#LockdownLiteracy

Have you noticed that your child’s reading and spelling difficulties are making homeschooling hard? Do activities requiring reading or writing skills seem extraordinarily effortful?

In lower primary, would 4 or more of these challenges in either category be a familiar experience for your child?

Lower primary reading difficulties checklist

Lower primary spelling difficulties checklist

Struggles to recall and match letters and sounds  Struggles with recall. Needs to sound out a word despite having just read it.  Tries to sound out sight words rather than recognising the whole word even when they’ve been well practised. Reading slow, effortful or frustrating Slow to progress through levels of sight words Slow to progress through levelled readers It takes so much effort to decode and read aloud that they don’t understand what they’ve just read! Avoidant, dislikes or hates reading

Struggles to work out which letter goes with which sound, particularly sounds that have 2 letters; th/ch/sh/er/oy/ai/ar/oo/ee May have some residual speech errors affecting spelling, e.g. f/th, r/w rabbit s/th (lisp). Has spelling errors on commonly practised words Phonetic spelling despite practice. Was → woz  Difficulties retaining and recalling new spelling words from day to day/ week to week. Letter formation is poor, affecting their ability to read their own writing Writes less than peers/ uses simpler shorter words and sentences. Avoidant, dislikes or hates writing

In upper primary and beyond, would 4 or more of these challenges in either category be a familiar experience for your child?

Upper primary reading difficulties checklist

Upper primary spelling difficulties checklist

Is not familiar with phonemes: which sound similar: th, -oa/-ow/-o, -ai, -ea/-ee, -oi/-oy Tries to sound out ‘camera’/ ‘sight’ words which should already be known.  Reads words incorrectly aloud, frequently guessing words.  Struggles to read with ease or expression. Sounds hesitant, disjointed with mixed fast and slow rate. Can sound ‘flat’. Read aloud but does not understand what has been read Appears to have poor ability in maths… Is avoidant, dislikes, or hates reading

Still has spelling errors with common words Is avoidant and doesn’t like writing  Prefers to write shorter and more simple sentences. Avoids using conjunctions, connectives, sizzling words… Prefers to write shorter and more simple sentences. Avoids using conjunctions, connectives, sizzling words… Writes less overall Written work is frequently incomplete. Naplan results for writing were low Still has spelling errors with common words Can talk about a topic but what is written is much less, using simpler language and vocabulary

That’s where we come in! Welcome to Lockdown Literacy!

Lockdown literacy is a new online learning program developed in response to the COVID-19 lockdown living situation. Its aim is to support home-schooling parents who are newly discovering their child’s literacy challenges. The program is suitable for primary aged children; aged 6-12.

This exclusively online service is offered nationwide during COIVD-19. It is an extension service of our Reading Clinic and tutoring services, which provides dedicated diagnostic, treatment and on-going support services for literacy development and disorders.

*If your child is older, we recommend that you contact us to find out our full literacy support services provided in the Reading Clinic
**If you suspect your child has speech errors including a lisp or language concerns alongside literacy concerns, we recommend you discuss this with us before booking in.

What is it?

#LockdownLiteracy consists of 2 dedicated programs to support either reading or spelling skills

It is a simplified targeted online program working one-on-one with a speech pathologist to focus specifically on one area of need, either reading or spelling

It consists of three key stages:

Stage 1: Assessment

✔ Assess the level or spelling or reading difficulties

✔ Diagnose root cause of difficulty

✔ Identify strong skills

✔ Determine gaps in skills for learning

Using our comprehensive knowledge of the foundational skills required for literacy development we assess your child’s skills based on the Dual Routes of Model of reading OR spelling. Allowing us to pinpoint your child’s key areas for learning.

Stage 2: Planning + Report

✔ Create a treatment plan with steps to target skill area

✔ Develop an individualised targeted program 

Each child presents with different areas of strengths and weaknesses. We use your child’s areas of strength to support their learning (e.g. great memory, strong vocabulary). This approach supports their learning success and builds confidence as they are given the opportunity to succeed and experience positive results.

Stage 3: Learning Program

✔ Individual intensive sessions with a speech pathologist online

✔ Boosts and catches-up reading and spelling skills

✔ Fun and dynamic movement-based learning, even online!

✔ A collaborative approach with parents to teach fast reading/spelling strategies

✔ Outcomes focused, evidence-based approaches

Offered in individual and small groups children will have the opportunity to develop their phonological awareness, spelling, reading and reading comprehension skills (add all of the links). Target individual or small group learning means that your child will have the opportunity to learn and practice new literacy skills in a fun and engaging environment online. Our current online clients are working towards literacy goals while competing in