Welcome to Speedie Readies, part of the Word Mapping Mastery system®. A self-teaching pathway for communication, reading and spelling. Join the Learning Corner and access the orthographically mapped Village With Three Corners book series online.
The Missing Piece for NeuroReadies
Don’t wait. Choose prevention over intervention. Ask a TA to change lives with Speedie Readies!
Speedie Readies: Preventing the Dyslexia Paradox in Reception and Year 1
Speedie Readies for schools is a one-to-one, ten-minute-per-day 'prevention' (pre-intervention) for children in Reception, Year 1, and Year 2. We are preventing reading and spelling difficulties. It continues for as long as needed, from a few weeks to two terms, until each child reaches the self-teaching phase and can read through the One, Two, Three and Away! series with independence and confidence. A TA who loves stories and playing with children can lead the Speedie Readies 'word discovery sessions' The ideal time to start this is term 2 of Reception. Train as a Speedie Readies tutor!
Miss Emma MEd SEN
The Neurodivergent Reading Whisperer®
Expert in Preventing the Dyslexia Paradox
​Join as a member to access training and support centred on the Self-Teaching Word Mapping Brain.
This work focuses on how children transition into independence, and how self-teaching emerges through meaningful reading and spelling experiences.
This matters because current DfE policy, and a growing number of organisations seeking to replicate it overseas, including in Australia and the USA, assumes that an early, explicit, systematic phonics start will lead every child into self-teaching. These assumptions are drawn from reading science, but are being interpreted narrowly for instruction.
In practice, what is currently happening does not reliably facilitate self-teaching or deep reading. Around one in four children do not make that transition. They may learn elements of the code, but without sufficient opportunities to read and spell in ways that consolidate word knowledge, learning does not become self-sustaining.
In reading science, spelling is not optional or secondary. It is one of the strongest drivers of self-teaching and orthographic learning. That is why we train practitioners to use The Spelling Routine with Mapped Words, so that word knowledge is stabilised and available for fluent reading.
Reading and spelling are not separate skills. They are the mechanism by which children store words, build stamina, and move into deep reading.
Even though the TA will work on a 1:1 with children their classmates will want to learn the Monster Sounds!
We use the Monster Spelling Piano app to build phonemic awareness and strengthen phonological working memory using the initial GPCs s, a, t, p, i, n they have been introduced to in their synthetic phonics programme within the classroom or if using the Speech Sound Pics (SSP) Approach.
The app for tablets also introduces Phonemies, which simply represent the speech sounds. This prepares children to understand words that contain irregular patterns, including high-frequency words, when introduced. Code Mapping shows the way letters connect, and Monster Mapping shows the sound value. SpeedieReadies.com
Speedie Readies in Reception is a one-to-one, ten-minutes-a-day support system that helps children understand how words are mapped to speech and meaning, with prevention at its core rather than intervention.
Speedie Readies in Schools: Preventing the Dyslexia Paradox
Although these children have been identified because they struggle to read and write words containing the first taught GPCs (s, a, t, p, i, n, m, d, g, o, c, k, ck, e, u, r, h, b, f, ff, l, ll, ss), our focus is on understanding why each individual child is finding this difficult, and helping that child learn to map words with confidence in both directions.
This intervention is not designed to reinforce what they are learning in their school’s synthetic phonics programme. Although it supports the mastery of these GPCs at the start, it does not clash with classroom phonics instruction. Children continue to participate fully in their school’s phonics lessons.
Speedie Readies is a separate, targeted approach that addresses the underlying difficulties that prevent children from blending and segmenting words successfully. It is designed to remove the barriers that block progress towards the self-teaching phase and fluent, confident reading with comprehension.
These early blending and segmenting difficulties often indicate risk of dyslexia and may relate to differences in speech sound processing, phonological working memory, or rapid automatic naming. Simply repeating classroom phonics content will not resolve these challenges.
This is a targeted intervention created to prevent the dyslexia paradox, designed by SpLD and SLCN specialists.
Aims of the Prevention (Pre-Intervention) Phase
Children learn to map words from speech to print and print to speech within meaningful context. Our technology maps every word of English in both directions (patent being applied for) and accounts for accents and connected text. More importantly, children can see the code within a series of books, so their support is always within meaningful context. They develop skills such as set for variability, start predicting and using inference, and they love the characters. The books were written by an award-winning children’s author.
How It Works
During sessions, children:
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See each grapheme in a word and its corresponding sound value, supported by Phonemies. We "Show the Code".
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Learn to use MyWordz®, the world’s first bi-directional orthographic word-mapping technology, which can also function as an AAC tool for non-speaking children or those with SLCN (Speech, Language and Communication Needs). At least one in five children will start school with SLCN. This intervention offers 1:1 support.
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Engage with One, Two, Three and Away! mapped pre-readers, supported by Speech Sound Puppets, finger puppets, and Story Peg People to act out stories and connect reading with meaning, and to build confidence with speaking and listening skills.
The technology, funded through Innovate UK, enables children to:
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See the full speech-to-print and print-to-speech structure of words, even when graphemes are not yet taught in their classroom phonics programme. They are able to explore an opaque orthography, and play with words that have unfamiliar correspondences as the code is shown. Word Mapping is visual and so reduces cognitive load, and builds confidence.
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Understand how to spell by exploring spelling choices in English’s opaque orthography using the tech.
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Apply this understanding independently in class, using technology to spell and decode any word, again building confidence and independence.
Structure
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Frequency: 10 minutes per day, four times per week - in a dedicated learning space (the table will have resources sitting there ready)
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Delivered by: A teaching assistant (TA)
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Group size: Ideally 1:1 please.
The barriers preventing the child from understanding how letters and sounds connect with the synthetic phonics programme will have been addressed. Each child will be moving towards the self-teaching phase, and parents will understand how to continue support at home. They will recognise that this is separate to any home reading or activities relating to their synthetic phonics programme.
Access and Resources: Getting Started
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Set of 36 pre-readers £140
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Phonemies Core Bundle £70
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Buy as a Bundle for £195
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Access to the Reading Corner £10 per month. Training now included
Includes 72 Mapped books: Orthographically mapped One, Two, Three and Away! - Online (Digital) Library Plus the Main Readers, Red, Green and Yellow Platform Readers
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Web version of MyWordz® for £95 per year.
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Optional App licences £5.95 per academic year.
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Monster Spelling Piano app £14.95 (one-time purchase)
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Libraries: Encouraged to stock the full series and handbook for community access. Download and send this pdf.
1:1 Support is also offered The Early Dyslexia Screening Centre ​
Imagine if Luca’s teacher had used the 10-Day Speech Sound Play Plan, followed by Speedie Readies from Term 2 of Reception. We could have prevented years of struggle and those feelings of being stupid. Help us to help the 1 in 4 in England like Luca.