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DIRECT LEARNING

Certificate Course
in the Teaching of Synthetic Phonics

Synthetic phonics (or Systematic Phonics) is recommended as the best possible method for teaching children to read and spell. The UK government has made the teaching of synthetic phonics compulsory in every primary school. In addition, phonics has been found to be especially helpful to children with dyslexia. Our distance learning multimedia course provides practical training in how to teach synthetic phonics. The course is especially suitable for:

• teachers;
• classroom or teaching assistants;
• special needs teachers;
• parents;
• parents home-schooling their child;
• private tutors;
• learning support assistants;
• other educational workers.

Is the course suitable for me?

Other Direct Learning courses

The Certificate in the Teaching of Synthetic Phonics

The training course consists of five Modules, and can be studied at home. The five Modules are:

The course provides training in the detailed methods used. It is not a general teaching course, but focuses on practical techniques which are known to raise achievement levels in children who are learning to read and spell.

The Course Director is John Bradford. Direct Learning has students in 57 countries: USA, UK, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Japan, France, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Russia, Finland, Switzerland, Barbados, Bermuda, Brazil, Kuwait, Hong Kong, Israel, Luxembourg, Greece, Bermuda, Brazil, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Pakistan, Singapore, the Philippines, Mexico, India, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Nepal, Malta, Trinidad, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Netherland Antilles, Falkland Islands, Cayman Islands, Oman, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Libya, Namibia, the Czech Republic, Macau, Vietnam, Russia and China!

Accessible learning style

The course book has been specially designed to be visually accessible to students, with illustrations, diagrams, worksheets, etc., on every page, and uncrowded, clear layout of information.

Two Routes to learning

Two Routes through the course have been provided to meet individual students' training needs:
The Regular or Standard Route:
On this Route, students will study the course book, CD-Rom and audio-tape and learn about teaching synthetic phonics without actually working through the Practical Exercises with a child at the time. For this Route, there are five short Assignments.
The Practical Route:
On this Route, students will choose 15 (out of the 60) short Practical exercises to carry out one-on-one with a child who is learning to read and spell.
A Mixture of the Two Routes:
The course is flexible, and for each Module, students may choose whether they wish to follow the Regular/Standard Route or the Practical Route.

Examples of Routes different students may take

For example, a parent home-schooling a dyslexic child may choose to take the Practical Route, doing the Exercises with their child at home. However, a teacher or a classroom assistant may not have the opportunity to work with an individual child one-on-one, or may be working with classes or groups of children all the time. They may choose to do the course through the Regular/Standard Route.

Course materials

The course materials consist of:

Straightforward assignments

Assignments should be word-processed and spell-checked, though spelling errors are ignored for the purpose of assessment. Assignments should be sent to your tutor by email.

Grades

There are two possible grades for each Module: Pass or Repeat. A Certificate is awarded when a student has achieved a Pass grade in each of the five Modules. If a student is asked to repeat a piece of work, advice will be provided about how it may be improved, and students may repeat Assignments as many times as is necessary (in almost every case just once).

Length of the Synthetic Phonics Certificate course

The course is estimated to take up to 100 hours of study. It will normally be completed in six months (about three or four hours study each week), but students are allowed up to one year (or more if there are any particular difficulties).

Fees

The fees for the course, which include all the course materials, are listed here. Our aim is to provide training in the best teaching methods for synthetic phonics for as many teachers and parents as possible, and the course fees are deliberately kept at an affordable level.

Group Discount

If you are thinking of running the Synthetic Phonics Certificate course as a group enterprise, we will be happy to help and advise. Teaching and learning groups like this provide a really valuable activity, giving opportunities for group learning and discussion, in addition to individual study. Your group may be teachers, parents, classroom assistants, learning support assistants, or any other interested people. A 10% discount is provided for groups of three or more people.

Some colleges find our course helpful as a way of updating staff with the needs of dyslexic students, or as an additional module in an education course when there is not the relevant expertise among the staff. Local reading associations might also found the course helpful for a group of their members.

Become a course provider

Have you thought of joining our team of course providers?

Access to the Synthetic Phonics Certificate course

The course is open to everybody with an interest in teaching children to read and spell, and no prior qualifications are required.

