Reading and Literacy Programmes for Children
Every child begins their reading journey at a different stage. That's why I Can Read offers a structured pathway that supports children from their first language experiences through to advanced reading, comprehension and writing.
Following a free assessment, we'll identify your child's current literacy level and recommend the programme that's right for them.
Programs That Grow With Your Child
Find the right programme for your child and begin a path to successful literacy. (If you choose a programme after ICR, then you can already read). Parents choose I Can Read because it is the one stop system for all skills related to fluent reading and writing. Taught by qualified teachers specialising in literacy, it is a proven system!
Building Strong Foundations for Future Reading
Designed for children from around three years of age, the Beginner Programme develops the early language, listening and communication skills that prepare children for learning to read.
Through engaging, age-appropriate activities, children build confidence while developing the foundations needed for future literacy success.
Preparing Children to Read with Confidence
The Preliminary Programme introduces children to the sounds that make up spoken language and begins developing the essential phonics skills needed for reading.
Children learn to recognise sounds, connect them with letters and build the confidence to begin reading independently through a structured, step-by-step approach.
Developing Independent Readers
This is the core I Can Read programme and forms the heart of our literacy system.
Children progress through carefully structured lessons that introduce new sounds, strengthen reading fluency, improve spelling and develop comprehension skills. As their confidence grows, they begin reading more independently while building the skills needed for long-term literacy success.
Strengthening Reading, Writing and Comprehension
Designed for confident readers, this programme helps children further develop grammar, spelling, writing and higher-level comprehension skills.
An initial assessment identifies your child's strengths and areas for Rhythm? No. Need clean. improvement, allowing lessons to focus on their individual learning needs as they continue to build strong literacy skills throughout primary school.
Why choose I Can Read?
Parents choose I Can Read because it is the one stop system for all skills related to fluent reading and writing. Taught by qualified teachers specialising in literacy, it is a proven system which has successfully taught thousands of children to read.
Beginner
The I Can Read Beginner course is an appropriate, interactive, specially created programme intended for beginning learners, usually from 3 years, designed to provide a platform for the acquisition of fluent English literacy. This programme forms the first step on the reading-literacy journey. For most students it is pre-phonics, because children at this age are just beginning to develop an ability to associate the spoken language with its attendant sound structures.
By the age of four years, children are able to sustain eye contact, play interactively and develop improved attention skills. The Beginner Programme was developed in response to parents who requested a language-based programme which would be actively engaging for the child.
Preliminary
The I Can Read Preliminary course is designed as a foundation programme that precedes learning to read. From the age of four, most children are able to appreciate that a spoken word is an assembly of (smaller) sounds (phonemes). The ability to hear and identify the sounds in spoken language is called phonemic awareness and is a prerequisite of learning to read. Children are enrolled in this programme once they are able to name a wide variety of objects from pictures and can demonstrate an ability to access the first sound in the words for such pictures. In I Can Read Preliminary, the child will acquire phonological and phonemic awareness skills which include syllabic awareness, oral segmentation, oral blending and phonics. At the phonics stage, children will learn the Alphabetic Principle. Parents will be asked to support their child at home with learning sound-letter correspondence using the I Can Read alphabet card.
I Can Read
The I Can Read core programme takes the student through volumes 1-6 of the workbooks which systematically addresses the 44 phonemes in the English language, progressing from simple to more complex sounds and spelling until all the sounds are read. The programme has a structured reading approach which introduces the beginning reader to a new sound each lesson, how to visually read and pronounce the sound when it is present in print and how to spell words containing the target sound. Pronunciation and comprehension significantly improve. During Volumes 1-5, comprehension is oral; from Volume 6 onwards, it is also written. Children progress to the advanced section (ICR-A) of I Can Read from volume 6 onwards, when the reading and written comprehension skills are reinforced and embedded and the student moves towards advanced spelling, grammar, punctuation and written expression.
Advanced Language and Literacy Skills
The Advanced Language and Literacy Skills programme (ALLS) is an outcomes based programme designed to address all aspects of the student’s literacy development during the primary school years. It focuses on grammar, spelling, writing (imaginative, informative, and persuasive), reading comprehension strategies and exam techniques. It addresses outcomes identified in the NSW Board of Studies.
Upon enrolling in the Advanced Language and Literacy Programme, an assessment will determine the child’s strengths and weaknesses, so the teacher will then be able to focus on the child’s specific literacy needs.
Holiday Programme
In addition to our core ‘Steps to English Success’ programmes, we are pleased to offer the following specialist programmes. These programmes are generally run by centres during the holidays and will advance your children's literacy skills in intensive lessons which can be attended daily. Check with your centre to find out which programmes they will be offering in the holidays.
