Before Easyread: Daisy’s mother became concerned about her daughter’s reading towards the end of Reception. But since she was so young for her year group, the teachers reassured her there was no reason to worry. However, Daisy failed to progress much in Year 1 as well, despite concerted efforts from school and home. Words that she decoded on one page were not recalled on the following or even facing page. She still found it very hard to distinguish between some similar sounds. Daisy was assessed by the SENCO for dyslexia as her older brother is dyslexic too, and by the summer term the SENCO confirmed there were strong signs of it.
Daisy visited an Educational Psychologist when she turned 6 to confirm the diagnosis. It was the Ed Psych who recommended Easyread as a programme that other parents had found useful. They started on it right away.
During Easyread, Daisy worked very hard on the program on a daily basis… including Christmas morning! She didn’t always enjoy it, but began improving. The short 15-minute lessons were helpful, as was the daily repetition of doing a lesson. Daisy also began seeing a speech therapist to get help with rhyming and distinguishing the similar sounds in words, something that the Easyread team also noted.
The results have been very significant, and are reflected in her literacy assessments over time. When she was assessed before the start of Easyread, at age 6.1, her reading age was assessed at 5.4 with a comprehension age of 5.7. By spring term 5 months into Easyread now at age 6.5, her reading aged had jumped to a 7.2, with a comprehension age of 7.4!
Mum Kate says “her improvement has been immense”!