This reading program was designed to provide a systematic and sequential presentation of the phonetic elements used in the English language. It follows an approach used widely in Montessori classroom in which the children spell the word depicted on the card with a moveable alphabet, a process that involves encoding or using the phonetic principle introduced to make a word. In the next step the child lays out all of the cards and matches the label cards, thereby decoding the phonetic information. Additional practice in decoding involves writing the words and reading words that follow the same phonetic principle in a booklet.

The Waseca Reading Program consists of card material that uses photo images to illustrate each word and large print that highlights the phonetic element used in the word. The frame around the picture and the highlighting are color-coded for nine different boxes. The boxes cover the following categories:

Red- basic three letter phonetic words isolating each short vowel sound
Orange- blends grouped with common letters to make beginning blends, then ending blends, then both.
Yellow- consonant digraphs like sh, ch, th, tch
Green- endings with –ng and –nk
Aqua- silent e rule as applied to each vowel
Blue- different phonograms used to make each long vowel sounds
Purple- various dipthongs such as r-controlled, oy, ow, aw
Pink- silent letters
Gold- less common rules such as soft consonants

The sequence of introduction is consistent with that of the Orton-Gillingham Method in its application for children with dyslexia. The seventh drawer is usually a review of the first six drawers.

Click below for the instructions to this work.