This Speedie Readies : Using MyWordz® to start exploring the One, Two, Three and Away! books.
Show the Code: 1,2,3 and Away!
Learning to read and spell has never been so much fun. Speedie Readies® with MySpeekie® is so easy that children can start teaching each other!
When we 'show the code' we simplify reading and spelling. Children can focus on the lovely stories, feeling as if they are readers
The Reading Hut® Ltd is the company behind Word Mapping Mastery®, bringing together publishing, technology, training and research to support reading, spelling and communication. We publish Sheila McCullagh's much-loved One, Two, Three and Away! series, which centres around The Village with Three Corners, making these classic books available to a new generation.
The first 52 books in the series have been adapted with our Code Overlay and are available in Standard, Code Mapped® and Monster Mapped® editions. Access them when you register for the Speedie Readies training and support. You will be able to download the first 12 Monster Mapped® pre-readers and print!
Research demonstrates that fluent word recognition develops as children establish secure connections between graphemes, phonemes and meaning, and that each successful decoding experience creates an opportunity for further orthographic learning (Ehri, 2005, 2014; Share, 1995, 2004; Perfetti & Stafura, 2014). However, children differ considerably in how much explicit instruction they need to establish these foundations. Seidenberg (2024, 2026a, 2026b) argues that the Science of Reading has become overly reliant on explicit instruction, underestimating the learning that occurs through successful experience with print. The purpose of instruction is to help children reach the point at which they can increasingly learn through reading itself, with decreasing reliance on external teaching. This mirrors our principle that every child should receive as much explicit instruction and scaffolding as they need, and no more.
Children differ in how much support they need to reach the self-teaching phase, particularly when learning to read English, an opaque orthography. Code Mapped® editions show exactly which letters form graphemes, enabling children who are ready to determine the sound values for themselves. Monster Mapped® editions also show each grapheme's sound value using Phonemies® (Phonetic Symbols for Kids), providing an additional level of temporary scaffolding for children who benefit from more explicit support.
By offering different levels of support, we aim to build confidence, maximise successful word learning opportunities and ensure that no child falls through the cracks. As children enter the self-teaching phase, they continue through the remainder of the series in the original standard books, where reading itself becomes the primary driver of further orthographic learning.
Families, schools and libraries can purchase the books individually or as complete sets. Subscribers to Show the Code, Speedie Readies, can also access the full library.
Real reading, real books. Orthographic scaffolding for children who need it, for as long as they need it.
These are the books that are mapped! There are 36 pre-readers and 16 introductory readers.
By book 52 all children can read without the Code Overlay.
This is a different approach to learning to read that is understood by all learners.
It bridges the gap between phonics readers, which are designed to align with grapheme-to-phoneme correspondence instruction and therefore contain highly restricted code, and authentic books.
Instead of expecting children to master an ever-growing list of concepts and rules before they can enjoy real books, we show them the code. Children can see which letters are the graphemes and, when needed, their sound values. This provides orthographic scaffolding for as long as each child needs it, while they focus on what really matters: reading.
Millions of children struggle because they are expected to understand concepts such as:
-
Consonant blends
-
High-frequency words to memorise
-
Long and short vowels
-
Magic E / Bossy E
-
Mnemonics (including picture-embedded mnemonics)
-
Onset and rime
-
Sight words as whole words
-
Silent letters
-
Spelling rules
-
Syllabification
-
Exceptions
-
R-controlled vowels
-
Tricky Words / Heart Words
-
Vowel teams
-
Word families
Many children don't need more explanations. They don't need more rules to remember. They don't need more labels for English orthography.
They just want to be shown the code so they can get on with ynderstanding the mapping of words in the books they want to read, and knowing how to spell the words they want to write. MyWordz technology makes that possible.
Speedie Readies maps books for them, starting with the Pre-Readers and Introductory One, Two, Three and Away books
When you see these, after showing the code, you'll question everything. You'll ask, "Why are you explicitly teaching that?"
One, Two, Three and Away! Pre-Readers 1 - 12
The first 52 books are orthographically mapped and available in three versions:
-
Code Mapped®, showing which letters are the graphemes.
-
Monster Mapped®, showing which letters are the graphemes and their sound values using Phonemies® (Speech Sound Monsters®).
-
Unmapped, with no mapping.
Children use the Monster Spelling Piano® app or MyWordz® technology until they are familiar with the Monster Sounds. When reading the Code Mapped® version, they can still check the sound values using the technology, and they can continue to use MyWordz® after Book 52 if needed.
The series contains 100 books. By the end of the Main Books, children are reading chapter books independently.
One, Two, Three and Away! Pre-Readers 1a - 12a
One, Two, Three and Away! Pre-Readers 1b - 12b
There are also mapped versions of the 16 Introductory Readers. Miss Emma will be reading the standard versions, which will be uploaded here shortly.
After exploring these first 52 books, children are able to read the next books (The 20 Blue Books) without visual support.
They then move to the 20 Main Readers
Express an Interest
We Show the Code™ across all of our courses, showing which letters are graphemes and their sound values using Phonemies® (Phonetic Symbols for Kids). This is the foundation of reading and spelling and helps unlock self-teaching.
With the exception of MySpeekie®, where the primary purpose is AAC and communication, the core purpose of our courses is the same: to help every child start self-teaching reading and spelling as quickly and easily as possible.
How we achieve that will look very different depending on the child, their stage of development, what they already know and the context in which they are learning.
That might mean working with a toddler who already has strong phonemic awareness, supporting 25 children working at different stages in a Reception classroom, helping a child with an EHCP who has struggled with synthetic phonics, or supporting an older child with dyslexia who is unable to keep up with age-related reading and spelling demands.
The destination is the same: children who have developed the word-mapping skills they need to become self-teaching readers and spellers, so that they can work out unfamiliar words, check their mapping when they need to, and retain new words for future reading and spelling.
We want every child to reach that point as quickly and easily as possible, with as much explicit instruction as they need, and no more.