The Hornet Literacy Primer

After covid, we were informed by the school that my daughter, 7, had dyslexia. She was put on a programme at school called Nessy. But it didn't seem to be helping. I couldn't work out how a computer programme could help, when her main challenge was with spelling and writing. My friend who is an educational psychologist recommended the Word Wasp, but suggested we start with the Hornet, before moving on. The book has been an immense help. The way it teaches spelling and reading is to include all of our senses. It made me realise that my daughter was not hearing words correctly. Once she grasped the vowel sounds it made listening and decoding so much easier for her. It has also taught me so many rules about the English language, that I did not know before (and I've a degree in English!) We have gone from my daughter crying her eyes out and not wanting to go to school on a Thursday (spelling test day), to sometimes forgetting to practise her spellings at home, and being able to decipher/ decode the correct spelling of her words, by listening carefully to the teacher's pronunciation. We have now finished the Hornet (which we have been working on for 8 months) and are about to start the word wasp.

I think the Hornet is a fantastic book. I wanted a book that would teach my son (age 7) to spell and read better. We are now on page 133 so we have almost finished the hornet. We are doing 15 minutes a day. It has made a big difference in his reading and spelling. His confidence has surged as well and he loves it that he knows how to spell difficult words that his older brother (who is a great natural speller and finds spelling very easy) can't spell.We will be starting the wasp when we have finished the hornet. I like the fact that the wasp will be repeating the hornet initially as repetitiveness is good for my son and hopefully he will store things in his long term memory.His reading fluency has definitely improved and he is reading polysyllabic words better.What has really helped him is knowing the spelling rules, once he knows the rule he remembers it and he likes knowing the rule as well, it engages him, Any other method for him to learn how to spell just doesn't work and it also doesn't engage him.

My daughter is in year 4 now and has a dyslexic profile. Her school have up until now not really been very bothered by it, but now she is in year 4 her spelling is obviously poor and all over the place. I ordered the hornet after a friend recommended it to me and we began using it 3-6 times a week. Her awareness of vowels has at last kicked in. She is more confident and I can see how this programme is making a huge difference to her. I am thrilled with this book working for her and her school is now doing it with her 3 times a week, so she only needs to do it at home a couple of times a week.I would recommend it to everyone who has a child with poor spelling, poor phonetic awareness or dyslexia. 10/10.

My 8 year old is profoundly dyslexic and this system has brought him on over a year in ability in less than 4 months. He is beginning to feel more confident.. The promised spelling improvement is slowly starting to bear fruit. It may seem rather dull but the ability to match sounds with the letter blends is so important. If you can do a couple of pages 3 times a week you will see results beyond your dreams for your little one.

Bought it following teacher’s advice.

I'm a SENCo and specialist SEN teacher and I use this with 10 children aged 5-7 who are behind with their literacy learning. It works wonders! I found it confusing at first but as the programme continued it started to fall into place.

I bought this as I have already used Tie by Toe (very effective!) I'm certain this will prove to be as good if not better as it addresses the problem children often have with spelling the Enlglish language.Would highly recommend it.👍

We bought this book on the recommendation for an additional support teacher at our school when my son was diagnosed with dyslexia. We have only been using it for a month and his reading seems to have improved already. Onwards and upwards...!