Prevention: 30 mins daily; Early Intervention: 30 mins; 3-5x per week (in addition to 30 mins daily session)
Prevention: All K-3 students
Early Intervention: K-3 students struggling or at risk; readers in the lowest 30th percentile
Fundations® is multisensory and focuses on hands-on learning with active participation by students, including the use of puppets. Instructional materials include a CD-ROM for teacher training, a manual describing activities, and a specific daily curriculum. Materials such as manipulatives, student notebooks, word, sound, and syllable cards, and even owl puppets are all used to help teach the curriculum. A Home Support Pack, available in both English and Spanish, is also a key component of the curriculum.
Fundations® instruction occurs in the general education classroom by the regular classroom teacher. The standard lesson is taught to the whole class. Fundations® is delivered as a prevention program to all students.
Instruction is delivered for 30 minutes per day as a supplemental program or as the word study block complementing the core literacy program. The lesson is flexible in that teachers select specific words to teach based upon the needs of the students in their classrooms. Specific guidelines are provided with the program to address the needs of advanced students, English language learners, and struggling students who may need differentiated support
In addition to the daily whole class lesson, students who struggle in general education classrooms (in the lowest 30th percentile) benefit from the use of Fundations® as a Tier 2 strategic intervention. These students receive more intensive instruction through small group, intervention lessons.
Research can be found at: National Implementation Research Network (NIRN)