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Main Literacy Programme

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Main Literacy Programme (MLP)

To Map, Lead and Provide a comprehensive and high-quality programme for young dyslexics delivered by inspired Educational Therapists

The Main Literacy Programme (MLP), delivered by trained Educational Therapists, provides a comprehensive and quality curriculum that supports primary and secondary school learners with dyslexia and other specific learning differences as well as those students who face literacy challenges without a diagnosis. MLP aims to not only help students acquire the necessary literacy skills to cope with academic demands but also strives to provide a conducive learning environment for them to develop their strengths and build their confidence and resilience.

A diagnosis of a specific learning difference is no longer a prerequisite to access DAS Programmes. We have now opened our doors to struggling learners, whether they have a formal diagnosis of a learning difference or not.  To access our programmes all students will undergo profiling tests, a simple step to ensure they are placed in a class that suits their learning needs best. We’re dedicated to providing tailored support to every child, empowering them to reach their full potential.

Curriculum Framework

Main Literacy Programme (MLP) provides a comprehensive and quality curriculum to support students who struggle to learn, these students can have a diagnosis of dyslexia or specific learning differences or  facing literacy challenges, delivered by highly trained professionals.

TARGETING SUCCESS

Phonemic Awareness and Phonics
Reading Fluency
Reading Comprehension
Language and Vocabulary
Writing

RESOURCES

Language and Vocabulary
Phonemic Awareness and Phonics
Morphology
Grammar for Writing
Advanced Writing
Reading Comprehension
  • To promote and facilitate reading and spelling development
  • To equip students with the essential comprehension skills needed to draw inferences
  • To accentuate the importance of reading fluency through the deliberate planning of reading tasks that take into account students’ reading fluency and accuracy
  • To emphasis vocabulary development of sight and high-frequency word through instructions leveraging on Edu-Technology
  • To develop diverse localised manuals, materials and resources to cater to the learning needs of students

The Main Literacy Programme (MLP) is part-funded by the Ministry of Education (MOE).

Students are eligible for MOE funding for the MLP under the following conditions:

  1. The student has a diagnosis of dyslexia and
  2. The student is a Singapore Citizen and is attending an MOE Mainstream School* which qualifies for MOE funding for the DAS Main Literacy Programme (MLP), or 
  3. The student is a Singapore PR/Foreigner but has one parent who is Singaporean and the student is attending a MOE Mainstream School* which qualifies for MOE funding for the DAS MLP.
    *  A list of MOE Mainstream Schools can be found here:  MOE Mainstream Schools
  4. Your child must maintain at least 75% attendance.

Please note that DAS and MOE will conduct a review of your child’s progress before his/her 48, 72 and 96 months on the Main Literacy Programme to determine if he/she has reached specific achievement points to be eligible for continued MOE funding.

The MLP is also available to students diagnosed with dyslexia, other specific learning differences or are struggling to learn; however, if they do not meet conditions 1, 2 & 3, they are not eligible for MOE funding and standard fees will be charged.

For a Psycho-Educational Assessment, please click here.

The DAS Main Literacy Programme (MLP) Evaluation is published in the DAS Handbook. The 

Who we are

We are a team of professionals working together to provide the best possible service from the identification of dyslexia and other learning differences and providing the most suited remediation for our students. Our teachers are referred to as Educational Therapists because they go beyond delivering lessons, they design, implement and evaluate interventions catered to individual needs. Our lessons are not mass produced but individually tailored.

We work together to bring out the best in our children.

  • Educational Therapists
  • Psychologists
  • Educational Advisors
  • Curriculum Specialists
  • EduTech representatives

Find out more about our staff here 

What do we assess for?

The Dyslexia Association of Singapore helps students who are:

  • Primary 1 to Secondary 5
  • Diagnosed with dyslexia

We also help adults who struggle with literacy.

Find out more about DAS SpLD Assessment Services (SAS) here

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How Parents can Help

Educational Technology

Today, more than ever, the role of educational technologies is of great importance and it is becoming the commonplace in the area of education to harness the interest of students and add value to the learning objectives.

Technology integration for digital literacy and the 21st century skills of critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration and communication and information literacy have become increasingly important. By using technology, these skills can be imparted to the learners. However, to do this effectively, pedagogical models need to be used.

Some of the main guiding pedagogies employed by EdTech are TPACK and SAMR models. The TPACK – Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge – is about designing lessons incorporating technology to support the arranged content through a pedagogically supported approach (Figure 1). The SAMR model (Figure 2) on the other hand facilitates the practical aspect and scales the various levels of use of educational technologies into four broad levels so that educators can know the level of their technology integration in the lesson (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition) and how they can further elevate the activity.


