The Reading Hut®
"On a mission to inspire every child to read, learn, and find joy in books. To achieve this, we must stop making learning to read so difficult for so many."
Those with a word mapping - what we call an Ortho-Graphix® - mindset engage in Speech Sound Mapping daily as part of their everyday life, from birth! Learning is not planned as such for teeny tots; instead, words are explored according to the child and the moment, using available technology and tools. The words that are relevant and meaningful to the child matter most, i.e., personalised learning is our priority. We are child-centric, exploring words with the child, aware that we may be doing even more learning. As skilled readers, we can become 'blinded by the letters' and face orthographic interference. To better support children, we need to learn more about the 'speech, spelling, and meaning' connection, and understand their unique learning sweet spot. When ready, a systematic approach to word mapping is introduced, which is often what adults think of when they hear the term 'phonics'. This is not appropriate for toddlers however.
Imagine an app that lets children type in Phonemies (speech sound characters) and see the correct spelling. No more feeling discombobulated when they can’t spell a word!
This 5-year-old - #ICanPlayWithoutYou chose the graphemes she knows—like ‘y/ou’ instead of /u/, ‘ai’ instead of /a/, ‘i’ instead of /e/—but demonstrates excellent phonemic awareness. Unfortunately the system is not designed to build on her existing schema - someone might show her the correctly spelt word, but not the graphemes (so that she can store the information, to learn more) or would avoid words like this altogether as the graphemes don't align with a GPC teaching order/ 'scope and sequence'.
Without MySpeekie (also a one-screen AAC device #innovateukfunded), she’d have to leave it like that or ask an adult. This limits self-directed, child-centric learning.
We want children to start school with strong phonemic awareness and access to our Speech Sound Mapping Tools so they can check their spelling and understand phoneme-grapheme correspondences. Released in August—just in time for the new academic year!
Exploring Words - using SSM!
The EYFS framework says:
"It is crucial for children to develop a lifelong love of reading. Reading consists of two dimensions: language comprehension and word reading. Skilled word reading, taught later, involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words."
[Source] https://help-for-early-years-providers.education.gov.uk/literacy/exploring-words
Despite being a former early years OFSTED inspector, I would re-frame this slightly—with an Ortho-Graphix mindset, we see a Venn Diagram with three elements overlapping with ‘reading’ at the centre: speech, spelling, and meaning (SSM)—not ‘word reading and comprehension’. We developed Speech Sound Mapping (also SSM! - nice!) so children FULY explore words they’re interested in at age 2 and 3, becoming avid readers before they start school.
We flip ‘what sounds does this letter make’ to ‘what sound is this a picture of, in THIS word’. There are over 350 grapheme-to-phoneme correspondences, impossible to teach all explicitly.
Sign up for the newsletter Ortho-Graphix. Ortho—Greek for ‘direct’ and ‘graphix’ meaning visual. We make the Universal Code visible, letting children explore words from their own schemas, reducing cognitive load.
Children exploring the words THEY want to explore! Exploring Words becomes more than the DfE recommends as validated phonics—based on The Simple View—restricts comprehension due to limited word reading. When they have to read texts with restricted GPCs - the correspondences they can independently decode' - the exposure of new vocabulary within their readers, and also comprehension, is restricted. Because of our innovative technology, and the use of the 'Phonemies' we facilitate speech, spelling, AND meaning—Speech Sound Mapping - from the start!
Phonemic awareness is the only prerequisite. We seek grant funding to ‘screen and intervene’ for phonemic awareness BEFORE children start learning letter names and sounds. We don’t want children held back!
Identifying phonemic awareness in dyslexic learners at age 3 and sending them to school with it protects them from the mental anguish of being dyslexic in the UK school system. We can be neuro-affirming—the children remain their unique, fabulous selves, still dyslexic, but without reading and spelling difficulties.
Exploring Words - developing Word Mapping Mastery -becomes a different experience with an Ortho-Graphix mindset.
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Embracing an Ortho-Graphix® Mindset: Connecting Speech Sounds, Spelling, and Meaning by Focusing on Phonemic Awareness and Making the Whole Code Visible. We are Mapping Words!
We are on a mission to map words with children, making 'Speech Sound Mapping' our daily focus!
It is not only the children who become increasingly conscious of the mapping of words; you will too!
