We'd like to welcome you to ReadingDoctor® Online, the scientifically based teaching tool designed to help students improve their reading ability. We sincerely hope the program makes a significant difference to your students' literacy skills!
Your username and password were sent to you via email and will enable you to log on and use the program. If you are at a school and didn't get your login details, please contact your school's ReadingDoctor® administrator.
A detailed description of the teaching objectives for the program may be found HERE. Click the video below to hear Dr. Bartek Rajkowski, Speech & Language Pathologist and creator of ReadingDoctor® provide a brief overview of the purpose of the program.
Reading Doctor® Online is divided into 3 parts, all of which communicate with each other so that you have complete control over what your students do in the program as well as access to all of the detailed progress data it collects about your students and classes.
1️⃣ The Student Login, which students can access at https://login.readingdoctor.com, is designed for students to be able to use Reading Doctor online independently at school or at home. It allows students to work through their Reading Doctor Synthetic Phonics Sequence and complete homework set by the educator.
2️⃣ The Educator Login, which teachers can access at https://login.readingdoctor.com, is designed for you to work face-to-face with students and also allows you to set homework activities for students to complete via their Student Login. Educators can choose specific skills to work on or work with the student through their Reading Doctor Synthetic Phonics Sequence.
3️⃣ The Dashboard, which you can access via https://dashboard.readingdoctor.com, allows you to monitor student progress, view and print reports, change difficulty level for students and administrate your class. Your school’s Reading Doctor administrator can also use the dashboard to manage your school's classes and teachers.
To get students going with the program, you or your ReadingDoctor Online® administrator will need to give them their QR Codes / Logins and Passwords. To do so, just log in to the Dashboard, select your students and print your login cards. Click the button below to see how!
Your students will be accessing the program through their Student Login (see below), which is designed to be very simple to use so that students can use the program with minimal supervision.
Students can access the Student Login using a Google Chrome browser on a PC, Mac or Chromebook by navigating to https://login.readingdoctor.com. Create a bookmark to make it easier next time!
Students can also use the program on an iPad. Just download the free iPad app from the App Store and log in as described below.
Students just need to log on by entering their username and password then clicking on the green 'Login' button, or by scanning their QR Code!
✅Use the Google Chrome browser on a PC, Mac or Chromebook. You can download it for free here.
✅ Use the full screen button after you have logged in. The Full Screen button may be found here:
✅ You can also access the program on an iPad by downloading the free iPad app.
When you begin using the program, all of your students will be set up to start at the beginning of their synthetic phonics sequence. This is appropriate for most students in students in Reception/Foundation or Year 1. If you would like to start students further along the sequence, you can see how to do that HERE. Not sure where you should place your students in the sequence? See our guide HERE. If you need help, please let us know!
The Activity Menu allows students to complete activities in the Reading Doctor® Synthetic Phonics Sequence. To play their next activity, students just press the big green button!
There is a particular order of activities that your students will complete, starting with simple activities and moving to more complex ones. In order to move to the next activity, your child has to complete the current level accurately and quickly. ReadingDoctor® Online will automatically adjust the difficulty level for students!
✅ Don't forget to press the full screen button after students have logged in!
When students begin an activity, they will be presented with the Activity Screen. This is where students will complete the various activities that will help them to improve their reading and spelling skills!
To begin an activity, students need to click the start button:
To pause or exit the game, students press the pause / exit button:
To hear the instructions again, students press the repeat button:
✅ Have students complete activities in a quiet, distraction-free environment or with headphones on. There is a lot of careful listening that is required in the program so distractions must be kept to a minimum!
✅ Keep sessions short, preferably no more than 15-20 minutes at a time. Make sessions shorter if students have difficulty concentrating due to young age or learning difficulties. Do not let students use the program for more than this duration in a sitting, even if they want to. A great rule of thumb is to finish a session when a student would be happy to do one more activity.
✅ Make sessions frequent, preferably once per day but at least once every two days. This will ensure information is retained and students have an opportunity to develop automaticity in their skills.
✅ Sessions should be supervised whenever possible, ensuring students stay on track and can ask for help if required.
✅ Help students to use the program but don't do the activities for the student. You can help the student understand what is required in the activities and how to use the various buttons but please minimise how much you help the student to complete activities. Reading Doctor Online adjusts the difficulty of activities based on student performance. If you help too much, the program will increase the difficulty level beyond the student's ability.
✅ Teach students that it's ok to make mistakes. If a student makes a mistake, try to use language that reassures them that errors are ok (such as ''Doesn't matter. You'll get that one next time!" rather than "No", "It's not that one", "Bad luck" or "Oh Well!").
✅ Encourage effort and persistence! For example, say, "I love the way you kept going on those tricky ones even though it was challenging".
Please note that this page provides a brief overview to get you started with the program. The User Guide details all aspects of the program, including our Teaching Objectives, Synthetic Phonics Sequence and Teaching Methodology. For more detailed information, please click the link below!