Reading Horizons - and Intensive Phonics

About Us

Reading Horizons is a company in its 25th year of publishing Discover Intensive Phonics, a research based reading program. This program has been used in schools for over three decades and now Reading Horizons is offering non-consumable teaching materials and interactive teaching software for individual use at home. Reading Horizons has a program for children, adults and those with ESL needs. This is a proven program that helps struggling readers of any age. This program is endorsed by the Florida Center for Reading Research and is used at Harvard and several other universities across the nation. Discover Intensive Phonics is also being used in India, Indonesia, Africa, South Korea and Israel to name a few. This program changes lives not only in America but across the world.

Home School Solution
Give your children a reading program that guarantees they will make fast gains in reading-grade levels through a tried-and-true research based program. The easy to teach direct instruction materials and self-guided student software make a perfect combination to any reading curriculum.

Powerful Learning System - How It Works
This method is a revolutionary approach to teaching phonics. The scientifically based approach incorporates the proven methods of teaching the 42 sounds of the Alphabet, five phonetic skills and two decoding skills. These three combine to dramatically increase the student's ability to read.

Proven Track Record
This research based, Orton-Gillingham approach to reading has been used in schools and literacy centers for over 30 years. Now we are offering it to you at a dramatically reduced price! Get the program that feels like having a personal reading tutor right in your own home.

Reading Horizons at Home (ages 10 to adult) Research
Intensive Phonics at Home (ages 4 to 9) Research
ESL Phonics at Home (ESL students of all ages) Research

Satisfaction Guarantee
We are so confident of the results produced through our method that we stand behind them with a 60-day money back guarantee. If you are not satisfied with one of our products for any reason, we will promptly refund your money. Order now to see fast reading improvement!

Description: Welcome to the official home of the Discover Intensive Phonics for Yourself reading system for Home Use! Reading Horizons at Home is recognized nationwide as a leader in home use literacy for both children and adults.

Does Discover Intensive Phonics Work for Good Readers?
Discover Intensive Phonics is designed and extremely effective for helping struggling readers, but what about good readers? This is a question that has been asked and should be addressed.

Those who do not have language-processing issues such as dyslexia and those who seem to be able to break the reading code do so automatically. Automatic readers are able to break down words and recognize individual phonemes and word patterns. If you asked them, however, why a word says what it does, most would be unable to give you an answer. They might respond with, "It just does" or "I don't know how I know, but I just know that it says that." They seem to transfer this knowledge to most new words automatically but truly do not have a grasp on the why. To have an understanding of the code of our language and to be able to decode any word and understand why it says what it does is a valuable skill for anyone. If someone chooses to go into a field such as medicine, where there seems to be an entirely new language of medical terms, these types of skills become invaluable.

Secondly, it is common to find people who are great readers but poor spellers. Why is that? First, spelling involves several processes: It is a mirror process of reading — we blend the sounds when we read, and we should be segmenting the sounds to spell. When we spell, we actually decode (break words into phonemes) and encode (put or blend phonemes together to create the word) in order to get the correct answer. Second, many of us, when trying to spell a word, do not have any real strategies to apply, and we do not have a strong-enough understanding of phonics to help us. Most of us just write the word the best we can and see if it "looks" right. That involves visual memory-specific to graphemes dealing with reading–and most of us are unable to store in our memories the spelling for every word we would like to use. The "visual memory" problems of poor spellers are specific to memory for letters and words, so a better term for poor spelling is orthographic memory problem. A person may be a very poor speller but a very good artist, navigator, or mechanic; those professions require a different kind of visual memory. Most important to understand is that spelling problems, like reading problems, originate with language-learning weaknesses. Spelling disability does not reflect a general "visual memory" problem but a more-specific problem with awareness of and memory for language structure, including the letters in words. People who are poor spellers typically have trouble analyzing the sounds, syllables, and meaningful parts of words in both spoken and written language. In addition, they often have trouble learning other types of symbolic codes, such as math facts and math operation signs.

(Information taken from "Just the Facts"
provided by the International Dyslexia Association, at interdys.org)

This program can benefit any type of reader, giving them the skills to understand the why and giving them proven strategies to apply to unfamiliar words when reading and/or spelling. It gives them effective skills to apply rather than letting them rely on visual memory or just seeing if it "looks" right. This program also builds vocabulary through context usage of all of the words, which is the vital component for reading comprehension. This program is a relevant foundation for anyone. Learn more.

How Are We Different from Other Phonics Programs?

One of the most frequently asked questions is, "How are you different from Hooked on Phonics?" The following is a list of points of how we are different from most phonics programs that are out there.
Our program is research based and is proven to increase phonemic awareness, decoding ability, fluency, and spelling.
We have been used in schools for over 30 years with marked success.
We are not an alphabet soup of sounds; we are systematic and explicit in our instruction. We provide strategies to apply to words of any length to determine what they say.
We are simple, not requiring a huge list of rules to be memorized and recited. (Those with processing issues, such as dyslexia, have a difficult time with rote memorization, so those types of programs are very frustrating for them.)
We have one program, not several programs that have to be purchased in order to see results. Our software is contained on one disc that takes you through the entire Discover Intensive Phonics method, from simple phonemes to multi-syllabic words.
All of our materials are non-consumable. You have the choice of manuals or software, and both can stand alone.
Words used for decoding are used in context sentences for vocabulary building and to increase understanding, creating connections for memory storage and retrieval.
Nonsense words are used throughout the program to ensure mastery of the skills being taught.
An Orton-Gillingham-based marking system is employed to help those with processing disorders and allow any learner to see what the word says.
This program is endorsed by the Florida Center for Reading Research and is used by universities such as Harvard and Brigham Young University.
The best way to see how we are different is to try us. Having the skills to be able to decode any word is empowering. One user said,
"It was like I was walking down a hallway with doors, and all of them were locked. After going through this program, I was given the keys to open them. Anything is possible now."
--Bernadine Choate, Provo, Utah

[//]