Published: February 7, 2019
Direct Instruction, Reading Mastery, is a remedial program offered through Prep Academy Tutors. This program has been around since the 1970s and is recommended by many child educational psychologist because of its proven track record. At Prep Academy, we have a certified Direct Instruction trainer who trains each of our tutors in the program.
Reading Mastery is based on just that, mastery. Each student is placed at an appropriate level, where they know 90% of the material. Each lesson builds upon prior knowledge and adds new ideas and skills. Upon mastery, the student is able to move forward. This program not only helps students improve academically, but it also helps them to improve their self-esteem.
Reading Mastery is unlike any other reading program out there. It takes an explicit, scaffolded and direct approach to reading. It is repetitive and consistent in its tasks to ensure students master each concept. With this program, students learn to decode by blending the sounds of a word into the word itself. This allows students to actually hear the word as the sound it out. It also teaches them the skills to decode quickly and read words the “fast way”. The letters are written in a unique font that helps students to visually understand what the sounds of the letters are. As students progress through the different levels, they are introduced to new sounds and more challenging words, and eventually the unique font is removed.
This program is great for readers who are below grade level, and/or have trouble with focus, and/or have difficulties with their working memory, and/or are suspected of having dyslexia. Reading mastery goes from kindergarten (not reading) until grade 5.
To learn more about the Direct Instruction program visit https://www.nifdi.org/what-is-di/basic-philosophy.html
If you would like to have your student enrolled in Direct Instruction contact Prep Academy Tutors.