"It helped me read more and it helped me read faster" Reader
"My reader absolutely LOVED the VRG and she learned lots of new things!!" Mentor
It is a great worry to parents, guardians and their children when reading is a problem. The ability to read is fundamental to many activities from reading a cell phone message to interpreting the symbols presented in a math’s problem. It is not always possible to get a child to the speech and language professionals who could help. It may be too expensive. The VRG is a solution that can really help. You need an electronic device, internet access, a few hours a week and a mentor to work with your child. You can get real help for a challenged reader. You and they will be able to see actual improvements and have fun while doing so. Children love the game format and reward system of the VRG.
The key is the tailored approach:
- It levels the reader by means of reading a levelling passage which helps determine what level a reader is at and also at what level they should start the programme.
- Uses the readers errors to generate training exercises
- Teaches phonics with voice prompts
- Teaches vocabulary and comprehension
- Uses repeated reading for fluency
- Environmental theme rewards
- Fun reading with a mentor be it at home with a parent, sibling, friend or with a therapist or teacher at school.
- Children need repeated opportunities and exposure to reading passages to improve their reading. Children who experience difficulties reading will do so for different reasons. Reading interventions thus need to be tailored to an individual child’s strengths and weaknesses (Bowyer-Crane et al.,2007).
- VRG uses an assessment to determine a child’s strengths and difficulties. This ensures that the intervention starts at the appropriate level and with the right balance between accuracy, rate and comprehension. It also draws heavily on a child’s own specific reading errors, so that children learn exactly what is relevant.
- Used successfully at a leading reading clinic in Cape Town by speech language therapists for dyslexic and language delayed readers.
- Clinical case studies were presented at an international conference in Oxford in 2016.
- The programme has been utilised by researchers at UCT in a research programme at schools.
