Newsletter | October 2026
Greetings everyone and happy Dyslexia Awareness month!
Red buildings and bridges have been popping up all over Brisbane in the last fortnight, with plenty more to come. A full list of participating structures across the country can be found at Light It Red for Dyslexia. Many thanks to Code Read for their continued efforts advocating and raising awareness about dyslexia, and to everyone who has participated.
Do you know the early signs of Dyslexia?
Dyslexia can be difficult to identify in the early years, particularly when children are bright, articulate and eager to learn. However, there are early indicators that may signal a child is at risk, including delays in speech production, difficulties pronouncing words, trouble identifying sounds and linking them to letters, and more. A family history of dyslexia also increases the likelihood of reading difficulties.
While no single indicator can predict dyslexia on its own, understanding the risk factors can help parents and educators know what to look for and when to seek assistance. Read our blog to learn more about the early signs of dyslexia and why early identification matters.
The co-occurrence of dyslexia and ADHD
October is both Dyslexia Awareness Month and ADHD Awareness Month! Did you know that dyslexia and ADHD commonly co-occur? Although neither condition causes the other, having one increases the likelihood of having the other. Both can affect a child’s ability to engage with reading and writing, but in different ways. Dyslexia primarily affects word reading and spelling, while ADHD can affect attention, organisation and the ability to stay focused on learning tasks.
When a child struggles with reading or writing, it can be difficult to understand what is behind the challenges—particularly when both conditions are present. From misreading words and losing their place while reading to difficulties with spelling, handwriting and proofreading, the impact on learning can be significant. Understanding the differences between dyslexia and ADHD is an important step towards providing the right support.
Read3 at the heart of an award-winning tutoring approach
On a recent trip to the New England region I had the pleasure of catching up with Kylie Macpherson, Director of Bright Minds Tutoring. Bright Minds was one of the first tutoring companies in Australia to embrace the Read3 program, and I am delighted to share that the team recently took home five trophies at the Australian Tutoring Association annual awards. We were particularly thrilled to see Bright Minds awarded the Tutoring Program Excellence Award (K-6), and Kylie the Specialist Tutor of the Year. It is such a pleasure to see their commitment to early intervention recognised, and we are delighted to have played a part in that success. Here’s Kylie and I. Could we look any prouder? 🙂
When reading breaks down, where should you look next?
A child may read individual words accurately but struggle when those words are strung together into phrases and sentences. Reading becomes slow and effortful, accuracy slips, or the child struggles to make sense of what they've read.
When this happens, it's tempting to provide more practice at the level where the difficulty becomes apparent. But sometimes, the best ‘next step’ is to step back.
Accurate word reading is essential, but children also need to recognise words quickly and effortlessly. If they're still working hard to decode each word, reading a string of words can be very challenging indeed!
Read3 follows a systematic progression to build reading fluency. Within each program step, different reading levels are targeted explicitly, progressively building accuracy and automaticity from:
- identifying sounds in words
- linking letters to sounds
- combining sounds into common word parts
- reading whole words
- stringing words together into phrases
- reading sentences
- reading longer pieces of text
Fluent text reading is the goal, but getting there can sometimes involve revisiting earlier levels rather than simply moving forwards. Double-checking that skills at the previous level are sufficiently accurate and automatic can help reduce the cognitive load at the current level.
For example:
- If a child struggles to read simple words accurately, check their letter-sound knowledge and ability to blend sounds.
- If phrase and sentence reading is disjointed, or they revert to sound-by-sound decoding, check whether their single-word reading is accurate and automatic.
- If a child struggles to develop text-level fluency, check whether they can read phrases and sentences smoothly.
The activities and games in Read3 are designed to support accuracy and automaticity at each level. Word-level games such as U-Know Words help children progress from accurate decoding towards instant word recognition. Smooth Sentences develops accurate phrase reading before progressing to sentence-level fluency. And 60 Word Fluency Stories track words correct per minute (WCPM) at each program step, helping monitor progress towards text-level fluency.
Rather than simply providing more practice where a child is struggling, identify what is making the task difficult. Sometimes, the most effective next step is to revisit an earlier level and strengthen the foundations.
Build accuracy then fluency with U-Know Words!Once children begin decoding words accurately, the next step is building fluency. U-Know Words makes it fun to practise both! Designed to support the Read3 Scope and Sequence, these engaging card games support children to progress through two stages of word reading. 1: Build accuracy. As new phonic code is introduced, children are encouraged to decode each word using the chunking strategy taught in Read3. They can change the colour by matching cards by rime ending (e.g. pat, cat), which is also a great way to draw attention to common letter patterns. 2: Build fluency. As children become more confident and familiar with the words, encourage them to speed up, reading each whole word quickly and efficiently. With a simple, uncluttered design and plenty of opportunities for repeated practice, U-Know Words helps turn word reading into a fun game for family and friends alike.
Save 20% on U-Know Words card sets! Shop U-Know Words |
What's the plan for 2027?
Looking to boost foundational literacy skills in 2027? We’ve got you covered.
Our new-and-improved Easy Alphabet packages offer a structured, evidence-informed approach to building strong letter–sound knowledge. Ideal for any foundation classroom, features include:
- Online access to instructional videos
- Expanded range of digital resources
- State-specific fonts
- Playing Cards and practice sheets mailed to your door.
- Custom packages for schools, speech pathologists and parents
EXPLORE EASY ALPHABET PACKAGES
If you've got children who aren't responding as expected to your classroom phonics program, then maybe it's time for Read3!
The Read3 program is an Australian-made, AUSPELD-approved literacy intervention for children with serious reading and writing challenges.
It is a recommended approach for children with dyslexia, attention and executive function difficulties, weak working memory or weak RAN who are struggling to build fluency or have ‘failed-to-respond’ to quality phonics instruction. It has also been used to develop functional written language skills in children with ASD, DLD and cognitive impairment.
If you’re interested in taking literacy instruction and intervention to a new level in 2027, simply reach out for an obligation-free quote
Final Read3 training for Speech Pathologists for 2026
So far this year almost 100 speech pathologists have completed Read3 training, cementing our place as a well regarded intervention choice within the profession. If you’re a speech pathologist and haven’t yet completed training, now’s the time!
Our third training block for speechies will commence on Friday 23 October 2026.
The training block consists of four x 2 hr sessions. Replays are made available.
Participants will have access to Module 1 Step 1 of the Read3 program throughout the training block so they can practise what they learn.
REGISTER FOR SLP TRAINING
Read3 training for schools
If the prospect of training and budgeting for individualised intervention seems a little daunting, never fear!
While the Read3 program is ‘individualised’ it does not have to be administered one-on-one. Our games-based approach lends itself well to a small group setting, and detailed instructions, scripts and videos support all team members.
Training is available in a self-paced format to enable greater flexibility amongst your team. Learn a little, practice, then learn a little more.
If you are thinking about stepping up your intervention game, please reach out for a training and licence proposal..
ABOUT SCHOOL TRAINING
Want to know more about Read3? Just Ask!
If you are not yet using Read3 or the Easy Alphabet, but are keen to know more, reach out via support@read3.com.au or book a phone call at a time that suits you. We're always happy to help.
Cheers for now,
Kate Andrew
Co-Founder, Read3 Literacy
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