Visual Discrimination Skills for Reading

Overview The app provides exercises that assist young children to build up visual discrimination skills, particularly children with learning needs in learning to read. Visual discrimination is the ability to recognize and attend in details of visual forms, including pictures, letters, words and sentences, and is an important foundational skill upon which learning to read depends. In the app, the children’s visual discrimination is improved through both Difference and Similarity exercises and games. Purpose of the application Research has indicated that visual discrimination skills are significantly related with letter identification abilities, which are essential in children who are beginning the learning to read process. The exercises in the application therefore progress from pictures to single and grouped letters to words and full sentences, allowing young children to build up their visual discrimination skills with a range of exercises. Visual discrimination is a necessary skill that facilitates learning to read. Key learning skills 1. To build up visual discrimination skills and visual attention in details to print 2. To enhance accuracy and speed in attending to print Key features 1. Nine different sets of exercises for each skill being learnt (Difference and Similarity) 2. Progression of level of difficulty, from pictures to single letters to words, then phrases and sentences 3. Game mode where skills learnt in the Difference and Similarity exercises are reinforced and generalized