Foundational Literacy & FUNdations Heggerty

Fundations and Heggerty are two evidence‑based programs that help children build the foundational skills they need to become strong, confident readers. They work alongside our school’s main reading curriculum (HMH Into Reading) to make sure students receive explicit, structured practice in phonics, phonemic awareness, handwriting, and spelling.

Heggerty is a daily phonemic awareness program used in grades Pre‑K through 2 (and sometimes beyond). It focuses on the oral skills children need before they can read printed words successfully.

What Heggerty Teaches:

• Phonemic awareness — Students learn to hear, identify, and manipulate sounds in spoken words.
• Rhyming & blending — Children practice putting sounds together to make words.
• Segmenting sounds — Students learn to break words apart into individual sounds.
• Sound manipulation — Children practice adding, deleting, or changing sounds (a key predictor of reading success).
• Listening accuracy — Daily routines strengthen auditory processing and attention.

Fundations is a systematic phonics and spelling program used in grades K–3. It teaches children how written language works through hands‑on, multisensory activities.

What Fundations Teaches

• Letter‑sound mastery — Students learn how letters and sounds connect so they can decode (read) and encode (spell).
• Phonics patterns — Children practice reading and spelling common patterns like blends, digraphs, glued sounds, and vowel teams.
• Handwriting — Students learn proper letter formation using structured routines.
• Spelling rules — Fundations teaches predictable spelling rules that help children spell accurately.
• Fluency practice — Students build speed and accuracy through repeated reading and word‑study routines.