Reading with TLC

• What basic materials should I order to begin implementing the program?
To begin using the Reading with TLC program, you will need the Lively Letters Basic Set, which includes the box of letter cards and the instructional manual. You will also need the Sight Words You Can See personal sized set. Lively Letters trains phonemic awareness and phonics skills, and Sight Words You Can See trains the acquisition of phonetically irregular sight words. If you are implementing the program for classroom use with large groups, the larger classroom sized versions of these products will be beneficial. There are supplemental products available that enhance the successful use and ease of implementation of the program, but they are not necessary in order to begin working with the program.

• Do I need to participate in the 10-hour Reading with TLC professional training workshop in order to implement this program?
You do not need to attend the workshop in order to purchase and utilize the materials. Many educators, however, have found the training to be extremely helpful in learning to implement the program. Thousands of educators have learned to utilize the program successfully by reading the instruction manual and by using their own professional background experience.

• How is this program different from other popular multisensory, rule based, structured reading programs?
This program provides powerful mnemonics (memory tricks) through the combined use of pictures and imagery, stories, hand cues, and oral kinesthetic (mouth movement) cues. Another significant difference is that this is a fun, dynamic, teacher- and student-friendly program that uses lively letter characters with personalities that are embedded directly into the letter shapes. A third critical difference is that the program begins by building phonemic awareness while simultaneously building phonics skills with direct manipulation of the letter pictures for the development of sound segmentation, blending and manipulation skills. A final difference is that, although this program provides error feedback strategies, unique strategies are used to elicit the correct response on the first attempt, thereby decreasing the occurrence of errors. This results in an increase in the speed and accuracy of correct responses, leading to greater fluency and accuracy at each level of the program.

• Is this program used only with young children?
Although this program is ideal for use in the regular kindergarten through second or third grade classroom as part of the curriculum, it is used remedially with all aged students, including teenagers and adults. The pictures (which can be referred to as cartoons) provide powerful tools for acquisition and rapid accessing of the letter sounds. Older students quickly transfer to the use of plain letters with no pictures.

• When would I start using the Sight Words You Can See program?
The Sight Words You Can See program is administered after the student completes all or most of the Lively Letters program. A different structured phonics approach can be used before implementing Sight Words You Can See, however the student is required to have learned the letter sound associations for the 44 sounds of our language.

• I see the program being helpful for reading impaired students, but will the students in my regular classroom benefit also?
Research clearly indicates that the types of materials and techniques provided in the Reading with TLC program should be presented as part of the regular education curriculum in grades kindergarten through grades two or three. Through the use of this program, regularly achieving students will quickly learn their letter sounds, as well as effective strategies for sounding out complex words. The weaker students may be able to receive the help they need right in the classroom. Most importantly, you will also be able to work as a viable literacy team member, using the same materials, techniques, and terminology as the specialists who are using this program remedially with some of your students, thereby creating a successful environment for carryover in the classroom.

• Is this program clinically proven and research based?
This program was initially clinically proven to be successful with hundreds of students in an inner city school over a period of five years when the program was being developed. School systems continue to compile results of the use this program with consistently high gains in the areas of phonemic awareness, phonics, sight words, and oral reading skills. In addition, this program is in alignment with recommendations from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Reading Panel.

• How long does it take to put a student through this program remedially?
This is an individual situation for each student, depending upon the severity level of the problem, the age of the student, and the intensity with which the program is delivered. The most effective way to deliver this program remedially is as intensively as possible (3, 4, or 5 sessions per week for 45 minutes to an hour). We usually target 40 to 60 sessions to teach the Lively Letters program and Sight Words You Can See program. Multisyllable words are taught and practiced diligently in this program, but older students will need to move on to more materials for further practice with the more difficult, infrequent, and irregular word patterns.

• Is this a “letter of the week” program for kindergarten?
This is not a “letter of the week” program, although some kindergarten teachers have chosen to integrate the use of Lively Letters with a “letter of the week” program. Because of the strong use of mnemonics, imagery, and oral kinesthetic cues, students are able to learn their letter sounds at a significantly quicker pace than one letter per week. You could successfully integrate Lively Letters with your “letter of the week” program, or you could choose Lively Letters as the primary phonemic awareness and phonics program for your kindergarten class.

• How old does a student have to be to begin instruction in this program? Is this program in the preschools?
Most students in kindergarten are ready for instruction in the Lively Letters program. There are some preschool teachers who have elected to utilize parts of the program, especially with at risk or speech/language impaired children. Some students in preschool are ready to begin instruction in learning the letter sounds, and, although many are not ready to begin work in phonemic awareness or decoding, some preschool teachers have targeted specific students who have been ready for such instruction. The program was not piloted or clinically tested with preschool aged children.