According to the Department for Education (DfE) 2018, one in four children start school with poor phonemic awareness, and one in three face speech difficulties (Speech and Language UK). Poor phonemic awareness is the leading cause of reading difficulties. Therefore, identifying children who do not have phonemic awareness is essential. Those with an Ortho-Graphix® mindset create daily - meaningful- opportunities for children to develop this phonemic awareness and understand how to use it!
Phonemic awareness relates to the ability to isolate, segment, blend, and manipulate sounds and is only used for reading and spelling. If children did not need to read and spell, this skill would not matter. It is not linked with intelligence and is not developed through whole-word activities such as rhyming, as attention to the smallest sound units is crucial. Phonemic awareness forms the basis of phoneme-to-grapheme (encoding/spelling) and grapheme-to-phoneme (decoding/reading) connections. These connections are the basis for understanding written English. Speech Sound Mapping technology is designed to engage children, and facilitate both phonemic awareness and phoneme articulation in order to make the connections between spoken and written English easy to understand. This is not just a 'phonemic awareness' or 'phonics' programme, this is a way of life! It is an attitude towards words that fosters curiosity.
As a neurodivergent educator, I am a pattern seeker. The idea of phonemes made visual through the development of Phonemies, which represent English speech sounds, serves as phonetic symbols for children. These symbols bridge the gap between spoken and written English by making speech sounds ‘visible’. By exploring words daily, the links between spoken and written English become easier for all to understand. The earlier we start exploring those links, the better! With an Ortho-Graphix® mindset this exploration of words is exciting!
Engaging children early matters, as learning these connections is hard. Without phonemic awareness the activities relating to reading and spelling can be incredibly hard, and create mental anguish. Children cannot understand why they find it so hard! Those with an Ortho-Graphix mindset understand this, and work hard every day to
Kensi is shown below going through the PAM Programme, with an initial focus on isolating, segmenting, and blending phonemes without the extra cognitive load of letters. You can hear that when she says 'pant' and 'ant,' she does NOT use the target sound for /a/ when saying the words. She can navigate this discrepancy with ease as she has good phonemic awareness. The issue of accents becomes problematic for children struggling to hear the sounds in words, let alone having to assign different sounds to the ones they use. We don't all speak English in the same way. This is just one reason why the Speech Sound Monsters were introduced! They show the 'universally' expected sounds that will be used when learning phonics.
Grow Your Vision
Listen carefully to Kensi pronouncing 'ant' and 'pant'
Children hear the 'universally' expected phonemes
Adults practice role modelling the expected sounds ready to map with the 'Sound Pics® '
With an Ortho-Graphix mindset you become aware of the way teachers pronounce the satpin words. It is important that everyone understands that written English is not a direct representation of 'speech' even if we ask the children to 'talk on paper'. The way we introduce concepts mean children (and adults) more easily understand how to implement a more intuitive approach to teaching phonemic awareness and phonics. The transition to 'pictures of sounds' - the graphemes - just makes sense, after a week or so of Phase 1 - the Phonemic Awareness Mastery (PAM) Programme. This 'detail oriented' way of viewing the development of the speech, spelling and meaning connection prevents reading difficulties.
We are facilitating Word Mapping Mastery for ALL.
It is vital that children have phonemic awareness so that they can map the sounds to the right 'sound pics' ie graphemes. When we do introduce the Sound Pics s a t p i n the activities secure the connections from speech-to-print and also print-to-speech as the focus is on securing that phonemic awareness, while also ensuring that all letters are formed correctly. These initial correspondences may seem simple but the time those with an Ortho-Graphix mindset undertake a range of 'Speech Sound Pics' activities and don't leave anything to chance, or make any assumptions around mastery.
This is because the secure phonemic awareness reduces difficulties as we progress: the correspondence between speech and the written code is not simple. While phonics expects children to learn sounds like /æ/, /n/, /t/, to build the word ‘ant’ the reality is that many children do not speak with those exact speech sounds. This discrepancy causes many children to struggle with understanding phonics and the expected universal written code from the beginning. Phonemies—speech sound monsters—show the expected correspondences. For example, a monster representing the sound /æ/ as in "ant" would be assigned to the /a/ in the word "ant" or /ai/ in "plait".
