Reading Resources and Programs to use at Home
SPELD NSW has brought together a collection of the programs, apps, games and resources that we like to use with students with reading difficulties for you to use at home.
Online Programs and Apps
Click to explore online programs and apps!
Phonics Programs
Click to explore phonics programs!
Games, Books and Activities
Click to explore games, books and activities!
Online Programs and Apps
These online programs and apps allow students to practice the phonics skills that they are being taught at school or in tutoring or intervention. They are a great tool for families who are looking for extra practice to allow their students to consolidate their phonics and reading skills.
Age: 6 to 11
Nessy is an engaging suite of online programs suitable for primary school aged children. 100 lessons with videos, online activities and printable worksheets. Introduces letter-sound relationships and blending and segmenting to read and spell in a systematic and sequential manner.
There are also a number of Nessy Apps available that target some of the individual reading and spelling skills that are appropriate for younger students.
There is a free trial available for the Nessy Reading and Spelling Program.
Age: 5 to 11
Reading Doctor is an online phonics program designed by an Australian speech pathologist. The program allows students to practice letter sound knowledge, blending to read, spelling, irregular words and word building. Reading Doctor can be used to support systematic, synthetic phonics instruction and provide students with much needed opportunities for practice.
A series of Reading Doctor Apps are also available that targets some of the same reading and spelling skills.
A 14 day free trial is available for the Reading Doctor Program.
Age: 5 to 8
Phonics based reading game. The games and activities in Phonics Hero are fun and engaging. Accessed online or Apps. A range of worksheets are available that parents can purchase as an additional bundle.
A 7-day free trial is available for Phonics Hero.
Age: 5 to 8
An app that covers initial or basic code reading and spelling from Sounds-Write.
Phonics Programs
These phonics programs can be used by parents at home to support students develop phonics and word reading skills.
Age: 7 to adult
Toe by Toe is a small red book that can be used by students who are struggling to develop literacy. It is an low-cost option that can be used by anyone and you don’t need to be a teacher or a professional. Toe by Toe focuses on reading only. All the instructions you need to use the program are provided in the books.
Age: 7 to adult
The Word Wasp and Hornet Literacy Primer are small blue books that can be used by students who are struggling to develop literacy. They are low-cost options that can be used by anyone and you don’t need to be a teacher or a professional. Word Wasp focuses on reading and spelling. All the instructions you need to use the programs are provided in the books.
A downloadable program selection test is available for Word Wasp, as well as video examples and sample pages are available online to assist you in considering the program.
Age: 5 to 11
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons is a step-by-step program that shows parents simply and clearly how to teach their children to read. The program is available in a simple and low-cost book that contains all the resources you need. The program takes 20 minute per day.
Age: 5 to 11
Learning Links has created a free phonics program called Links at Home for use by parents at home. The program comes with videos, information and resources. There are additional resources available from the dedicated Facebook Group that parents can join to obtain support in using the program.
At the moment, the program only covers the basic phonics code so is only suitable for students who need to learn early reading skills.
Age: 5 to adult
Sounds Write is a structured, synthetic phonics program designed for teachers and speech pathologists.
Sounds-Write has made the first 14 units of the Sounds-Write course available for parents to use through Udemy. The Udemy course includes video tutorials for parents and downloadable resources. The first 14 units address basic reading and spelling with the basic phonics code and is suitable only for students who need to learn early reading skills.
Sounds-Write Activity Books can also be purchased from the SPELD NSW Bookshop for use in the home environment.
Age: 5 to adult
Barton Reading and Spelling is designed to be used at home by parents (it is also used by schools and tutors). With multiple levels, students use pencil and paper and the provided letter tiles to complete each lesson. It’s a comprehensive and structured program based on an Orton-Gillingham approach. Lessons are fully scripted and parents are provided with training videos to assist with the delivery of the program. The full program would take a number of years to complete.
The program is American so some spelling needs to be adapted. Each level needs to be purchased separately and so can be expensive. Levels can also be purchased and sold second-hand.
Games, Books and Activities
These literacy games and activities are a great resource to practice fundamental literacy skills.
SPELD NSW sells a range of literacy games and resources. Visit our Bookshop to view the range. Check out games and activities from Dandelion Readers, Little Learners Love Literacy, Spelfabet and Junior Learning.
SPELD NSW has collated a range of free downloadable decodable readers for parents to use at home to support their child’s reading development.
We have also put together a video series on Reading Decodables to help families read decodable books with their students.
SPELD NSW members can access a huge collection of phonics and morphology activities, resources and games through our Members’ Resources Hub that families can use with students working on developing their phonics and morphology skills!
Alison Clarke is a highly respected speech pathologist from Melbourne who has a blog and many resources online. The Spelfabet website has a range of free and low cost games and activities that you can download for students requiring extra phonics practice. The Spelfabet website has a Where to Start which offers suggestions for different age groups from preschoolers to adults.
UFLI Foundations has developed a free collection of phonics games, which are available in their Games Generator, and a Phonics Blending Board. These games can be used at home to practice word reading skills using word lists from UFLI Foundations or your own list of words.
Dyslexia SPELD Foundation of WA has made available a free Phonics Activity Pack and Morpheme Activity Pack for families to use at home.
Florida Center for Reading Research offer a range of free reading activities designed for the classroom but also suitable for home use, including PDF printables.
Little Learners Love Literacy has created several fun phonics-based games to support systematic, synthetic phonics instruction.
Many of the Little Learners Love Literacy Games are available from the SPELD NSW Bookstore.
SPELD NSW recommends, if possible, that students with literacy or numeracy difficulties work with experienced learning support teachers and/or specialist tutors. SPELD NSW maintains a Referral Database of specialist tutors and allied health professionals. Families can contact our InfoLine for a referral to a tutor. These tutors have training and experience in learning difficulties and evidence-based literacy or numeracy instruction which enables them to provide tailored instructions that meet the complex needs of individual students.
Parents or family members can provide students intervention or additional practice of fundamental literacy or numeracy skills if access to specialist support is not available. There are a number of programs and resources that can be used by parents or family members in the home environment. They do not require specialist training and can come with explicit instructions on how to use them. We have included a number of these programs and resources on this page. Please be aware that not all programs will work for all students and no one program will cover all aspects of literacy or numeracy instruction.
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