Lisa, Parent of a 7th grader with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and apraxia
I was looking for a keyboarding program and learned about Touch-type Read and Spell from some other homeschool families. My son is in seventh grade and already knew how to type, but I wanted to keep building on that skill.
The spelling element is a huge bonus because that is a really challenging skill to progress with for those with learning disabilities that include dyslexia and dysgraphia.
A deciding factor for me was the multi-sensory teaching aspect of TTRS; these kinds of methods are exactly what students with dyslexia and dysgraphia need.
TTRS checks so many boxes. I am still learning more and more about what is actually available in the program: word lists, academic vocabulary by subjects, sight words, word endings, homophones, etc.
We also love being able to customize the visual display of the program: colors, sounds, prompts, etc. TTRS does way more than I even take advantage of and I am excited to delve deeper into it.
My son does about three modules each day; they are quick and painless. And the best part is he is learning! He's not only more confident in his keyboarding, but his spelling skills are noticeably improving too.
Because of his learning disabilities (which is part of the reason we homeschool), one thing that’s been a real struggle for him is learning vocabulary, especially academic words.
The subject areas offered are really awesome. Words are used in a sentence, you can preview them or not, you can have the word displayed or dictated. TTRS is so customizable.
We did the TTRS math subjects for a while and now we’re in science. I love the whole package that you get with this program.
As a child, my son struggled with apraxia of speech and is left with lingering literacy effects. In addition to his learning disabilities and cleft lip and palate defect, he was adopted at age 5 from a foreign country and really had no language.
English is his first language, but he started five years behind most other children. As you can imagine we have so much ground to cover in building his vocabulary.
This has a huge impact on reading and comprehension for him. TTRS even manages to build his vocabulary by the nature of the program.
My son struggles with working memory and it’s hard for him to memorize spelling rules. TTRS is a different approach to spelling. Through typing sets of words, it’s teaching him a picture of what a word looks and sounds like. We use the American English voice in TTRS.
At home I’m using the Sequential Spelling curriculum and this course follows along with that quite well. Even his language therapist has picked up on a difference when it comes to his spelling and vocabulary this year!
And with a child who has many learning disabilities, everything you can do to help further language skills along adds another piece to the puzzle of being successful, both within education and in life.
My son never complains about doing TTRS. I highly encourage everyone to take advantage of the free trial and judge for yourself.