Another significant issue is that English has an opaque orthography. For instance, the letter "a" can represent different sounds: /æ/ in "any," / ɒ / in "want," /ə/ in "another," /ɑː/ in "father," an /I/ in "orange."
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With a word mapping brain that seeks patterns, I identified the need for Ortho-Graphix®—a concept that combines "ortho" (direct, from Greek) with "visual." Ortho-Graphix® is a mindset focused on empowering children to engage with, and understand the universal English written code. It combines speech, spelling, and meaning, rejecting whole-word learning and encouraging children to apply this knowledge in meaningful contexts. This provides a direct visual connection to the sound value. My Code Mapping® technology shows the grapheme splits, displaying the graphemes in words (e.g., s/c/a/r/y) and using speech sound monsters to clearly define the expected pronunciation. You will spot yet another Speech Sound Monster on the /a/! This approach encourages children to see the patterns I see. We are able to explore the WHOLE code with ease.
Speech Sound Mapping Promotes a Phonemic Awareness Focus
Three elements are needed to store words in the orthographic lexicon: speech, spelling, and meaning. Phonemic awareness facilitates this process.
As phonemic awareness is vital, and a lack of PA predicts reading difficulties, we have designed a unique discovery screener process for 3-year-olds that utilises six of the speech sound monsters and no letters. They learn some activities to ascertain how well they grasp isolation of sound, segmenting, and blending them. We then assign a risk factor. The PAM programme is used to prepare them for learning phonics.
Word Mapping with Speech Sound Mapping Tech and Tools
A trained teacher in Word Mapping (Speech Sound Mapping) focuses on understanding the code and determining what children need to learn. Using the Speech Sound Pics Approach programmes and tools, therapists support children by matching them with the right activities to enable them to store words in their orthographic lexicon quickly and easily. This facilitates instant word retrieval (spelling) and recognition (sight word reading). Therapists explore words that interest the child, with no limitations. For example, a child could explore the word "orange" before seeing that /æ/ maps with "a" as in "ant." Engagement is key, made possible by the code mapping tool and speech sound monsters clarifying connections. At all times we are building on each child's schema, providing activities that hit THEIR learning sweet spot so that every child is included and excited about mapping words!
Parents, carers, and early years teachers with an Ortho-Graphix® mindset engage in Speech Sound Mapping every day as part of daily life. Learning is not planned as such; words are explored according to the child and the moment.
However, teachers cannot be quite so flexible, and children in reception need a .more structured and systematic way to implement phonics using Speech Sound Mapping within a classroom setting.
Components of the Speech Sound Pics (SSP) Approach: The 5 Core Programmes
1. Phonemic Awareness Mastery (PAM) Programme: This standalone programme precedes phonics instruction and can be used by parents and teachers. The Speech Sound Mapping technology is utilised within this phase.
2. Core Code Levels (CCL) Programme: A standalone linguistic and visual phonics programme that teaches grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs) covered in synthetic phonics programmes, along with code level readers. An assessment pack* is included to track progress and provide data on the mastery of phonics skills expected to develop within The Reading Framework.
3. Speedy Sight Words (SSW) Programme: This standalone programme teaches children to read and spell over 400 high-frequency words, with the flexibility to order words according to teacher or parent preference. It uses video lessons and Speech Sound Mapping technology to reinforce learning, emphasising the connection between speech, spelling, and meaning with the Ortho-Graphix mindset.
4. Reading for Pleasure (RFP) Programme: This standalone programme applies Ortho-Graphix to a reading series of 150 books. Speech Sound Mapping is used in real reading contexts, with books progressively building word count and featuring high-frequency words. Children using the CCL programme can start this once they reach the end of the Purple Code Level **. The initial 50 books are mapped, but then children read the regular format and can use the clickable library to only click when needed, building independence and confidence. Children using CCL can start this when they reach the end of the Purple Code Level, and any texts can be imported for exploration, including the 1,2,3 and Away series. Within RFP Snap and Crack and Rapid Writing are used.
5. Speedy Six Spelling (SSS) Programme: A standalone whole-school programme centred around six core activities, with words chosen based on student needs. The Speech Sound Mapping technology is crucial. Spending 10-25 minutes a day on these activities boosts spelling skills and helps store more words in the orthographic lexicon.
