Introducing braille

Teaching pre-braille skills: Feeling ready to read

Feeling Ready to Read is an exciting pack of materials to develop pre-braille skills. It is based on the well-loved story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. A comprehensive guide for parents and teachers is included in the pack in print or in braille.

There are over 100 fun swell paper exercises to practise such skills as accurate tracking of lines, tactile discrimination, two-handed coordination and developing a light finger touch - all vital pre-requisites for a future braille reader. Also included is a very simple version of the story with tactile illustrations for the children to "read" for themselves. Visit our online shop to order.

Hands on

Hands On is the first of our children's braille courses to be updated to teach Unified English Braille (UEB). Aimed at children aged 4-6 who will learn to read in braille, Hands On is divided into five levels and includes 32 practice books, each introducing a letter, contraction, punctuation marks or numbers, as well as booklets of fun activities and real stories. The material has been linked as closely as possible with the Letters and Sounds framework, while not compromising the need to keep tactually confusing braille signs apart. The whole scheme includes a large number of simple tactile pictures and puzzles to enliven the reading material. Visit our online shop to order.

Reading together

Designed for young children, Reading together encourages emergent reading and writing. Five or six letters with associated braille contractions are taught before the "real" stories at each of the five levels can be read by the child. Print text appears above the capitalised braille in these humorous stories about Kali, Kai, and their friends and family.

Levels 1 to 3 have a full text on the left-hand page, with a simplified version on the right. Children should be able to read the simplified text and can scan through the full text to look for familiar signs and words (indicated in bold print). Levels 4 and 5 are completely readable by the learner. The Reading together core pack comprises 10 stories - two at each level, and the teachers' notes in print or braille. Visit our online shop to order.

Braille in easy steps

Braille in easy steps is a teaching course designed for latecomers (pupils between the ages of about 10 to 14) who are literate in print but are transferring to braille. No previous knowledge of braille is assumed, and the emphasis is on reading.

The material is introduced in small steps, with practice reading material in the form of quizzes, activities and stories. Some of the longer stories are accompanied by tactile maps and plans to add interest, and develop search and scan techniques. The capital letter sign is used throughout.

The Braille in easy steps teachers' handbook must be ordered separately. It includes the complete text of the braille course books, in addition to information on teaching braille to older pupils and details of the order of braille sign introduction.

The Braille in easy steps replacement pack contains books 1 to 4. As these early volumes are heavily used, they may need replacing before the rest of the course.