Accelerated Success Made Simple
Sound Start Literacy has changed the way I run my classroom and incorporate it into my teaching on a daily basis. My students were struggling with the basic concepts of phonics and the curriculum I was using. It was not developed in a way that was directly applicable to meet the needs of my students who were really struggling. I was given the opportunity to use Sound Start Literacy at the start of the new year [January] and within 2 weeks, there was growth and progress with those students who were struggling. There was progress with phonemic awareness, blending, segmenting, decoding and recognizing heart words [high frequency words]. The program is designed to guide students with the tools at a pace that is geared towards their age group.The teaching model is extremely interactive and easy to follow. With the amazing training, you will be able to pick up the program and immediately start to teach without it being overwhelming. The students love all the engaging lessons and activities that go along with Sound Start Literacy. They were excited to participate in the daily lessons, small group instruction, center games and partner work. With the program, it allows you to teach the lesson to the whole group and then use the activities as reinforcements during small group instruction. There is no need to look elsewhere for other resources or materials for small groups. I was excited again to teach phonics knowing there is going to be growth within all of my students. Sound Start Literacy is designed to make your classroom successful and give your students the confidence and joy that reading has to offer. Not only did I see a significant change in their phonics skills and abilities, I saw a change in their demeanor as the school year came to a close. They are ready and confident in their skills for 1st grade. I cannot recommend this program enough. Sound Start Literacy will change the way you teach and you can watch your students succeed within your classroom! Melissa Davies, Kindergarten teacher
I highly recommend Sound Start Literacy! After 3 years of OG instruction, my profoundly dyslexic/ADHD son was still struggling to sound out CVC words. I talked with Jen, and she recommended I give her program a try. I was blown away. Only one year later, my son is reading chapter books with my help! Slow, yes, but he is reading! He often tells me reading with me is his favorite part of his school day and even asks to read with me outside of our school time! I would never have thought introducing multiple sound spellings at once would be possible but my son's brain thrived with it. I will forever be thankful for Jen taking her time to help us and for her Sound Start Literacy program. Someday I hope to tutor, and I would love to use your program. I will be watching for the release of SSL! Suzan George, Parent
Jen changed my daughter’s life. We saw multiple specialists and had numerous evaluations done and no one could figure out why she was struggling so much. These specialists all came from professional recommendations too. In desperation, I finally searched for a reading specialist online and decided to take a chance with her. From the moment we met, I knew we had found the right person. With her evaluation and tutoring (and my daughter’s hard work and determination), in a little over one year, we have gone from a child who could not recognize letters in the spring of kindergarten to a child finishing first grade reading at the targeted level. When everyone else wrote my daughter off as too young to intervene or gave the wrong diagnosis, Jen figured out what was going on in one evaluation. What I love about her as well is that she truly is not in it for the money, she cares deeply about helping children who learn differently succeed. She even suggested our daughter was ready to move on from her, but we believe so much in her help we have stayed with her and our daughter continues to thrive more each day. Alisa Donahue, Parent
I can’t say enough about the Sound Start Literacy phonics by Jen Cerra of READ Intervention. It’s a highly effective, thoughtfully designed resource that delivered great results for our k-3 students. The accelerated scope and sequence helped students move through foundational skills and access grade level text more effectively. It was very apparent that Sound Start gave students confidence, seeing themselves as readers. The materials are contained in a Google Slides format and are clear, easy to use, and require no additional prep. Sound Start integrates vocabulary, morphology and comprehension from the start. Students aren’t just learning to decode, they’re learning to make meaning, too. Additionally, the students love the games, especially Chomp, which is an effective way to reinforce skills in small group settings. Since using Sound Start, I’m seeing students find success much earlier than in past years. It’s been exciting to watch intervention perform at levels we’d usually expect to see in March or April. Many are reaching goals as early as January. dwI also really love the error correction piece. It’s quick and effective. There’s no more “What sound does this letter make?” Instead, students get immediate feedback and move on with confidence. Barbara Alfieri, K-5 Reading Specialist
I love how it's open and go, no need to prep anything but student packets. Not even the need to open a manual once you know how the activities work, since it's the same routine each lesson. The vocabulary instruction has been great too, both for my MLL students (specifically the homophones), and the embedded morphology - the kids start noticing different word parts in their reading, and using those word parts to decode and figure out the meaning of new words. Jackie MacFarland, 2nd grade teaher
After transitioning from other phonics programs, I’ve appreciated the simplicity of its step-by-step lessons, decodable texts, and materials that support students in mapping sounds to letters and decoding words with confidence. Rather than requiring mastery through unit tests, the program includes progress checks that give teachers meaningful data to identify students who may need additional support. In my experience, when using assessments such as DIBELS, this program effectively strengthens foundational reading skills and supports consistent growth throughout the school year. Kelly Lovejoy, First grade teacher
The program is amazing. There's so many great things about Sound Start but for kindergarten I think the biggest thing is that they are reading and writing words almost immediately. In FUNdations, we weren't introducing tapping and word reading until all the letters had been introduced, which typically wasn't until after winter break. With Sound Start the students are blending in the very first lesson and they can do it! They are so proud of themselves when they read their first words just a few weeks into kindergarten. Megan Wysoki, Kindergarten teacher
I appreciate that Sound Start sequences letter introduction by most commonly used sounds. This allows us to begin blending and reading so much faster than introducing letters based on formation and handwriting. I have seen such a jump in emergent reading skills using the Sound Start program. LOVE IT!!! Ashley Isello, Kindergarten teacher
I like that the activities and practice exercises are the same from week to week. Now that we are at the midpoint in the year, the students have very clear expectations of how our phonics practice will go every day, and they are building confidence and independence as they work through the activities. Brianna Rodriguez, 2nd grade teacher