Testimonials
Pre-School Use
—Sara Reynolds, Elementary Reading Specialist, Torrington School District
Library Use
"Woodbury Public Library is excited to be offering Letters Are Characters this year. We will run a 26-week long program, acting, singing and reading our way through the alphabet. The parent book is easy and quick to read and gives the presenter all the information they need to add a little skit to their story time introducing the letter of the week. Letters Are Characters videos also give guidance and confidence to presenters: Yes, I can do this. Yes, we will have fun. Children will be using the Letters Are Characters coloring book to create their own letter characters each week. Using email materials and videos provided by Letter Are Characters we will encourage parents to read along and make time for playing with their letter dough each week between our Zoom gatherings. This is a fun and intentional program. You will be giving children a solid foundation of pre-reading skills and learning tips and techniques that will no doubt filter into all future story times."Parents
"August 3, 2024
Dear Dr. Caroline Wilcox Ugurlu,
Thank you for your program “Letters Are Characters!” We were blessed to have our son Milo participate in your program at the Woodbury Public Library this summer. The impact that you have made on our family through “Letters Are Characters” has been significant, to say the least, and has reached beyond helping Milo to his siblings and us as parents as well!
When we first decided to homeschool our children, we were most concerned about helping them over the hurdle, as we saw it then, of reading. In preparation, we began to spend hours trying to find and purchase a reading program that would be best. The search continued through my oldest daughter struggling with convergence insufficiency. Grace’s grandmother, who has experience as a public school reading aide, declared she was too difficult to work with and needed to focus more. At the time, we didn’t realize she was trying to learn to read while seeing double as the basic eyesight test at the pediatrician’s office did not test for anything beyond nearsightedness. As we attempted to progress though reading program after reading program, she eventually got glasses and intensive vision therapy, but had also lost all confidence in reading and her ability to learn. This made progress slow and difficult, but with a great deal of struggle she began to read. Despite both of us being teachers of over a decade each, we struggled finding an approach that removed the tension around learning how to read. It was also extremely disheartening to not see our child foster a love of learning.
In order to help encourage our daughter, Grace, that reading was fun, we signed her up at the local library for the summer reading program. This was how we came by finding “Letters Are Characters.” We decided to sign our son up for this program in hopes it would build a foundation for letters and allow him to enjoy the process as he was already struggling this past year with speech and articulation, which made the other programs we tried difficult for him as well. This program surpassed that! In just a few weeks, Milo has gone from not remembering letter recognition to improving phonological awareness, being able to count syllables, tapping out basic CVC words, and improving speech through awareness of letter sounds. He begs to complete his lessons and absolutely loves his letter dough! Not only is this program play based, but it also incorporates a multi-sensory approach and brain based research in a way no other program has combined. The event of meeting you today has been long anticipated and was easily a highlight of our summer! We never anticipated Milo being able to gain so much and also start learning how to read in such a short amount of time. “Letters Are Characters” is simply the best program we have found for reading and the passion and love that has been poured into this curriculum is evident. This is the 10th reading program we have tried and the one that we will be using to teach Milo’s two younger siblings. It was also though this program, that our older daughter began completing the lessons with her brother and began to love reading as well. About a month into “Letters Are Characters,” Grace sat down with a book and read the entire reader by choice to her brother. This program helped her overcome the mental obstacle that was reading, and view both reading and learning as pleasurable.
Your program has been an answer to prayer and we will be forever grateful for turning teaching and learning reading from intimidating and discouraging into family time to be treasured and enjoyed together. We are all looking forward to completing “Letters are Builders” as the next step in our reading journey together! Thank you for sharing your program with us, making it accessible, and encouraging our children to develop a love for both learning and reading. We cannot recommend your program enough and we thank you for making such a profound impact on our family!
Sincerely,
Annie and Ryan Suter
Encl:
The other reading programs we used are as follows. All are very well known in the homeschool community, but none have helped us like “Letters are Characters.” Thank you!
Play to Read by Planning Playtime
Masterbooks
All About Reading
Abeka
My Father’s World
Dash Into Reading
Explode the Code
The Good and the Beautiful
100 Lessons to Read"
"Letters Are Characters is a creative, fun and imaginative way for kids to learn their letters. When my son made his letters they were his own and he remembered them. Books, videos, magnets, added little value to his learning, but building them and connecting letters to personalities made a huge difference in his learning on his path to phonetic awareness and reading."
