Research has found that successful readers are able to do two things very well. They:
Phonetically sound out unfamiliar words.
Recognize sight words. These are words that do not follow phonics rules and simply need to be memorized by a child.
Our "Steps to Reading" lessons teach your child both of these skills, but we place special emphasis on teaching phonics. Children enrolled with us learn to read so quickly, and so well, that the discriminating moms on Urban Baby called us "the best phonics program in the city."
What Our Clients Say About Us
How to teach a child to read.
With this book, anyone can teach a child to read!
Our renowned reading lessons are now available in this book for parents to use at home.
Watch these YouTube videos of a presentation at Bank Street Book Store, where Irene Daria, Ph.D. showed parents how fun and easy it is to teach the short vowel sounds and the most frequently used sight words.
"Irene is truly remarkable at teaching children how to read. For some children, learning to read can be harder than it appears to be for their peers. This was the case for my daughter. Irene not only took the anxiety away from the experience of learning to read, but she made it genuinely fun and totally stress free. And the confidence it gave my daughter is something that remains with her six years on! I feel so fortunate that I discovered her for my children."
-- Kate Winslet, actress
“It was such a pleasure to meet you last week. My son and I went to Barnes & Noble and bought lots of books and the reading DVDs you recommended. He and his sister watched the DVDs to and from the Hamptons and loved them. We worked on recognizing the early sight words like `the.' Last night, at bedtime, we pulled out one of the little phonics books you recommended and, well, my son was a superstar. He looked at me and said, `Mom! I can read!’ He was so excited and I was so proud. THANK YOU for already making a difference!”
--Upper East Side mom of two children in private school
"We wanted to let you know how much we appreciate your support and insight into helping our son. He's improved so much because of the exceptionally good job you and your tutor did with him. He's reading an hour or two before bed almost every night now and his teacher says he writes easily and at length without prodding. More importantly, she noted that he made connections that were thoughtful and showed insight and understanding of the subject matter. His vocabulary is through the roof and his reading comprehension is also very strong. This nearly brought me to tears! Such a long way he has come."
--Parent at Hunter Elementary School