TTRS helps develop the typing and literacy skills of children, young people and adults who have difficulties with reading, writing, and spelling for a broad range of reasons, and at the same time increases their level of confidence, self-esteem and motivation as learners.
Dyslexia friendly
TTRS does this by teaching computer keyboard friendly skills in a unique "dyslexia friendly" way, and by following a structured literacy program using word lists of the textbook Alpha to Omega, by Dr Beve Horsby, Frula Shear and Julie Pool which is based on the work of Orton and Gillingham.
These are reading systems designed specifically for children and adults with learning differences. TTRS is a dyslexia friendly course which is effective for all learners, and the word lists closely mimic the normal pattern of phonological language acquisition.
Multi-sensory
One of the reasons why TTRS is so successful across such a broad spectrum of students is that it goes back to basics.
It names the letters as they are introduced - and this makes the course accessible to students whose literacy is at the most basic level, no matter what their age.
Automaticity
The first words - wed red fed led - soon start to become automatic with practice. This automaticity is an important element for building success.
Students who struggle with the process of handwriting may do so throughout their lives, but may well be able to achieve automaticity of typing.
Words flow through the fingers without the student having to consciously think about them. We call this "finger memory" or "muscle memory".
Repetition
Repetition supports the learning of the correct placement of the fingers as part of touch-typing and so it's important for the student to look at the screen and not look down at the hands.
At the same time, the development of automatic touch-typing is supported, and the fingers seem to develop a memory of their own through repetition. Repetition is particularly helpful for dyslexic learners who need to "over-learn" material to capture it in long term memory.
Incremental steps
New words are introduced in small incremental steps, and the vocabulary expands.
The course is designed to help learners achieve high scores which enhances self-esteem and motivates them to go on with a CAN DO attitude.
The course structure and content are based on current education research and articles can be found in the resources section on the readandspell.com website.