The EdTech Team is focused on the application and study of educational technologies and how it enhances skills and cognitive characteristics in both educators and learners. The team thus pilots and leads initiatives with educational technologies such as studying users’ perceptions on uses of iPads in the DAS classrooms, the impact of Mimio Teach Smart Bars on educators and dyslexic learners, and the formative approach to the digitalisation of the Curriculum-Based Assessments.


EdTech in DAS is at its beginning stages but the bigger plans are on the way to ensure that not only traditional learning methods are modernised but also that the use of educational technologies is purposeful to student-oriented learning.

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Our Curriculum

The Main Literacy Programme (MLP) provides a comprehensive and quality curriculum to support students with dyslexia facing literacy challenges. The MLP curriculum integrates key essential learning components that are crucial in remediating students with learning difficulties and these recommended areas of instruction are adapted from the National Reading Panel, 2000.

PROGRESS MONITORING

Our students’ progress is monitored closely through bi-annual curriculum-based assessments – MAPTrack – conducted by our Educational Therapists. This close evaluation allows our Educational Therapists to make informed and needful adjustments in their teaching to address the needs of the child. Our lessons are not static it allows for flexibility to suit the varied needs of our dyslexic students.

What We Teach

Phonemic Awareness and Phonics

The provision of a multi-sensory and highly structured phonetic instruction through the Essential Literacy Approach (ELA) has been incorporated into MLP lessons to promote and facilitate reading and spelling development in our students.

Reading Fluency

MLP lessons emphasise the importance of reading fluency through the deliberate planning of reading tasks that take into account students' reading fluency and accuracy to ensure that reading comprehension is not impaired by effortful and inaccurate reading.

Reading Comprehension

The Reading Comprehension Curriculum includes essential reading comprehension skills that are closely aligned with the mainstream curriculum. It also consists of skills that are taught and delivered according to the PPP (Presentation, Practice, Production) stages to:

  • facilitate the pre-activity discussions through modelling
  • scaffold and guide students in a structured, cumulative and sequential manner to enhance learning
  • provide opportunities for students to be independent in applying the concepts/skills learnt

Writing

Writing is taught to students in a structured, cumulative and sequential manner. The process of writing emphasises not only on skills such as planning, drafting, revising and editing, it also stresses upon the importance of linguistic knowledge, such as grammar and text structure, to make writing more focused and meaningful for our students.

Vocabulary

Beyond phonics, MLP explicitly emphasises vocabulary development of morphemes, sight and high frequency words through instructions leveraging on Assistive Technology to improve students' language acquisition skills.

Localisation of Curriculum

The MLP curriculum and resources have been localised to better suit our bilingual learners and more importantly, to make learning more accessible and contextualised for them.

Watch examples of how MLP classes are like below:

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How are we different?

The Main Literacy Programme (MLP) is delivered using the Orton-Gillingham (OG) approach

Lessons are taught in accordance with the Orton-Gillingham principles:

  • Emotionally sound – Lessons tailored to students’ abilities
  • Structured, sequential and cumulative – Concepts are broken down into smaller parts & taught one at a time, progressively & cumulatively
  • Direct and Explicit – Instructions, objectives and activities are explicit
  • Simultaneously Multisensory – Ensure multiple pathways to learning (Gillingham & Stillman, 1997)
  • Cognitive Approach – Students understand why each concept is taught
The Main Literacy Programme (MLP) has been audited by the Ministry of Education Singapore

“Services offered under MOE-aided das Literacy Programme* are appropriate, and remain highly relevant in providing additional literacy support for students with dyslexia” – MOE 2015 Audit

* The MOE-aided das Literacy Programme is now known as the DAS Main Literacy Programme (MLP). DAS Programmes are evaluated and published in the DAS Handbook. To read these reports click here.

DAS bursaries – Financial support for students with dyslexia

DAS believes that no child should be left behind because he or she cannot afford the cost of a DAS education. The provision of bursaries is critical as it levels the playing field for children with dyslexia from lower families. DAS and MOE provide financial assistance in the form of bursaries to Singapore students, or to students who have at least one parent who is a Singaporean.

The student must also be attending a MOE mainstream school between Primary One (1) and Secondary Five (5).

