"Bricks and Mortar":

Basic Reading Skills

"I just wanted to say thank you for your wonderful Bricks and Mortar system. My daughter, age 5, has been a challenge for me (I am homeschooling both my children), but she has responded very well and very quickly to your program. It was just the key to unlock her clever little mind - and all in an amazingly short time. We first found your site about 4 weeks ago and she's now reading many words on her own, as well as writing the stories she once only told out loud. Thanks!!!"       Lori D, Albany, Georgia, US       14th February 2003

"I stumbled, quite by accident, on your site a few days ago whilst looking for some free resources for my 4 children, aged 6 to 14. I found the Bricks and Mortar disks and thought I'd try them on my 6 year old (who has been having extra reading classes at school to help boost her reading). I have to say that I am astonished by the way she has responded to them. I have so far printed off the first 30 disks and notes and she can read the lot! The first thing she does when she comes in from school is look in the folder to see if I have printed any more off. Thanks."       Sam H, Cumbria, England       29th April 2003

"Bricks and Mortar" is a unique system for teaching children to read. You can print the full version directly from screen - around 240 pages (will print clearly on "draft") - large clear diagrams for kids, and the whole system can be read aloud in under 2 hours.

We'd suggest you print the pages in blocks of 10 (10 Notes and matching 10 Disks) : for most children, absorbing the first 40 of each will be enough to allow them to progress to simple structured reading books like Ladybird or the Biff, Chip and Kipper series on the Oxford Reading Tree. The remaining Disks and Notes pages are useful for helping them assimilate more complex word structures and spelling rules as their confidence in reading increases, but structured reading should take priority as soon as your child progresses naturally to that stage.

There are three main areas in "Bricks and Mortar" - all pages can be printed out and put into plastic pockets in a lever-arch file, or laminated individually.

Prelims - comprising cover and some basic details about this unusual reading system

Notes pages - for helpers

Disks pages - graphics pages for apprentice readers

The Disks pages relate directly to the same-numbered Notes pages.

The cover page (in the Prelims section) will print in colour; the rest are designed for black-and-white printing, for ease of access by all browsers.

We would welcome comments as to how these pages print out, being that there are so many different browsers. Each page should print out exactly onto one A4 sheet, more or less (we'd recommend full-quality printing for photocopy originals but you may find "draft quality" sufficient for most other purposes). Should you find some pages print onto two sheets, using the "print page 1 to page 1" option for all sheets should minimise excess pages.

Comments about "Bricks and Mortar" are always welcome - please see the Intro page hyperlinked below. This page will give you a brief introduction to the reading system and how and why it works.