Accreditation and affiliations

The Direct Learning Synthetic Phonics Certificate course is approved by New York University.

Direct Learning is affiliated to the International Reading Association, the United Kingdom Literacy Association, the Australian Literacy Educators Association and the Canadian Education Association. Direct Learning is also affiliated to the International Dyslexia Association, the Dyslexia Institute and the Specific Learning Difficulties Association of Australia. Direct Learning is a supporter of the British Dyslexia Association.

Direct Learning websites are archived by the British Library.

Other Direct Learning courses have been running for over five years, and have been successfully completed by 2,200 teachers, parents, classroom assistants, teacher's aides, learning support assistants and others throughout the world. Direct Learning courses have been used for training many groups of teachers in schools, colleges and Young Offenders' Units.

Children with dyslexia

The Direct Learning Synthetic Phonics Certificate course is suitable for learning about how all children can learn to read and spell more effectively. This valuable teaching method is also especially helpful for children with learning difficulties such as dyslexia, and is recommended by dyslexia specialists. It has been found that by being taught synthetic phonics techniques, dyslexic children make substantial progess.

Feedback about the Synthetic Phonics and other Direct Learning Courses

'This course has changed the way I teach - I would really like to thank you for allowing me to move through this course at my own speed. I have learned a lot. I know this course has changed the way I teach. I intend on visiting your site often to keep updated.' (G.W., Utah, USA)

'Thank you very much for a concise and informative Synthetic Phonics course.  It has been very helpful in teaching both of my children (with their very different needs) to read and spell.' (V.C-W., Nottinghamshire, UK)

'Thank you for your continual kind support and comments throughout the course - I have learned such a great deal from this course and am now running parent groups at our school to share what I have learned.' (J.R., Sydney, Australia)

'May I just say how impressed I have been by the speed at which you mark our assignments - it is just lovely to receive the results next day, and you are always so encouraging and positive. I have really enjoyed the course and I can safely say this has been the most enjoyable course I have ever done! A huge THANK YOU to you all and keep up the good work.' (L.H., Ireland)

'Thank you - and it was a great course, wonderful book and good feedback. Thanks for offering this opportunity for teachers.' (D.H., Houston, Texas)

'Thank you for a wonderful course, which I have really enjoyed. I have learned a great deal of information about teaching approaches towards phonics and reading, which will be very useful for me as an individual, a mother and also as a teacher.' (A.B., Southampton, UK)

'I really enjoyed the program and my son is reading at a grade 3 level and he is in grade 3.  He still isn't crazy about reading but he can do it ...  He is becoming more confident and happy with himself.  Thanks for providing a wonderful program.' (B.H., Nova Scotia, Canada)

'I would like to take the opportunity to thank you for offering such a helpful course. I took this course because I didn't feel I was doing my dyslexic students justice. I just didn't know enough, or know how to help them enough. Now I feel I have the ability to be sensitive to their needs and that I have the tools to help them ... Thank you again. You are saving many children with your hard work! This course should be mandatory for teacher trainees.' (E.S., Zurich, Switzerland)

'My life has changed since I started this course! Every time I read something new in the course book, I tell my children about it to help them to benefit to improve academically and socially.' (L.J., Qatar)

'Thanks yet again for another great module. Prior to having studied this module I had only been providing the children in my care with the opportunity to develop their visual, auditory and kinaesthetic memories. I am thrilled to have an additional technique at my disposal which I am sure will help fill some of the blanks for the children with whom I work. I have already started to develop a collection of tactile resources to add to my bag of tricks, which should help ensure that I provide the best opportunity for the children in my care to develop their potential..' (H.M., Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

'I have thoroughly enjoyed this course and have learnt a lot about both myself and my daughter. This course has been a pleasure to study, the content was easy to follow and of good quality. I have studied many courses and this was the first course that I took which didn't make me feel that I couldn't achieve my goals. I appreciate the continuous proactive feedback that was given and the quickness in the return of the assignment marking. This course is an excellent course and all teachers should be encouraged to do this course as staff development. Due to the fact that there isn't a lot of pressure to complete the course, the course is perfect for busy moms and teachers alike. I would 100% recommend this course to anyone that is interested. Well, done on an achievable, beautifully written course, which is affordable for the rich and poor.' (S.W., Coventry, UK)