 

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Online Learning with Main Literacy Programme

In February, preparations for online learning was of utmost importance to DAS Educational Therapists as they began familiarising their students with Google Hangouts Meet and Gmail. Students of the Main Literacy Programme spent approximately 10-15 minutes of their lesson getting to know their DAS email address and passwords and accessed Gmail and Google Hangouts Meet to get to know the functions as well as the necessary information they’ll need in order to continue their remediation should home-based learning be implemented. 

That was just the beginning of the big wave of changes that turned things around for our students, parents, and our colleagues. The Main Literacy Programme has always stayed grounded on delivering quality remediation, by individualising instructional materials and accommodating learning differences within a very small group of learners.

TEACHING THE MAIN LITERACY PROGRAMME ONLINE!!  REFLECTIONS ON HOME-BASED LESSONS

REFLECTIONS ON HOME-BASED LESSONS BY das PARENTS

CEO THOUGHTS: das EMBRACES ONLINE LEARNING!

A PEEK INTO A CONVERSATION BY EDUCATIONAL THERAPISTS ON ONLINE TEACHING!

OUR RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT TEAM SHARES THEIR ONLINE TEACHING EXPERIENCES  – Part 1

OUR RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT TEAM SHARES THEIR ONLINE TEACHING EXPERIENCES  – Part 2

OUR RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT TEAM SHARES THEIR ONLINE TEACHING EXPERIENCES  – Part 3

RIDING OUT THE STORM – GROWING THROUGH ONLINE TEACHING

E-RESOURCES FOR ALL!

IT’S IN OUR DNA! PART 1

IT’S IN OUR DNA! PART 2

IT’S IN OUR DNA! PART 3

SAFE YOUTUBE EXPLAINED!

GOOGLE LENS

TEXT-TO-SPEECH CHROME EXTENSIONS

These BLOGS are featured in our #CIRCUITBREAKER NEWS Series in the DAS NEWS & HAPPENINGS BLOG find more interesting articles in the blog section!

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

The DAS Main Literacy Programme provides a comprehensive and quality curriculum to support dyslexic students facing literacy challenges. The curriculum integrates key essential learning components that are crucial in remediating students with learning difficulties. Depending on your child’s needs and progress, the following components may be covered in the curriculum:

  • Phonemic Awareness and Phonics. 
  • Reading Fluency
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Vocabulary
  • Writing

Your child is referred to the DAS Main Literacy Programme because educators working with him/her have identified his/her needs for specialist literacy intervention.

The diagnosis of dyslexia is determined through a psycho-educational assessment. During the assessment, information is gathered from interviews with you (parents/caregivers), feedback from teachers, testing of your child’s abilities, and behavioural observations. These will then be integrated and results discussed with you (parents/caregivers). The psycho-educational assessment provides useful information about your child’s strengths and needs and provides greater insight into the nature and extent of the difficulties that your child may have. The assessment also helps to identify the learning needs of your child, so that appropriate intervention that is suitable for your child can be recommended.

MLP fees are also part subsidised by MOE and in order to be eligible for the subsidised rate, a diagnosis of dyslexia is required.

MLP classes are exclusively for children diagnosed with dyslexia. Our Educational Therapists are specially trained to cater to the needs of dyslexic students. A dyslexic child is a quick learner and also a quick forgetter and learning by rote memory or practising without using the right strategies will not help and might instead frustrate. 

No two dyslexic learners are alike, hence our lessons are not alike also. Each lesson is planned and delivered based on your child’s needs and aimed at the level of the learner. Our lessons are, therefore:

Structured and sequential: we have a prescribed lesson plan that our Educational Therapists use to plan and conduct lessons. Elements of language is taught in bite-sized pieces to facilitate easy learning and also to ensure students are not overwhelmed with too much information at one go.

Each lesson comprises of phonics/morphology, language and vocabulary instruction, comprehension and/or writing, i.e a comprehensive literacy programme.

  • Cumulative: We start with the simple and move on to more complex and we revisit previously taught concepts to reinforce memory.
  • Simultaneous multisensory: Dyslexic learners learn best when the visual, auditory, kinaesthetic and tactile are employed all at once.
  • Emotionally sound: Many dyslexics have struggled with academics and may feel demotivated. We ensure that learning is structured for success so that they begin to feel confident about themselves as learners.

To view the full price list for an assessment, click here for more details.

Yes, DAS offers bursaries to families to offset the cost of assessments and /or educational therapy. Please speak to the Customer Service Officer at 6444 5700 for more information.

For more information on the DAS Main Literacy Programme, please contact us.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.