AVKO Educational Research Foundation
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AVKO comes from Audio, Visual, Kinesthetic, & Oral a multi-sensory approach.

AVKO's

Improving Reading/Spelling Skills via Keyboarding

The opening chapter that accompanies the student text

Individualized Keyboarding for Personal Typing and Computing

Try this little experiment, PLEASE

Have One Group of Students Copy This Column Have the Second Group Copy This Column:
tNo:e dGoo rdrseae hvae bltui-ni Note: Good readers have built-in
rspnsseoe ot lpsnlgei pttnsr,ae os hyte responses to spelling patterns, so they
cna syleai rdea nda pllse nn-orwsdo can easily read and spell non-words
lki:e dptneoi,o pctnii,o ncradtn;kioaio like: depotion, piction, incordation,
nda cglgngi.i dGoo tpstsyi rae gdoo and cligging.  Good typists are good
rdrseae hwo qckylui bldui pnuo ehtse readers who quickly build upon these
bltni-iu rdspnsseoe ot dvlpoee wne built-in responses to develop new
pttrsna.e patterns.
  dGoo rdrseae lrdyaea knw"o   Good readers already "know
sbcnscsll"yuoiou hte pttrsnae os htye subconsciously" the patterns so they
dntl' ndee trnngaii ot tpye yb ptrtds.nae don't need training to type by patterns.
  rPoo rdrseae dnto' nkwo hte ptrtnsae   Poor readers don't know the patterns
nda nt'do nkwo hte wrdso os hyte and don't know the words so they
mtsu ypte lttree-yb-lttr,ee srtkoe-yb must type letter-by-letter, stroke-by-
srtko.e stroke.
  rPoo rdrseae ndee gtnrnaii ni ptrtnsae   Poor readers need training in patterns
ot bcmeoe gdoo tpsyt.si to become good typists.

If the First Group cannot type or copy longhand the scrambled words as fast as the second group can copy the regular words, then it should be apparent to you that poor readers must master the basic spelling patterns of English in order to become good typists.  AVKO's keyboarding program helps poor readers master the patterns of English spelling AS they learn the keyboard.  See comparison of AVKO's keyboarding program to that of traditional programs below.

Traditional  

AVKO 

  teaches the letters in isolation   teaches letters in patterns.
  rushes through the keyboard with emphasis on speed.   introduces the letters slowly to achieve mastery.
  has lots of fancy GRAPHICS and different sizes and colors of print that clutter up the pages.   has simple easy-to-read text.

Traditional
Order of Presentation

AVKO's
Order of Presentation

Lesson 1: Students must learn 8 keys (a s d f j k l ;).  This is no problem for the average student who is also well motivated and who tries.  Yet it is nearly impossible for students with learning, reading, or emotional problems to master no matter how well motivated or how hard they try. Lesson 1:  Students learn only 3 keys (a d l).  This is no problem for any student who is motivated and who tries, even for those with learning, reading, or emotional problems.


Lesson 2: Two new letters: e h plus shifting left and right. Lesson 2:  One new letter: s plus semi-colon (;)
Lesson 3: Two new letters: t  i   plus the period (.) Lesson 3: Two new letters:  f t
Lesson 4:  Teaching GWAM (Gross Words a Minute) Review a d e f h i j k l s t . Lesson 4:  Two new letters: r j
Lesson 5:  Two new letters: c u Lesson 5:  Two new letters:  c k
Lesson 6:  Three new letters: r z o Lesson 6:  One new letter: i
Lesson 7: Three new letters: w g n Lesson 7:  One new letter: h
Lesson 8:  Tabulating and Review the 19   letters of the alphabet.






Lesson 8: One new letter:  e
Note:  At this point AVKO has presented only 12 letters as opposed to the traditional 26.  To ensure mastery of those 12 letters and the basic spelling patterns available using just those 12 letters, no new letters are introduced during the next 6 lessons.   The appearance of something new for each lesson is accomplished by introducing other elements of keyboarding such as shifting and punctuation marks.

Lesson 9:  New letters v p and the comma (,) Lesson 9: shifting to make capitals.
Lesson 10:  New letters q x m Lesson 10: the comma (,)
Lesson 11: New letters b y and the question mark (?)  At this point in only 11 lessons the entire keyboard has been taught.  This fast pace is acceptable for students who have the requisite reading skills, learning skills and physical coordination.  

Lesson 11:  the question mark (?)   At this point only 11 letters of the alphabet have been taught.  AVKO's presentation takes an additional 17 lessons to finish the presentation of the keyboard.   This slower rate of presentation allows the "slower" students to achieve mastery of the keyboard.
Lesson 12: the apostrophe (')
Lesson 13: Review
Lesson 14: Quotation marks
Lesson 15: New letter g
Lesson 16: New letter m
Lesson 17: New letter n
Lesson 18: New letter b
Lesson 19: New letter o
Lesson 20: New letter p
Lesson 21: The exclamation point (!)
Lesson 22: New letter u
Lesson 23: New letter w
Lesson 24: New letter y
Lesson 25: New letter v
Lesson 26: New letter q
Lesson 27: New letter x
Lesson 28: New letter z

Note:   Because students progress at their own rate of speed in AVKO's program, the keyboard can be mastered in as few as 11 days (cf. traditional texts) or as many as 60 days.

Individualized Keyboarding for Personal Typing and Computing
W401N - $12.95       In Quantities of 15 or more $9.95 each.     ISBN: 1-56400-401-5
8½x11  96 pp.

