I wanted to give you info on a positive different twist to your phonemic awareness program. We have been using the program in our K-3 classes this year and in some of our classes for older students with significant disabilities. I now have a third grade boy with autism who has been virtually non-verbal up to this point, verbally sounding out and reading words. It is a somewhat painful process for him still, but your phonemic awareness program was just enough to provide him with the concrete connection between letters and sounds. The more they practice, the more he participates verbally. He is carrying this over to reading simple books at home. Amazing!

C. Denzinger, Special Services Director, Aurora, Ohio

"I want to express our appreciation for the training given our primary teachers. Some attended your workshops this summer and the remainder attended this past week in Danville. One of our identified needs this year was to identify a phonemic program for use by our classroom teachers-we looked at LiPs and Saxon; but the teachers came back from your workshops so enthused it became a no-brainer what to implement. Thanks for what you do for Illinois children, specifically Germantown School District 60 kids."

L. Weber, Superintendent, Germantown, Illinois

"I am so happy with the kindergarten program. I used it every day and my students looked forward to doing the lessons. I have told all my friends in education to get the program for their classrooms. I think it could revolutionize the education of our children. Thank you, Michael, for this program."

P. Helminski, Kindergarten Teacher, Munster, Indiana

"I have been using Dr. Heggerty's "Phonemic Awareness Curriculum" for 2 years and have found that my students have achieved more with this program than with any other phonics program I have used. They love the enthusiasm and spontaneity of the daily routine! Even the students who are phonetically challenged can succeed using this curriculum. This program is a great tool for novice teachers as well as those of us who are more seasoned. It is very well designed, easy to follow and makes teaching phonemic awareness fun and interesting! Dr. Heggerty’s "Phonemic Awareness" program will work hand in hand with any reading series that your district may be using. I am going into my 33rd year of teaching and I still get excited about teaching phonemic awareness now that I use Dr. Heggerty’s book."

P. St-Germain, First Grade Teacher, Collinsville, Illinois

"Many of my students come to school without having had many literacy experiences, and their phonemic awareness is often not very developed. While my first graders gain so much from my read aloud activities, I have found Michael's direct, systematic way of teaching phonemic awareness to be one of our most important and favorite literacy routines. These ten minutes early in our day blend sensory activities and actively involve all of the children. We have so much fun together!!! Phonemic awareness is a key to word recognition, and as my students become aware of sounds and of how sounds connect to letters, their own writing abilities just blossom. What a joy it is to hear them softly whispering to themselves what we have practiced together, as they confidently transfer these skills into their own writing."

L. Ratchford, First Grade Teacher, Romeoville, Illinois

"Dr. Heggerty's book is the missing link that teachers of beginning and struggling readers have been looking for. After using his book for three years, I have seen such improvement in the abilities of my students as well as in their attitudes about reading. Their ability to segment words into small parts has given their decoding and writing a boost that no other method has. His methods have given my students new confidence in their ability to write unknown words because they can hear the sounds they need to spell. This book is a Godsend!!!"

K. Reilly, First Grade Teacher and Dyslexia Tutor, Joliet, IL

"When Dr. Heggerty began talking about his phonemic awareness curriculum, I experienced an AHA! moment- this was exactly what my strugglers were lacking. How could I expect them to be able to apply decoding skills to print when they lacked the experience of orally playing with language? Seeing the success my first graders experience reaffirms daily the importance of PA as they progress down the road to becoming literate! It truly is the key that unlocks the understanding to all those squiggly marks we call letters, words, and sentences. Using Dr. Heggerty's PA instruction has improved ALL my students’ understanding of how the sounds in spoken language are represented in print helping them to become successful, independent readers and better writers."

K. Henke, First Grade Teacher, TRIAD School Dist., St. Jacob, IL

"Phonemic Awareness is by far the most effective addition that I have made to my first grade curriculum ever! As a result of only fifteen to twenty minutes a day of practice, my students are better decoders, better spellers, better readers, and better writers. To get such a big payoff, you must do it daily, but it is well worth the time invested. Best of all--the children love it since they can see their own growth in their reading and process writing. When they decode during reading or try to spell a word, they actually refer back to the activities that we do during our PA lessons."

J. Burgeson, First Grade Teacher, Lombard, Illinois

"Michael Heggerty is a tremendous wealth of information. As a long time teacher, he is able to identify with the classroom teacher. He has been "in the trenches" and knows what is good for kids and how best to deliver instruction to students. He knows what a teacher’s day looks like and what teachers want to get results AND make their lives easy. My teachers have enthusiastically embraced Dr. Heggerty’s Phonemic Awareness strategies. The teachers have commented on the ease of use as well as the quick results they see in their students’ progress. Their students LOVE the program and anxiously anticipate phonemic awareness time every day. Plus, I look good and get lots of compliments for bringing the program to my staff."

K. Mink, Principal, East Aurora, Illinois

"Michael Heggerty’s phonemic awareness program has helped to improve our students’ scores on DIBELS as well as our curriculum based measurements. The program is teacher friendly and the students truly enjoy the brief, rhythmic lessons. I am grateful that Dr. Heggerty took the time to publish this outstanding, sequential approach to teaching phonemic awareness. No primary school should be without this curriculum."

D. Turner, Principal, Itasca, Illinois