Core Concepts

42 Sounds of the Alphabet

The alphabet is introduced in sets of four consonants and one vowel. Each letter sound is introduced individually and students learn the name, sound and formation simultaneously.

Once the 26 letters of the alphabet are learned, additional sounds are taught, including:

• Blends
• Digraphs
• Diphthongs
• Special vowel sounds

5 Phonetic Skills

The Five Phonetic Skills allow students to identify the five common patterns of English words and “prove” the vowel sound in a word. Proving words using the Five Phonetic Skills is an indispensable tool used to decode, pronounce, and spell new words.

The Five Phonetic Skills are:

1. When the vowel is followed by one guardian consonant and nothing more, the vowel will be short.
2. When the vowel is followed by two guardian consonants and nothing more, the vowel will be short.
3. When a vowel stands alone, it will be long.
4. Silent e makes the first vowel long.
5. When vowels are adjacent, the second vowel is silent and the first vowel is long.

These skills are gradually internalized and become automatic, resulting in greater reading speed and fluency.

2 Decoding Skills

A skillful reader’s ability to read long words fluently depends on his or her ability to break words into syllables. The decoding skills allow students to break words of any length into syllables so they can apply the Five Phonetic Skills to determine the word’s pronunciation.

The two decoding skills are:

1. If there is only one guardian consonant following the vowel, that consonant will move on to the next syllable.
2. When a vowel is followed by two guardian consonants, the consonants will split. The first consonant will stay in the first syllable and the second consonant will move on the next syllable.

These skills are gradually internalized and become automatic, resulting in greater reading speed and fluency.

"When You Keep it Simple the Lights Go On"

Explicit, Systematic, Sequential, Logical Phonics Instruction

Studies show that when Phonics is taught explicitly, systematically, logically
and sequentially that even learning disabled students are able to master the
fundamentals of decoding words and reading.  The Discover Intensive Phonics
method is completely founded on these four principles.

Why don't all reading programs teach in this simple manner?  What exactly do
these approaches mean?

Explicit Phonics:  Implicit phonics (most programs) begin with the whole word and then look at beginning sounds, ending sounds and context clues.  This is a complex method and requires a lot of memorizing for success.  Explicit phonics does the simple reverse.  It starts with a single letter and incorporates blending and building up to a word. 

The simpler method creates mastery rather than memory and is an easier path to success for most people.  Explicit phonics is essential for students with dyslexia or other learning disabilities.

Systematic Phonics:  The goal is to give students a system for analyzing and identifying just about any word they encounter-even to the point of deciphering and reading words they have never seen before!  Because they have a system that works they do not need to rely as much upon their memory, they have mastery of the simple system.

Sequential Phonics:  We begin at the simplest point, the alphabet divided into sets of four consonants and one vowel.  Each letter is introduced individually and mastered. The consonants are then added as ending sounds, forming words. 

Word meaning is allowed to develop and then sentence structure begins.  Step-by-step each new set of letters is introduced and then combined with those previously learned.  Each step is based on the skills mastered in the previous step.

The program continues through the entire alphabet then adds blendsLong vowel sounds are taught and five phonetic skills are presented, helping students know and identify the five patterns of English words.  The remaining sounds are taught with each addition building on previously learned skills.

Then, a two-step decoding skill is taught.  This gives students mastery of a system that allows them to break words into syllables and apply the five phonetic skills.  Consequently, they can break down, decode, and read any length word.  We then add spelling, word usage, and reading comprehension. 

Logical Phonics: Each of the steps, beginning with the simplest point, is the absolute most logical possible follow-up to the first skills that are mastered. As students move through this sensible, logical sequence of the course, mastering one skill after the other, they experience learning success in incremental steps while receiving continuous, positive reinforcement of previously learned skills.

This incredibly simple, sensible, logical process is the method that causes students to overwhelmingly say, "This finally makes sense to me."

As Kristie Swanson, home schooling mother of five daughters, said: 

"Our 8-year-old commented one day, "I really understand this.  I never understood what you were trying to teach me before."

And Lynn Haugen, instructor at the adult Chiron Learning Center commented on one of his students,

 "He continues to rave about how language makes sense now and how spelling is so much easier.  He has gone up two grade levels in reading after only being with us for two weeks. It's wonderful when a tool works so well."

 "I don't know why every reading program, every school and every home doesn't teach with these amazingly simple, logical, sequential steps of reading mastery."

Multi-Sensory, Unique Marking System

‘Discover Intensive Phonics at Home’ and ‘Reading Horizons at Home’ use multi-sensory methodology that encompasses the visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile modalities.

Students actively participate while a narrator dictates a word or sound twice. The student then repeats the word or sound twice and writes it with the mouse. The writing process employs a large motor skill and provides a tactile experience. Visual and tactile learning reinforces what students have learned auditorily.

Our interactive computer courseware has been designed to provide a multi-sensory experience. Students experience a human voice audio soundtrack, visual screen displays, and tactile use of the keyboard, mouse, and screen.

The unique marking system utilized in the Discover Intensive Phonics at Home reading system offers a kinesthetic learning experience and strengthens students’ ability to visually identify patterns in words. The marking process gradually moves from a deliberate, physical process to an automatic mental response, resulting in greater reading speed and fluency.

Language-Based

A good phonics program supports a transfer of phonics knowledge to all language arts: spelling, listening, writing, and vocabulary development. Discover Intensive Phonics at Home provides this essential integration.
Language arts, spelling, listening skills, thinking skills, reading, and creative writing are combined to make sure students understand how to employ their phonetic knowledge as part of their total learning.
Now is the time to help any struggling or new readers in your life gain this
great advantage in their life.  You won't believe what a difference it makes.

Get them the Phonics for Home 'Discover Intensive Phonics' software or Home
School Kit now.  Or get the 'Reading Horizons' software for ages 10 to adult.

A Teacher’s Work

The roots of Discover Intensive Phonics for Yourself are grounded in an intensive, explicit, systematic phonics program crafted in the early 1970s by education professional Charlotte Lockhart. Ms. Lockhart, a former elementary instructor and principal, created the original Discover Intensive Phonics for Yourself curriculum in response to students' poor reading performance in her school's reading programs.