ANYONE can be a Word Mapper!
No more hearing phrases like, “Sight words can’t be sounded out!”
Children can show adults that every word we say in speech consists of phonemes (represented by fun IPA aligned characters called 'Phonemies'), and that letters represent the “pictures” of those speech sounds - 'Sound Pics®' - graphemes.
All but two words (one and once) can be mapped. Every letter has a purpose! The Speech Sound King helps us use a universal code that can still be “translated” into our accents. More fun, less cognitive load, and every learner included.
Build words and whole sentences with the 'Phonemies' keyboard! Including high frequency 'exception' words!
We create tech that facilitates 'less teaching, more learning'
Use the tech to create resources your child will find engaging! We'll also show you how to help your older child get back on track by explaining the code that has previously been so challenging for them to understand.
By introducing 'word mapping' from birth, you can prevent children from entering an education system in England that mandates synthetic phonics—a system not designed for those with language processing challenges. This proactive approach helps avoid children becoming instructional casualties who—despite their best efforts—may never achieve even the minimum expected reading levels by the time they leave primary school.
Luca was one such child. The minimum expected reading level is a score of 100, representing the national standard. Children score between 80 and 120, with scores below 100 indicating they have not met the expected standard. Luca scored 84, placing him below the threshold and reflecting the struggles faced by 1 in 4 children in England.
Rather than being taught to recognise isolated graphemes (e.g., saying /s/ when looking at the letter 's')—an approach that left him unable to decode or encode due to insufficient phonemic awareness—Luca could have developed this foundational skill as a toddler. This would have allowed him to map words in both directions: decoding (print-to-speech or grapheme-to-phoneme mapping) and encoding (speech-to-print or phoneme-to-grapheme mapping). By doing so, he could have been reading and spelling with confidence before starting KS1, avoiding the frustration and barriers that come with falling behind at such an early stage.
I was told that Luca was 'severely dyslexic.' I disagree. He is an instructional casualty, and this could have been prevented. Prevention is far less costly in so many ways.