Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Clever Cat so effective?

Clever Cat Educational Resources teaches phonemic awareness skills which are crucial skills children need to develop when learning to read. Once a child is specifically taught these skills, they then can use the strategies in both reading and spelling tasks. This gives them:

• a solid foundation knowledge of sound-letter links,
• teaches them how to deal with consonant blends like “pl” and “st”,
• show them what vowels are and why they make spelling and reading so tricky
• teaches basic letter writing skills for development of fluent writing
• teaches them how to deal with words that you can sound out PLUS words that do not sound out readily
• develops automatic recognition of words
• generalises the reading and spelling skills into functional activities so the kids just don’t sit and learn list of letters and words in isolation.
• Builds confidence and self esteem by giving positive feedback and working at a comfortable challenging level.

How will I know where to start with Clever Cat?
In each manual there is a Quick Indication Guide parents can use to judge what types of difficulties their child has.  It shows them exactly what Clever Cat Level they should then begin with.

My child is quite visual in his learning, how can Clever Cat help?
Clever Cat takes into account each style of learning, and gives both visual and auditory practise tasks for children.

Why isn’t this all on CD for my child to practise on Computer?
There are many programs already out there for kids to try out on computer. 

Clever Cat Educational Resources has been designed to be interactive so you use it with parent and child; parent and a few children; teacher and student or teacher and small group or whole class.

When you are teaching your child phonemic awareness skills, they will gain more benefit from watching your mouth shapes as you say different sounds and words than if they just watch a computer screen.

Also, working directly with your child or student gives you an insight into how they are managing the work, and you have excellent opportunities to build self esteem and correct their mistakes gently.

There is also researched evidence that shows us that use of computer games to teach phonemic awareness skills is not always effective.

Won’t I need someone to train me to use the program?
Clever Cat has been written with parents in mind. Each manual is self explanatory.  There are photos of the games to play and accurate sheets are include for record keeping.  There is no need for training as all the information is provided in the manuals, and there is also footage of children using the program on the DVD’s supplied in each kit.  Parents who have already used the program have reported how easy it is to work through and they really like knowing where their child is up to at each stage of the program.

It is quite important to read through the manuals and watch the DVDs – of course if you are prepared to work with Clever Cat you will want to be as ready as you can be.  Then use the manuals beside you as you work with you child.  Start simple and gradually build up the levels of difficulty as you both get better at the games and techniques.