The Idea and Development of Help Me Read

It all started with attendance problems at a local school. The problem: late arrival or no arrival. Mentors were hired to help the students and to understand why they were late for school. The position didn't require a teacher's background or degree — what it did require was empathy, creativity, and patience.

The school developed a system that allowed each mentor to pull a student from class for a one-hour session. Students were selected based on previous attendance and poor classroom performance. During each session, the student was asked why they were late for school. Answers varied — most reasons were rooted in family situations. Some said they weren't interested in school because they were struggling with certain subjects. Conversations about tardiness always led back to deficiencies in math and reading. Some of the math problems were written descriptions that many students had trouble understanding.

The students would know individual letters but some letter combinations were difficult. They could see a letter and identify it — but when it came to combining letters, the reading process became difficult. Their ages ranged from 2nd grade all the way up to 5th grade. Many of the children came from single-parent homes, and in most cases there was only so much an overwhelmed mom or dad could do.

Something wasn't working at school for these children, aside from their personal issues. Words that started with a consonant followed by a vowel were generally easier to interpret and sound out — but words that started with two consecutive consonants might seem easy for you and I, yet for a child with reading difficulties it was deeply frustrating. So frustrating that their only alternative was to reject, act out in class, and give up.

The idea came to fruition: utilize color to match the word with a descriptive illustration or picture. This combination of letters and images would reinforce and help with pronunciation, spelling, and comprehension — and would make reading more exciting. Studies have discovered that color helps in the learning process. Unfortunately, a small portion of both the male and female population worldwide are considered color-blind — statistically more men than women. It's a small percentage compared to the overall population, but it does exist, and it's something we keep in mind.