Over the years, the Waseca Reading Program has become a standard in many Montessori classrooms. It is cleanly structured to provide a systematic and sequential presentation of the phonetic elements used in the English language.

The program uses a four-step approach in which the children spell the word depicted on the card with a moveable alphabet, a process that involves encoding or using the phonetic principle introduced to make a word. In the next step, the child lays out all of the cards and matches the label cards, thereby decoding the phonetic information. Additional practice in decoding involves writing the words and reading words that follow the same phonetic principle in a booklet.

The sequence is consistent with that of the Orton-Gillingham Method in its application for children with dyslexia.

The cards use photo images to illustrate each word and large print that highlights the phonetic element used in the word. The frame around the picture and the highlighting are color-coded for the nine different boxes.

A new addition to this product is an included workbook that provides even more practice for each drawer and supports the student in working independently. A site word list for each drawer prepares the child to read sentences. This combined phonetic and sight word approach assures success!

*customers who have already purchased this product will find the workbook file available in their download folder.