  • "Besides teaching typing and keyboard skills, it teaches reading and spelling skills through the context of patterns rather than isolated key positions. A fantastic concept that works."   -R.J. Rayl, Flint, MI
  • Even the most severely dyslexic / dysgraphic student can begin the learning-to-read and spell process while he thinks he is just learning the keyboard so that he can make better use of a computer.

One Free Copy of
Improving Reading and Spelling Skills via Keyboarding with each order. 
Extra copies $5.95 each.  Catalog Number W404N  ISBN:  1-56400-404-X

For a controlled experiment that you can do in your classroom to prove that poor readers

must learn spelling patterns in order to become good typists as well as the complete scope and sequence

of this typing program click here:  Improving Reading and Spelling Skills via Keyboarding

 

If the dyslexic (non-reader or poor reader) hears the word (Audio) and sees the word (Visual) as he types the word (Kinesthetic) and says (or subvocalizes) the word (Oral) the dyslexic will be using a multi-sensory approach to learning spelling patterns and phonically regular words as he learns the keyboard.   This is what the word AVKO stands for:  Audio, Visual, Kinesthetic, Oral.

Sample Lesson

Level One Lesson Four
Teaches  the letters j and r

Student Types Each Line Three Times

Exercise A

jjj frrf frrf; far; jar; far; jar jar jar;
far jar; tar tars; star stars; jar jars jar;
art arts; tart tarts; start starts; art art;

Each of these lines is typed three times.  See column to the right.


 
 


Exercise A

jjj frrf jjj frrf; far; jar; far; jar jar jar;
jjj frrf jjj frrf; far; jar; far; jar jar jar;
jjj frrf jjj frrf; far; jar; far; jar jar jar;

far jar; tar tars; star stars; jar jars jar;
far jar; tar tars; star stars; jar jars jar;
far jar; tar tars; star stars; jar jars jar;

art arts; tart tarts; start starts; art art;
art arts; tart tarts; start starts; art art;
art arts; tart tarts; start starts; art art;
 

Exercise B

tar tars; star stars; jjj jar jar; jjj jar jars;
fff; as far as a star; jjj jar jars; jjj; jar jars;
all as tall as a tall dad falls; jjj; jar jars;

  Each of these lines is typed three times.  See column to the right.

 

 
 

Exercise B

tar tars; star stars; jjj jar jar; jjj jar jars;
tar tars; star stars; jjj jar jar; jjj jar jars;
tar tars; star stars; jjj jar jar; jjj jar jars;

fff; as far as a star; jjj jar jars; jjj; jar jars;
fff; as far as a star; jjj jar jars; jjj; jar jars;
fff; as far as a star; jjj jar jars; jjj; jar jars;

all as tall as a tall dad falls; jjj; jar jars;
all as tall as a tall dad falls; jjj; jar jars;
all as tall as a tall dad falls; jjj; jar jars;

Exercise C

fff; as fast as a fast lad; a sad dad; jjj jar;
jjj jar jars; tdar tars; star stars; ;;; fff; far;
a star starts fast at last; fff far; jjj jars;

Each of these lines is typed three times.  See column to the right.





 

Exercise C

fff; as fast as a fast lad; a sad dad; jjj jar;
fff; as fast as a fast lad; a sad dad; jjj jar;
fff; as fast as a fast lad; a sad dad; jjj jar;

jjj jar jars; tdar tars; star stars; ;;; fff; far;
jjj jar jars; tdar tars; star stars; ;;; fff; far;
jjj jar jars; tdar tars; star stars; ;;; fff; far;

a star starts fast at last; fff far; jjj jars;
a star starts fast at last; fff far; jjj jars;
a star starts fast at last; fff far; jjj jars;

Exercise D

at last a tall lad starts as a star starts;
tar tart tarts; star start starts; stars start;
fff; start as fast as a tall star starts; jjj jars;

Each of these lines is typed three times.  See column to the right.






Exercise D

at last a tall lad starts as a star starts;
at last a tall lad starts as a star starts;
at last a tall lad starts as a star starts;

tar tart tarts; star start starts; stars start;
tar tart tarts; star start starts; stars start;
tar tart tarts; star start starts; stars start;

fff; start as fast as a tall star starts; jjj jars;
fff; start as fast as a tall star starts; jjj jars;
fff; start as fast as a tall star starts; jjj jars;

  All donations are greatly appreciated.  If you would like to support our mission which is to raise the level of literacy to the point where the words, illiteracy, phonemic awareness, learning disabilities, dysgraphia, family literacy, adult literacy, and illegible handwriting will no longer have relevance, please mail your tax-deductible check (in U.S. dollars) to The AVKO Foundation, 3084 Willard Road, Suite W, Birch Run, MI 48415-7801.  The AVKO Foundation is recognized by the IRS as a 501(C)3 publicly supported organization working with teachers, parents, tutors, and home schooling parents, publishing materials developed by its research, and providing free daily tutoring at its local reading clinic.

If you have comments about this website or questions concerning spelling, phonics, learning disabilities, homeschooling, etc., you may always e-mail DonMcCabe@aol.com.  We appreciate any comments that will help us make this website even more useful. 

Call Toll Free:  1-866-285-6612
Fax:  (810) 686-1101
E-mail: Webmaster: avkoemail@aol.com 
or  Write:  
Don McCabe, Research Director
AVKO Educational Research Foundation
3084 Willard Road, Suite W
Birch Run, MI 48415-7801