Fast ForWord by Program

Fast ForWord software is a suite of programs in two distinct phases:

Phase 1: Build fundamental cognitive skills

Language v2 and Language to Reading (ages 6-10)

Literacy and Literacy Advanced (for ages 10 and up)

All Gemm students start by completing all of Language v2 or Literacy, depending on age, and then advance to either Language to Reading or Literacy Advanced.  Language v2 and Literacy have the same exercises, the latter being a version of Language v2 with age-appropriate middle & high school graphics. 

These programs are building the cognitive skills required to read and learn.  And yes, it is a "reading" program, but there is no text.  To be a reader, first a student must be able to process the language accurately and effortlessly.  Fast ForWord Language/Literacy works on just that. 

For reluctant readers this text-free start is appealing, and a whole lot more fund than word lists and passage reading.

Then comes Language to Reading (or Literacy Advanced) which adds syllables in text from to the mix.  This second program continues to target fundamental reading and learning skills in an effort to correct any weaknesses that will impede reading success.  It aims to take essential learning skills as far as they will go.

Phase 2:  Develop reading technique

We call this the Reading Block.  The reading series covers all facets of reading, the separate skills required for automatic and effortless decoding and high level reading comprehension.  Gemm Learning develops a highly individualized program for each student, selecting some or all of these exercises as needed.

Program Descriptions

This program works on language, processing at natural language speed.  Sky Gym increases auditory processing speed.  The student clicks up and down arrows to match sounds he hears.  The sounds get shorter and closer together, forcing the brain to work faster, eventually reaching natural language speed. Another exercise, Hoop Nut builds sound discrimination skills, first slowly, gradually building up to natural language speed.  Moon Ranch works on impulsively and sustained attention. The idea is to improve listening accuracy, building the ability to hear the separate fragments of sound inside words more clearly, so that reading by decoding makes more sense.  The four remaining exercises work on word skills -- working memory, listening accuracy, rules of language and sequencing.    All exercises improve attention skills.

Developing the link between spoken and written language.  This is a more challenging version of Fast ForWord Language which can also take 4-12 weeks to complete.  Jumper Gym is the next level of Sky Gym, eventually reaching five sounds that must be remembered in order, all at lightning speed of natural language.  The four remaining exercises are versions of Language v2 with written words added to the mix.

These are age-appropriate versions of Fast ForWord Language and Language to Reading, designed for middle and high schoolers. 

Literacy has a cool, space age feel to it, to keep middle and high schoolers engaged. 

The goal of Literacy and Literacy Advanced is to improve language processing so that a student can automate decoding, to make an exhausting reading style more efficient, freeing up brain capacity for much stronger reading comprehension. Children doing Literacy tend to have quicker gains than younger children because the automating process is relatively quick, just a month or two. 

Fast ForWord to Reading 1-5

A series of reading specific programs where the numbers correlate loosely to grade level.

Reading 1 and 2

Reading 1 and 2 work on early foundational skills such as vocabulary, spelling, fluency of sight words and reading accuracy in sentence comprehension.  Each exercise is engaging, hosted by its own colorful character.  Children are able to work through the material at their own pace.

Most of younger students work on some or all of these exercises before graduating from Gemm Learning.

Reading 3, 4 and 5

These three programs begin work on higher level reading comprehension skills, such as critical thinking, drawing inferences and abstract reasoning.  They also have vocabulary building, spelling and syntax exercises, along with continued language instruction working on metalinguistics, a dexterity with language required for higher level learning.

Reading 5 is an open-ended program that pushed many thinking skills as far as they will go, well beyond a 5th grade level. This program has comprehension and passage completion exercises that work on higher level reasoning and thinking skills required in reading and writing.    We use this program in our Test Prep program.

Each program in the Reading series takes 4-8 weeks. 

Flying Saucer

Fast ForWord Basics

Develops early learning skills for 4-7 year olds.  This is a bridge program, along with Fast ForWord Reading Prep, that prepares young children for Fast ForWord Language v2.

Inside the Tummy is a game that develops visual attention and hand-eye coordination skills.  Flying Saucer and Drag Racer work on auditory attention and discrimination skills.  Our pre-K children spend 30 minutes or so a day, three days a week on this program.