Many schools have adopted excellent text series that provide a strong emphasis on phonics instruction for general use with all children in the classroom. Two highly regarded examples are Open Court Reading, published by SRA/McGraw-Hill, and the Houghton Mifflin Reading series. These textbook publishers also provide extra materials or books geared for small group use with struggling readers.

However, although these reading programs may provide a good foundation, children with dyslexia usually need more specialized intervention, generally in the form of individualized tutoring or placement with specially trained teachers for all or part of the school day. Most primary-level reading programs for dyslexia are based on teaching phonics more intensively and thoroughly than is done in the regular classroom. Some of these programs teach phonics in isolation, and some focus on teaching phonetic elements in conjunction with other strategies to help with word recognition, spelling, fluency, and comprehension.

Any phonics-based program will provide your child with some guidance for understanding the sounds of language, the correspondence between letters and sounds, and segmenting (breaking apart) and blending (putting together) individual sounds to make words. However, the particular approach to teaching may vary, especially with regard to the sequence and pace of instruction.