What is TacTilesApp?

And why spend 9 years developing it?

In 2011 a Student using the then highest tech we had, looked at the scrabble like tiles used to teach him how to spell and therefore read, said.., “this should be a touch screen!”. Well, I thought, yes it should.! But the idea of how to do that just spun around in my head. A couple of weeks later, speaking with a long graduated student and mentioning the concept, he said, “I think I can do that.”

Well here we are 9+ years and many iterations later and TacTilesApp is ready to be introduced to the world. It is the structured literacy tool that will ensure no child is ever left behind, unable to figure out how to spell the word ‘because’.

Educators have long known that facts stay in a student's head better when there is an experience to connect to. That is due to the Multisensory experience which creates pathways in the brain. TacTilesApp uses authentic ‘tactile’ experience through the use of realtime touch, movement and placement of the phonemic units. This allows Multisensory experiences which keep the concept in the brain.

Let’s look at the word, ‘because’. It gives many people difficulty. By learning to build the word with TacTilesApp the patterns will stay in the memory.

The word has 2 syllables. The 1st, be, an open syllable which allows the vowel ‘e’ to say it’s own name is not too hard to remember.

Now the second syllable ‘cause’. This is hard! it sounds as though there might be a, ‘c’ or ‘k'

Then maybe an, ‘a’ ‘w’ ‘z'..kawz?

Sensible, but in-accurate. By using TacTilesApp the student will See and Feel the movement of the consonant c,

the Vowel Team au

and the se

Now we have ‘be cause’.

Which will be more easily recalled due to the visual and tactile experience of building the word.

AND That is what TacTilesApp is; A Tool to help people learn to spell and therefore read the English language.

Why spend almost a decade creating it? So that 1 in 5 people will not be left behind.