"Life has been non-stop since I saw you. You gave me a great starting point with Til. I finally learned that Til loves 3D more than 2D and really can see it with the modeling clay and foam letters. Til and I went to the Stowell Learning Center outside of LA at the end of August. Til was great and held up really well with a half day of assessment and 4 days of 4 hours of training. I would like to connect with you sometime this month and go into further detail of what I learned. The actual learning of the letters and phonetics is very similar to what you have suggested but not nearly as creative. Til creates his own letters and they are his own (with Letters are Characters). (Til has been diagnosed with 3 kinds or Dyslexia which when combined is called, DYSNEMKINPHONEIDESIA.)"
I met you and bought your Letters Are Characters book at the movie showing with Harvey Hubbell several months ago. My 7 year old son is dyslexic and I also have an almost 5 yr old daughter, Ada, who just started Kindergarten. I began using your book with Ada and learning the letters and she loved all the characters. Her favorite part was learning their favorite foods :) We worked hard over the summer (while my son was receiving Wilson tutoring, I would work with Ada) and she now knows all the letter-sound relationships. We have moved on to blending CVC words and she is doing great. I am thinking about introducing blends to her next and then maybe diagraphs. I'm thinking of purchasing the Wilson letter/magnet squares to work with her more easily (we use magnets on the fridge now).
Anyway, I just wanted to reach out and tell you what a wonderful book you have written. I wish I lived closer so we could attend your programming at the library (we live in East Lyme), but I am so glad I bought your book that evening. Thank you for all the research you put into writing it and developing the program. Now that I have done so much research on my own, I can fully appreciate what you have written and how you have laid it out. Just wanted to send you a note of encouragement and thanks for all you do to help children (and moms) like us!"
I wanted to reach out and say thank you for your help and wonderful suggestions for helping Madison with her reading! It was hard to see her stuck and not knowing how to give her the help she needed. After meeting with you about some strategies and different things to try her reading and confidence grew overnight! Your book coupled with the letters are characters sessions/program at the library was instrumental in getting her up to grade level expectations.
While the lessons in school were helping her in reading, she really needed something a little extra and different from the way she was being taught in the classroom as she was struggling and getting frustrated which only made her want to read less. Tapping the word out and stretching the words on her arm was exactly what she needed. I will never forget after attending your session at the library, she said “mommy, each letter has its own sound in the word”! I never would have known that is what she was stuck on had it not been for your book and instruction. Once she figured that out and used the characters in your book and techniques, she quickly progressed through the reading levels at school and actually enjoyed it!
A Mom"
From Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Informative, playful, and compassionate reading program." November 12, 2019
"Letters Are Characters is an outstanding reading program for parents, teachers, and all caregivers to use with their children. Dr. Ugurlu has made the complexities of learning to read much easier in this creative and imaginative program. She gives the letters unique personalities and favorite foods which my daughter loves! This and other activities in the book, such as the letter song and forming letters with playdough, have all helped my daughter to remember her letters and their sounds. It is amazing and exciting to watch her learn and retain her new knowledge!"
"Reading provides a huge piece of the foundation for academic, social, and emotional skills our children will acquire and need as they grow. Reading is key for learning in all subject areas and it is essential for developing confidence and independence. Dr. Ugurlu's book is something we all need to ensure our children have the building blocks to become happy, engaged, and critical readers."
"Letters Are Characters is a wonderful resource to have at home and in school to help kids on their reading journey. It is an informative, compassionate, and memorable program which I highly recommend!"
5.0 out of 5 stars
"The science of reading in an innovative, fun and effective program for children." July 4, 2019
"Dr. Wilcox Ugurlu has created an innovative and fun program for both caregivers and children. She presents current research and best practice recommendations in a user-friendly format, demystifying how reading occurs in the brain. She addresses the important topic of reading instruction practices in the schools and presents evidence in support of systematic, explicit instruction, which is crucial for ALL readers. With the information presented, caregivers will be able to advocate for and support their child's early literacy development. Most importantly, my daughter loved this program and it was an essential first step on her journey to becoming a proficient reader. I whole-heartedly recommend the Letters are Characters program for teachers, caregivers and those looking to learn more about the science of the reading process. It is a wonderful resource!"
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Easy at home curriculum that’s fun and engaging!" May 6, 2019
"Highly recommend book to help start your child to learn letters and their sounds in a fun way. This book hasn’t only helped my two children ages 2 and 4 but has helped me to work with them in a way they can understand. You will fall in love with each letter’s character as they have their own personality that makes them so fun and engaging!
I’m a firm believer that learning starts at home, this book will give you the keys to do just that!
Thank you again for all of your help! Your book gave Madison the confidence and the tools she needed to become a better reader."
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