Help with Reading Program Lessons

laura

July 22, 2026 at 10:06 am #94621

Hello!

I bought the rhyme and reason book and materials but I am really struggling to work out how to use them. I have read the book three times and looked on YouTube for “how to” videos but I must be a bit dense! For example, what order do you teach the letters in the moveable alphabet? I think a chronological checklist for each step of the program would be very helpful. Right now it’s all very confusing and overwhelming. Any help much appreciated because I haven’t been able to start yet with my students (homeschool mom) as I can’t figure it out :(

Emily

July 24, 2026 at 9:16 am #94632

Thanks for the feedback! I want to write a second edition of the book so knowing where I can improve is helpful.

The answer is a bit different for whether you have primary age children or elementary age children. 

The short answer for primary age children (~ages 3-5) is that the scope and sequence kind of doesn’t matter, you have plenty of time to organically work through things and the child will have stronger interests in certain themes of words (only wanting to spell truck related words). They are in the Absorbent Mind stage and the need for a rigid sequence is less important.

I’m going to assume you have elementary age children (~6 and up), because the scope and sequence matters more and it’s who the book and program are designed for. They are in the Reasoning Mind stage so a rational sequence is important and motivating for older children.

1. You start with Sandpaper Letters and/or writing on paper. You say the sound and write the letter at the same time.
2. Next the child gets some words to write (using objects, pictures, or their own interests).
3. Then they phonetically write the word using Moveable Alphabet and/or pencil on paper.

So, the Moveable Alphabet doesn’t have it’s own order, which is why you won’t find one.

The scope and sequence: 

https://drive.proton.me/urls/N6ETPNZS6C#MAHlILxBnYxh 

Teach T O P first (in any order), then M A N, etc.

laura

July 28, 2026 at 9:16 am #94645

Thank you!

I am really confused about the sequence of what to do before you start on the drawers

we are working with a ~ 6 year old

my husband is a teacher and I asked him to help me work this out …

some questions he has:

1. Does the child need to know every phonetic sound prior to starting red drawer 1? Eg the multiple ways that “a” can sound? (Short vowel, long vowel etc)

2. How do I use all the card cutouts in the card materials books which come before red drawer 1? Do I just show my child the “I” flash card for example and have the memorise the different ways “I” can sound?

3. how does this then work when they come to phoneme manipulation? How does the child know which phoneme sounds is correct? (Eg should an “I” be a short “I” or an “ie”? – the “I” card on page 21 of the materials book gives  both

thanks very much

Emily

July 28, 2026 at 3:52 pm #94649

Question 3: 

Both are listed because both are a correct response. 

I’m answering your questions out of order because I think I see where the confusion is. Those materials “flash cards” are used exclusively for diagnostics. You see how the child does, where you may need to focus attention, then set those cards aside for the rest of the program unless you want to take another diagnostics test. 

Feel free to just skip pages 15 to 25 in the materials book if you want. Puzzle words are taught as needed when reading the decodable readers.

 

Question 1:

No, the child only needs to know three sounds and a corresponding single letter spelling. They need to know /t/ is spelled T, /o/ is spelled O, /p/ is spelled P. You don’t really have to tell them anything else. 

To start, each sound has a single symbol. /ae/ is AI, /a/ is A. This is the Basic Code. 

 

Question 2:

The only thing that truly comes before Red 1 is sound games. So pull out objects and pictures that target the sound /t/ then show the child the letter T. Repeat for /o/ and /p/.

Don’t memorize the sounds that any letter “makes” at any stage of the program, instead, the child will learn the variety of ways spoken sounds are spelled.

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