OnTrack Reading

The OnTrack Reading phonics program is a carefully designed method of phonics instruction that has been used by the author in one-on-one remediation with nearly 200 struggling readers, often after they have completed vision therapy. It develops the skills of blending, segmenting and phoneme manipulation necessary for reading while also teaching the code knowledge needed to decode unfamiliar words. The entire phonics curriculum, except for some early basic code work, is contained in the OnTrack Reading Advanced Code Workbook and its associated instruction manual.

Getting Started

All of the information on the pages in this section of the Guide is also covered in the instruction manual to be used with the OnTrack Advanced Code Phonics Workbook. It is reproduced here so that parents can do the testing of reading skills and code knowledge before the workbook arrives and can become familiar with some of the notation used to discuss sounds and spellings in the phonics program.

After the discussion on notation and testing, some of the worksheets from the Advanced Code Workbook are discussed in detail. This is so that you can get a better feel for how the OnTrack Reading Phonics Program approaches problems with kid-level logic, that is, with explanations that can be understood even by six-year-olds. While waiting for the workbook to arrive, you could even be working on the first lesson which teaches the First Vowel Sounds (the short sounds) of the letters a, e, i, o and u.

Using the OnTrack Reading Multisyllable Curriculum

The remainder of the phonics section of the Guide consists of the complete multisyllable section of the workbook. If you administer the Code Knowledge Test to your child and he scores 90% or better and in addition knows most of the overlap options, then it will not be necessary to put him through the bulk of the curriculum in the workbook. Instead, just download the 2-syllable, 3-syllable and 4-syllable word lists from this site and work through the multisyllable curriculum from beginning to end. If your child knows the code but has difficulty reading multisyllable words, you will find that the method here will make sense to him and, properly taught, will convince him to stop guessing and start decoding longer words one chunk at a time.

One cautionary note is due here, however. If your child does well on the Code Knowledge Test, but is one who tends to insert extra sounds in words and then has difficulty removing them, or if he is a terrible speller, or both, you should consider going through the entire workbook even if he does know most of the code. It will fine tune his code knowledge, but more important, it will train him to become comfortable with the exact sounds in words and will usually improve his spelling as well.

Where to Now?

If you’re interested in reading problems, or dyslexia, and want to learn more of the author’s views on the matter, consider reading the section titled The Dyslexia Puzzle. For background on the author’s journey through the reading world thus far, take a look at The OnTrack Reading Story. Or, continue on through the phonics information on this site by going to the next page.

Next: Phonics Curriculum Overview or return to the OnTrack Reading Home Page