Alphagram Learning Materials

a unit of Visual Language LLC.

25 Whitetail Road
Irvington, NY 10533

Tel 914 693-7799
Fax 914 693-7788 24hrs

1-888-710-READ

   All good products emanate from a real need.
   When Alphagram founder Ellen Shapiro's son Alex was about six and a half and not learning to read, he was diagnosed as having dyslexia. Ellen engaged the services of a tutor who used explicit, multisensory techniques for teaching reading. In a relatively short time, she was able to teach Alex to listen to a sound and repeat it, look at a letter shape, and associate the letter with an icon or pictorial cue that represented that sound. Soon Alex was able to put together two and three letters to read syllables and words. And then to decode phrases, sentences, and stories. Today, he is studying Chinese, calculus and physics at Oberlin College (we can't attribute all this success to Alphagram, but have to give Alex's own hard work a lot of credit).

   Research-based.
   As successful as the tutor's techniques were, Ellen felt that the quality of materials she used with Alex left much to be desired. As a graphic designer, Ellen realized that her design expertise could fulfill a need. She began to read books about teaching reading, consulted with experts in phonemic awareness and reading, visited elementary schools, met with special education teachers and regular classroom teachers, and attended conference workshops.
   Inspired by the books that let you make funny, mixed-up creatures with different heads, bodies, and feet, she developed a flip-book with moveable flash cards with large letters, icons, and key words. The "Is It a Word--Or Not?" book makes more than 1,200 words and syllables with consonant, short vowel, and consonant (CVCs, the building blocks of reading). The success of "Is It a Word--Or Not?" has resulted in the product line now available to you on this site.

   For learners having difficulties.
For some children - about 15 percent of the population - learning to read is not easy. Many popular reading programs and teaching techniques simply do not work for kids with dyslexia and attention deficit disorder. As just one example, the pages of many phonics workbooks are busily crammed with letters, words, and pictures. Directions like, "Circle all the words that begin with..." are about other activities, like coloring, not reading. They can confuse and frustrate children.
   Research has shown that kids with dyslexia can only learn to read with a phonetic, systematic, sequential approach that uses multisensory techniques.
   Alphagram products are designed to focus the child's attention on one large letter at a time, with no distracting elements. Color-coding keeps eyes going in the right direction. Large, clear, well designed letters and icons help kids associate each letter shape with its sound. There are no parts to get lost or out of order.

   For every child.
   If multisensory techniques can help kids with learning and language difficulties, can't they help all children learn to read sooner and better? Of course. Headlines about falling reading scores and the literacy crises show us that many elementary reading programs need revamping. Alphagram materials are economical supplements to whole-language and literature-based K-3 reading programs. They can reinforce words in the day's story or to teach common spelling patterns. They can be used in small groups and resource rooms to help those students who need some extra attention.
   Alphagram products are excellent for home-schooling. They are also a great way for parents to introduce their pre-schoolers to the alphabet and the concepts of letter-sounds and blending.

   We listen.
   Since we first tested prototypes with primary-grade reading teachers in New York City, customers have been telling us that kids love our products and that they work. Please see our Testimonials page.
   Customers have also been telling us what else they need. Based on teacher, tutor, and parent requests, we offer "Word Maker", with individual packs of cards that let you spell any word; "Giant Letter-Sound Cards" with alternate spellings for each phoneme; the "Ready, Set, Read!" teaching guide filled with fun, effective lesson ideas and activities; "Letter-Sounds Posters" in English, Spanish, Hebrew, and Chinese; "Alphagram Tracing Letters" for handwriting practice (many kids who can read can't write); and our "Write the Right Word" game that teaches vocabulary and spelling.
   Right now, we're working on a hand-held electronic word game and a phonemic awareness storybook - a pre-reading, auditory experience that will help children identify and classify sounds before letters are introduced.

   We want to hear from you.
   What are you looking for? Let us know. If there is a large enough need, we will work on designing and marketing it. Please e-mail us at info@alphagram.com to let us know.
   We also want product feedback. How do you like our current products? What can be done to improve them? How are you using them? Where do you stand in the Phonics vs. Whole Language debate? How do you like this site? How could it be improved?
   We're a small company, still run out of a design office. We're here every day (Monday through Friday) to speak with you personally and answer your requests.

Our consultants
Alphagram has assembled a group of leading reading experts:

Dorrie Bernstein, M.S., Ed.M.
Educational Therapist in Private Practice
Hastings-on-Hudson, New York

Dee Falk
K-12 Resource Teacher
Stromsburg, Nebraska

Edith Grotberg, Ph.D.
Developmental Psychologist, Former Director, Research and Evaluation Division, Administration for Children, Youth, and Families
Washington, D.C.

Marilyn Kay, M.Ed.
Director, The Reading Group
Urbana, Illinois

Ariel Lenchner, Ph.D.
Literacy and Learning Disabilities Specialist
Oakland, California

Ruth Nathan, Ph.D.
Visiting Instructor, U.C. Berkeley Extension; Author, Consultant in private practice, Third-grade teacher
San Ramon, California