FOR DYSLEXIA & STRUGGLING READERS
When Decoding Feels Impossible, Give Letters a Story
Students who struggle to memorize abstract rules can remember characters and stories. Secret Stories® gives every phonics pattern a why the brain can hold onto.
- Multisensory mnemonics support Orton-Gillingham style instruction
- Reduces cognitive load: one story replaces a dozen abstract rules
- Teachers report breakthrough moments with readers who had given up
For readers who have already been taught the rules and still cannot use them
By the time a student is identified as dyslexic or flagged as a struggling reader, they have usually been through the rules more than once. What has not worked is asking them to hold abstract, arbitrary information in working memory and retrieve it at speed while also tracking meaning.
Secret Stories® changes what is being remembered. A story with a character and a cause is far easier to retrieve than a rule with neither, which is why students who have stalled for years often move quickly once the patterns are given reasons. It is a supplement to structured literacy, not a replacement for it.
Start where the code broke down
Most struggling readers are not missing everything. Identify the specific patterns that stop them and teach those Secrets first, rather than restarting from the beginning.
Keep the reference visible
The posters stay up permanently. A student who is still consolidating can look, remember, and keep reading instead of stopping and waiting for help.
Build the habit of self-talk
The turning point is a student narrating the Secret to themselves mid-word. That is the point at which decoding becomes theirs rather than the adult's.
So many of my struggling readers just couldn't 'crack the code' until we started introducing secret stories! The 'back way' into their brains is what really works and helps the phonics 'stick'! Don't know what I'd do without secret stories!
Common questions
Is Secret Stories a dyslexia program?
Why would this work when other approaches have not?
Is it appropriate for older struggling readers?
Can parents use it at home alongside school support?
What does the research say?
Best Sellers
