Method and apparatus for teaching and learning reading

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present invention is comprised of kits including a variety of three-dimensional, connectable color-coded blocks.
Each kit can be used for a different step or level in learning to read, from the initial steps of learning the difference between vowels and consonants and matching letter sounds to pictures, to building at first shorter and then longer words, to finally constructing sentences.
The users can choose the order of teaching to fit their basal program.
The blocks include "reading indicia" or units of reading information on multiple sides, e.
g.
, pictures, letters, phonemes, word parts, or words.
In a preferred embodiment, the various information is pre-applied to the blocks so that the information is readable with the male portion of the snap oriented to the user's right.
This facilitates the left-to-right reading practice of the English language.
Additional information is provided to the user by varying the color of the blocks according to the type of information displayed (e.
g.
, vowel and consonant blocks are different colors in one of the kits).
The length of the blocks also varies according to the information conveyed.
For example, blocks with a single letter are smaller in length than blocks with multiple letters.
The blocks all have the same cross-sectional size, so that when two or more blocks are connected, their indicia-bearing faces are co-planar.
Blank blocks are also included for use as "unknown" letters in sequencing activities, as letters or words that the user would like to add to the set, and as replacement blocks that can be written on with either a permanent or dry-erase marker.
Each block has systematic, developmentally appropriate information.
To encourage recognition of an alliterative pattern, for example, certain blocks have different, but related, indicia or information on each side.
For instance, a block could have both uppercase and lowercase forms of the same letter.
By combining two or more blocks so that selected indicia appear on adjoining faces, an "intelligible reading unit", such as a word or sentence, is formed