FAQs

Fletcher's Place is a series of 10 video episodes with reading lessons covering all the pre-reading and early reading skills children need to become good readers. This includes reading vocabulary, learning how to hear and identify sounds in words, how to read up to five-letter words, and how to read fluently with good phrasing and comprehension.

Absolutely! Watch the episodes, sing and dance along with the songs and play the games. It is that easy.

The Fletcher’s Place episodes and accompanying game book break each reading skill into step-by-step lessons so no child gets left behind. Unlike other programs, Fletcher’s Place engages a child’s whole mind and body with physical play, music, fantasy, games, and exciting problem-solving activities. Letters and words literally “jump off the page.” We continue to prove that children with all combinations of learning strengths love to learn this way because it engages more of their senses and their natural tendency to want to play and move.

In contrast, other programs gloss over key reading skills and are tedious, forcing children to “sit-look-and-listen.” They may advertise they’re fun and full of play. In fact, they consist of endless repetition, fill-in-the-blanks, and rote memorization. That said, some children can learn to read with flashcards and rote memory. Those “natural readers" have a strong “mental camera” and can memorize every word easily. Even those children prefer to learn with this play-based program. But don't take our word for it, see for yourself!

They are age appropriate for children ages 4-8. However, in schools across the country, many teenagers who struggle with reading are improving their own skills by teaching their kindergarten buddies using Fletcher’s Place.

If learning to read was easy for you, you were likely a “natural reader” with a robust rote memory or mental camera. You easily memorized words so you may not even remember learning to read. In contrast, most children in this country — according to U.S. statistics, up to 70% ! — are not reading at grade level by 4th grade. They are just as smart but have other learning strengths: physical, interactive, spatial, musical, and so on. Fletcher’s Place provides a wide variety of activities and games so children can use their own combination of learning strengths to ensure success.

Fletcher’s Place is a comprehensive reading program for all children to start learning to read. Fletcher’s Place builds, skill by skill, from pre-reading (vocabulary like "first" and "last", "before" and "after", and more, to make sure they can at least understand the instructions), to phonemic awareness (letter sound awareness) to phonics (sounding out and spelling 300 words) to fluency (eye tracking, reading words then phrases in the “mind’s eye”, punctuation) to comprehension (attaching meaning to what they read). Just as importantly, they will be practicing critical thinking and problem solving within each lesson.

Yes. Fletcher’s Place gives beginning readers a solid reading foundation so your child will be ready for kindergarten and beyond.

Yes, Open Reading’s Fletcher's Place episodes and sound movements are free to ensure this program is accessible to everyone.

No, the videos do the teaching. Parents need only be cheerleaders and enjoy playing the games with their child.

Yes, because the videos do all the teaching.

Open Reading, which brings together all the teaching strategies and products from our Reading Revolution and Fletcher’s Place brands, is a comprehensive learn-to-read method from pre-reading to the most advanced reading skills!

We have found two challenges.

Too young. We all want our child to learn to read early but each child is ready to learn to read at a different age. We suggest trying the first episode with your child and if they are not engaged, put the program aside for a month and try again - this may take some time. Very few children will be ready to learn to read at ages three or four; most will not be ready until they are five or six.

Too fast. Let your child set the pace. We suggest repeating each episode and playing the games until they have mastered them. And then move on to the next episode.

The Game Book includes ball tossing games, storybooks, games like hopscotch, treasure hunts, charades, puzzle games, card games, and coloring pages.

Natural readers are students with strong linguistic skills and a ‘mental camera’ who can memorize words without a struggle