'Not being a qualified teacher precluded me from almost every other course, as well as the cost of other courses being too expensive. I would like to thank John Bradford and his team for making this course possible. ' (S.S., Fife, Scotland)

'I have found this course incredibly informative and feel that I have truly gained as a teacher working with dyslexic students.' (S.F., Singapore)

'May I just say how great this course has been for me. It was straight forward and a real confidence builder for myself when applying what I have learned in the classroom. The discussion forum proves a valuble asset in solving problems that collegues may not have the answer to.' (Claire, UK)

'I am so happy that I found this course. It gave me exactly what I was looking for: a very practical child-centred approach, reassurance that the steps I was taking were correct, plus lots of additional ideas and information.' (M.D., County Cork, Ireland)

'Thanks for the course. It's just what I hoped - well organised, practical and very useful.' (J.D., West Midlands, UK).

'This course has really boosted my confidence as a home schooling mom, and now I know that I can relax and enjoy my role in my childrens' education.' (T.M., North Carolina).

'Thank you for the encouragement with respect to my assignments and your valuable advice regarding the worksheets on 'paragraph writing' for my student. Thanking you once again.' (D.Y., California)

'I am impressed by the way your course is structured, making it accessible to non-professionals as well as professionals.Thank you for the promptness in evaluating my assignments, and for the positive and encouraging feedback'. (C.B., Liverpool, UK)

'Thank you so very much for all your kind remarks and positive feedback that you have been giving me throughout the course. I am enjoying the course very much and find it is becoming addictive! I look forward to the time I spend on the assignments and the discussion group ... The little boy who I am using as a case study gets so excited ... He's waiting for the end of the course because we're going out to dinner to celebrate "our Certificate in Dyslexia!' (F.G., Canada)

'The Students' Discussion Group forum is very interesting and informative. I have enjoyed learning there, and will continue to go there. I have also made some very wonderful friends from there from all over the world! ' (D.W., Arizona)

'I have enjoyed doing the course and found your comments helpful. Although I have finished studying the course manual, I know I shall continue to refer to it, especially for the wealth of practical advice such as short-term memory exercises, etc.' (J. D., UK)

'Learning to be objective: “Different programmes – similar principles”. This simple yet oddly true statement was all I could muster after looking up the numerous phonics programmes that all bear the same promise ―success of reading and spelling. This statement (which has somewhat branded itself into my mind) from the Letters and Sounds’ Notes of Guidance for Practitioners and Teachers, further fuels what I have learnt from the coursebook because it supports the importance of learning to be cautious and to control our enthusiasm for a new (seemingly all-better) phonics programme. Learning to be objective has helped me identify the underlying rationale of a phonics programme, analyse the validity of its approach and evaluate possible implications. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at Direct Learning for such an enlightening experience ―THANK YOU! .' (S-A. T., Malaysia)

'It has been a pleasure for me to complete this course. I have really benefitted from it, especially since I could apply what I learnt from my lessons in my daily worksheets . . . Thank you for your encouragement and appreciation of my assignment work.' (D.Y., India)

'Thank you for your kind words of encouragement throughout the course. I am especially impressed at the rate you return the marked assignments within days. This course has been very informative for me. I believe that many have and will gain from this course and its website information. I am glad that you and your colleagues have done an excellent job. Keep up the excellent work!' (D.L., Singapore)

'This is probably the best distance learning course I have ever been involved with!' (A.W., UK)

'I enjoyed the course and would recommend it to anyone! Thank you for your prompt replies to the assignments and for your helpful comments.' (K.S., UK)

'If it were not for this course, I would be pulling all the hair out of my head!' (M.H., NJ, USA - mother of three)

'Thank you for a very worthwhile course that has helped me improve my son's reading and writing and made me observe children more closely in my own teaching.' (B.H., Malaga, Spain)

'This course has been fantastic for us as parents and for our children. I have learned many things about dyslexia, I feel I am a more patient and understanding parent as a result of it, I would recommend it to anyone who works with children in any shape or form.The most valuable thing to me to help children has to be reading with them and having them read to me. Good luck to everyone else who is doing the course. I hope you all get as much out of it as I have.' (R.W., Kansas)