Through an Ortho-Graphix® mindset, the Speech Sound Pics® approach offers a comprehensive suite of programmes designed to facilitate speech, spelling, and early reading for pleasure by combining visual and linguistic methods. This approach includes not only phonics but also robust programmes for improving speech, phonemic awareness, high-frequency word recognition, and a reading series designed to engage children meaningfully. By encouraging exploration and understanding of the written code with an 'Ortho-Graphix® mindset,' children can quickly develop the skills needed for reading, writing, and clear speech, enhancing their ability to enjoy and engage with texts independently.
All packages will be released shortly. Express your interest now to stay updated.
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Those with an Ortho-Graphix® mindset develop an word mapping obsession with 'gluing' the speech, sound, meaning connections together in the orthographic lexicon (brain word bank) for instant recognition (reading) and easy retrieval (spelling).
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Data collected over a five-year period demonstrates statistical significance regarding the timing of exposure to levelled readers. The findings indicate that it is not a question of whether to expose students to levelled readers, but when to do so.
When children have mastered the Green and Purple Code Level skills (CCL), they can start on Levelled Readers (around PM 10 - 12) or the 1, 2, 3 and Away Books. This accelerates learning growth as the children are exposed to more of the code. By focusing at all times on the connection between speech, spelling, and meaning, the books we use are mapped. This further accelerates their learning pace.
We often go 'speech to print'— phoneme to graphemes - organising the speech sounds (phonemes) from left to right, to see the mapped graphemes. This reinforces phonemic awareness, without the cognitive load of 'graphemes' (English has an opaque orthography), making it easier to store the word in the orthographic lexicon and recognise it again later in regular texts. Most children in England experience a system that is primarily 'print to speech' (grapheme to phonemes)
We also go 'print to speech' - blending the 'pictures of the sounds' (graphemes) from left to right, blending them into the spoken word. The Phonemies ensure the 'speech sound' element is reinforced, regardless of accents. This process also reinforces phonemic awareness, making it easier to store the word in orthographic lexicon.
Rory was screened as 'high risk' for facing reading difficulties when he started school. So, we changed that. Before he started school, he went through PAM.
Learning high frequency words, and then seeing them in meaningful context(books) speeds up the learning process. Kensi soon started teaching these 'sight words' to her teddies, and other children!
She shows the speech to spelling links with such confidence and enthusiasm!
The 1,2,3 and Away! Books are 'Monster Mapped' and also 'Code Mapped' in the ICRWY Lessons app.
ie one version shows the phoneme AND grapheme values, and the other simply the graphemes. The words are still 'Code Mapped®' - black/ grey throughout the text. Buy the hard copy books in the shop, with regular text
I invented this colour contrasting of graphemes, going left to right throughout the whole text, over a decade ago, and have since developed the Orthographic Mapping Tool so that we no longer have to do it manually! The 'code Mapped®' text can also be printed.
Combining the Code Mapping Tool with the Innovate UK Funded tech we are now building the Clickable Library.
This could revolutionise the way children can explore the books of their choice as they can click on any words they aren't sure of. They get the help they need, when they need it!
Teachers in Australia with an Ortho-Graphix® mindset, using the Speech Sound Pics (SSP) Approach to explore the Universal Spelling Code, use poems and songs children are interested in! Speech Sound Mapping is utilised within meaningful context, daily!
10 years ago!
Because parents develop an 'Ortho-Graphix®' mindset they are mapping every day, everywhere, with their children! They notice 'Sound Pics®' in their surroundings.
Reading and spelling become a part of daily life
Having an Ortho-Graphix® mindset means you don't make assumptions about children and what they are capable of. You simply put in the work - helping them map speech sounds and 'pictures' of speech sounds every day, with a focus on using words for a purpose.
Kensi became the teacher! Before starting school.
Watch how engaged this little tot is with Kensi. She even goes to get a whiteboard and pen, to copy her:-)
Rory - with a family history of dyslexia - loved learning the PAM program with her!
Beliefs that many have about autistic children need to shift.
Kensi is just one of the fabulous autistic 3-year-olds reading for pleasure before turning 4 because her Mummy had an Ortho-Graphix® mindset. Would this have happened if she had been taught to read at school? Luckily we didn't wait to find out.
Kensi went through PAM when she was 2.
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