Phonics That Works With the Brain, Not Against It
Rooted in the Science of Reading, Secret Stories® appeals to as many senses as possible through stories, visuals, movement, sounds, experiences, and feelings. Phonics skills get stored in multiple learning networks, so they are easier to retain and easier to retrieve.
How Secret Stories® Works
3 simple steps. No training, no scripts, no curriculum overhaul.
Introduce the Secret
Each tricky phonics pattern has a brain-based secret story that makes the letter behavior unforgettable. Kids remember why letters do what they do.
Backed by the Science of Reading
The stories connect letters to sounds through the brain's story and emotion pathways, the way kids actually learn to read according to Science of Reading research. Patterns stick without drills or memorization.
Watch Them Read
Within 2-3 weeks, kids start self-correcting and decoding on their own. Average result: 1.5-2+ grade levels of reading growth.
What Makes It Different
Most programs teach rules and hope they stick. Secret Stories works the way the brain actually encodes and retrieves patterns.
Backdoor Learning
Engages visual, auditory, emotional, and kinesthetic pathways to strengthen long-term memory and pattern recognition.
Dual-Track Model
Combines structured literacy with learner-driven curiosity, giving kids the just-in-time tools they need to decode unfamiliar words.
Nonconscious Processing
Stories and songs embed phonics patterns without cognitive overload. Ideal for young learners, ELL students, and students with processing challenges.
Muscle Memory & Movement
Accelerates retention through targeted physical engagement, aligned with how the brain builds neural pathways.
The Results, Measured
Across 27 independent studies, Secret Stories® measured a 1.62 average effect size and earned the ESSA Tier 1 STRONG evidence rating, the highest standard.
A Day in a Secret Stories Classroom
No extra lesson time needed. The Secrets fold into what you are already doing, all day long.
Sing the Better Alphabet Song
Two minutes during morning meeting or transitions builds letter-sound mastery through music and muscle memory, most classes know every sound within weeks.
Introduce a Secret When a Word Calls for It
A tricky word comes up, so you tell the Secret behind it. No script, no separate lesson. The story does the teaching in under a minute.
Students Reference the Posters
The Secrets hang on the wall, so students glance up to decode while reading and to spell while writing, in every subject, on their own.
The Secrets Travel Everywhere
Because the patterns live in stories kids love to retell, review happens naturally at lunch, at recess, and at home, without extra drills.
See It Explained in 2 Minutes
Watch how the Secrets turn phonics into stories kids cannot forget.
Common Questions
The short answers, straight from the research and the classrooms using it.
Is this a curriculum or a supplement?
Do I need training to start?
How fast do teachers see results?
See the full research →
Ready to See It in Your Classroom?
The same materials behind the 1.62 effect size, packed into one kit per classroom.
Not ready yet? Preview the samples first
