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Does your child dread reading?
Has he been taught the rules but can’t apply them while reading?
Does he struggle to spell words correctly when writing?
Does she say reading is boring?
Searching for a way to help your struggling reader in 10 minutes a day?
Seriously consider Secret Stories.
“Secret Stories® is a brain-based phonics curriculum supplement that gives kids the secrets behind the sounds letters make when they get together in words. Instead of rote memorization, students learn through stories, songs, and visual mnemonics, so they can crack the whole reading code earlier. It is the only phonics resource with an ESSA Tier 1 evidence rating and an average effect size of 1.62.” -Secret Stories
Secret Stories replace boring flashcards with fun stories and songs teaching kids what each letter says. Click here for a 2 minute and 1 second explainations of Secret Stories.
And it takes 10 minutes a day!
Read on for a full explanation of how these engaging stories and songs can be your go-to tool for helping your child develop reading skill AND reduce his/her frustration. Click here for a video explaining the songs.
I have consulted my long-time friend and Title I Reading Intervention Teacher and private tutor for valuable input.
Julie teaches autistic and dyslexic students and describes the success her students realize when he/she perseveres in learning to read and uses Secret Stories with any phonics curriculum!
Every student I work with loves these Secret Stories because they are much easier to remember than just an isolated sound. They have a visual and story hook to help them remember. They are excited to share the story and draw a picture of the story. This alleviates fear of the unknown. When they come across a word with a grapheme they don’t yet know they are eager for the “secret story”.
I’m going to let her explain how these stories and songs could end your search for ways to help your struggling reader.
In short, Secret Stories are stories and songs that reinforce phonics (a method of teaching beginners to read and pronounce words by learning the phonetic value of letters, letter groups, and especially syllable).
I discovered this phonics curriculum supplement while attending a summer workshop sponsored by my local public school district and have used it ever since.
Since then, I have used this supplement to any reading or phonics curriculum with all my students ranging in age from kindergartners to teens and to every age in between.
That was 4 years ago.
Children learn best with stories about things with which they can connect.
- The Secret Stories tells a short story about each phoneme (sound).
- Students learn the story often with motions.
- The child then applies it to the particular phonics skill they are learning.
Learning how to decode “er”, “ir”, and “ur” for example. The story that teaches the sounds of letters make goes like this:
“These friends love to go riding but they are terrible, awful, no-good drivers. They always have to slam on their brakes and the sound they make is ERRRRRR!”
Kids love to hold an imaginary steering wheel and slam their food down and make a screeching ERRRR!
Click here for a video of this.
When the child (or teen) is learning a new phonic sound or practicing an newly introduced one, I follow this simple process;
- show the grapheme (the letter or letters that represent a sound),
- share the story with actions,
- present the Secret Story picture,
- intrsuct the child to write the grapheme while saying the sound,
- the child, in turn, retells the Secret story to a partner or a parent for reinforcement, and
- finally, we search for and highlight the new sound in the word lists that Secret Stories provides.
This sound is quickly and easily reviewed via the Secret Story and visual aid until it is applied consistently in reading.
A Secret Stories Review Summary
| Description | Stories, songs and visual aids unlock the secret to phonics. |
| Format | Secret Stories is a supplement to any phonics curriculum. |
| Evidenced Based | Yes |
| Grade levels | Appropriate for PreK through 3rd grade. Many professionals use it with older learners and even adults. |
| Training Needed | None |
Description: The author explains that Secret Stories “is s brain-based phonics curriculum supplement that gives kids the secrets behind the sounds letters make when they get together in words. Instead of rote memorization, students learn through stories, songs, and visual mnemonics, so they can crack the whole code earlier.”
Format: The author describes it as “a supplement, and that is the point. Secret Stories layers on top of whatever curriculum you are already using: Heggerty, UFLI, Orton-Gillingham, Wonders, CKLA, Fundations, your school district adoption, anything.”
Evidence Based: The author reports that this is “the only phonics resource with ESSA Tier 1 evidence rating and an average effect size of 1.62.”
Applicable Grade Levels: “Appropriate for PreK through 3rd grade. Many professionals use it with older learners and even adults.”
That means that the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) has summarized reviews of effectiveness. It uses a consistent and transparent set of standards resulting in an assignment to one of four tiers of evidence ranging from Tier 1 to Tier 4. Tier 1 demonstrates the strongest evidence that has a “statistically significant positive effect on student outcomes”. Tier 4 demonstrates that a” well-specified logic model grounded in prior research”, with plans for future evaluations.
Secret Stories Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Fun and engaging for the child | I (Julie) have found none. |
| Stories are easily remembered | |
| Multi-sensory approach (auditory, visual mnemonics, knesthetic modes of input) | |
| Takes 10 a day | |
| Did I mention fun for kids? |
Who is Secret Stories for?
- Parents searching for quick, easy, engaging, and effective supplement to any reading program.
- Beginning readers frustrated he/she can’t make heads or tails out of the little marks on the page.
- Older children and teenagers a memory anchor for the connection between the letters and the sounds each one makes.
- Children with dyslexia.
Pricing for Secret Stories
Parent & Homeschool Resource Bundle
Everything you need to teach your child to read at home. No teaching background required. Includes the Secret Stories® book, phonics flashcards, music download, and parent guide. No scripted lessons or curriculum to follow. Just 15 minutes a day of story-based phonics practice.
$119.00
Summer Learning Phonics Bundle
Everything you need to fast-track phonics and turn every child into a confident reader and writer. This speeds up phonics with brain-based stories kids remember. Supports all learners including early readers, strugglers, and English Language Learners. Easily fits into any curriculum or teaching style.
$199.00
Better Alphabet Cards
This card pack includes 26 beautifully illustrated letter sound cards to use alongside the Better Alphabet Song®. The cards use muscle memory to accelerate mastery in as little as 2 weeks for Early Pre-K and Pre-K. The 26 letter cards with key prompts (e.g. A says /a/ and a says /ā). The Secret Stories Better Alphabet® Song aligns with all the cards. Picture and key word(s) are matched for any letter that has a Secret Story.
$65.95
Secret Stories® Phonics App
Unlock the power of Secret Stories® on the go. This all-in-one phonics app (iPhone and Android) fast-tracks reading and writing skills with brain-based strategies proven to work—at school, at home, or wherever learning happens. Perfect for working parents. Parents and children can learn the story together and have a fun competition to see who can teach it to Dad, Mom, or sister or brother first.
Teachers Pay Teachers (the world’s largest marketplace of PreK-12 resources, written by teachers for teachers) offers a wide variety of products produced by Secret Stories at affordable prices.
Helping a struggling reader isn’t about finding a magic solution—it’s about finding tools that make learning click.
Keep exploring, keep encouraging, and keep celebrating every small victory.
For more practical guidance and biblical encouragement for raising children who face unique challenges, subscribe to The Way of Perseverance.
Together, we’ll persevere one achievement at a time.
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