruction - but becoming children who choose to read. And as reading is mainly achieved through implicit learning we want more of that happening. No?

The science is very clear that understanding these connections between letters and sounds is what children do when they become readers. How to ensure that every child can do this, however, is not settled science.

We only know what we know until we know more.

Showing children how letters and sounds connect within an opaque orthography from birth is common sense. As far as I am aware, I was the first in the world to do this. Imagine if people had celebrated the breakthrough rather than doing everything possible to discredit it.

Show me how you ensure that every child understands the bi-directional nature of the code when working independently before you come at me. And start by explaining why showing the mapping of words, even just to align with how phonics is taught, is not simply an extension that supports word mapping.

Children learn all the Phonemies - Speech Sound Monster Sounds - in about two weeks. If they do this as toddlers it's even easier. It is us adults who struggle, not only because of brain plasticity/ memory etc but because as skilled readers we no longer think about how letters and sounds connect. That becomes a problem when trying to teach children to do it. People often tell me, “You can’t sound out the word said.” I ask them if they can say it. Then I ask what sounds they use when they say it, and which letters might represent those sounds. To a three-year-old, that makes sense.

Why do adults overthink it? Letters and sounds connect. We are simply showing how, with Phonemies instead of phonetic symbols. Anyone teaching English as another language uses the IPA to know how to pronounce words. This is no different. I have not reinvented the wheel; I have just given children phonetic symbols they are actually interested in. This reduces cognitive load. 

And now the technology does it for them. They can type sentences using sounds and see the spelling, or type a word and see the mapping. And next steps are that we show the code for any book they want to read, at the time they want to read it.

Makes sense, doesn’t it? Give brains all the information they need. Less teaching, more statistical learning :-)