Read Quick - Learn Quick - 3 Step System

How it works to accurately decode words

Students Can Finally Read with Confidence.

STEP 1 - COMBINATIONS   

Read Quick - Learn Quick System provides students with a consistent, dependable and accurate "mental frame of reference," while decoding* unknown words.

Initial lessons are taught using the Gestalt method, teaching the overall program then practicing the individual parts while reading, spelling and with directed lessons.

Students see Combinations in words as a whole sound immediately for reading; this is the foundation for word fluency.

Combinations are natural speech sounds used by speech teachers for therapy and review.

Read Quick Teacher's Guide contains several pages of single letter (alphabet) speech lessons and several pages for speech instruction using 47 Combinations.  Software can be used for speech sounds.

Combinations control many phonetic exceptions by turning exceptions into consistent sound - spelling clusters.  Students are actually more successful when decoding longer words using Read Quick.

Students underline Combinations during initial learning for visual memory.  This causes the Combinations to "stand out" during reading while being embedded into long term memory.

System uses information stored in the auditory memory for connection to Combinations when underlined.

STEP 2 - BORROWERS (C, G, & Y)

Borrowers are taught quickly using 5 accurate rules. First grade students learn to master this step when letter sounds are practiced during reading and with pencil & paper lessons.

Read Quick teaches students to control the 3 Borrowers and 5 vowels to read fluently with accuracy.  Crossing out the C, G, & Y and writing the letter sound it borrows is a visual memory technique that works rapidly.

When users control the C, G, & Y Borrowers without marking or prompting from teacher or tutor, this step may be dropped from marking sequence.

STEP 3 - VOWELS

Ultimate vowel control occurs with Read Quick by:

  • Prove vowel long by double vowel rule or final 'E' rule or mark short.

  • Control unusual vowel sounds by their use in the 47 Combinations.

  • 6 suffixes taught that hide a dropped (final) "E" controlling the last vowel before final consonant.

  • 12 prefixes with long vowels that do not follow a long vowel rule are taught to help reader before decoding.  If missed, when vowel marked and pronounced short, student's reading brain will change vowel from short to long.

  • After applying the 3 steps, prefixes and suffixes, vowel sounds are so accurately controlled, mastery generally occurs immediately.  Reader may be required to change a single vowel sound from short to long and this is usually accomplished by the "reading brain." *  

(*Reading brain = recalling how words sound and are pronounced from the learner's auditory language memory using both Gestalt and logic brains for processing.)

47 "Reliable" Combinations replace "Unreliable" syllables for decoding.

  

Examples of marked words:
All markings are eliminated from the process as student gains control of the system.  3-Steps become 1 step as students control the C, G, Y and vowels with modest practice.

Entire 3-Step system correctly applied is usually mastered more rapidly than the following estimates:

Mastery time for special needs and limited English speaking students will occur between 5-14 months.  However, all students learning Read Quick will begin to apply the system in 5-10 hours of instruction if they interact with at least one lesson in each step.

These expectations are based on actual learning experiences in public, private, and charter schools, clinics and home schooling for the past 25 years.

Read Quick is the only decoding method ever needed.  There are no levels.

Exceptions occur when marked letters, using the 3-Step system, do not say what they are supposed to. 

  • One exception - The "Reading Brain" will help the reader.

  • Two or more exceptions - Word should be practiced as a sight word.

Unusual letter sounds are part of Combinations.  Few remaining are corrected by parent or tutor when met.

Read Quick does not emphasize learning prefixes and suffixes as part of the 'decoding' process. The 3-Step System accurately controls sounds in affixes.

Affix learning should be a part of reading comprehension, writing activities and vocabulary lessons.

Read Quick software is intended as a serious presentation to thoroughly teach anyone to read successfully. It is not designed with "bells and whistles" to entertain and maintain student focus.  Motivation for student attention is based on their success to read.  

Research has not supported "learning success" using highly colorful and entertaining educational software. Such software is confusing, often bombarding the student's processing system, interfering with learning the intended information.