Company History

A Solid Past

The roots of the Reading Horizons product, Discover Intensive Phonics for Yourself, are grounded in an intensive, explicit, systematic phonics program crafted in the early 1970s by education professional Charlotte Lockhart. Ms. Lockhart, a former elementary instructor and principal, created the original Discover Intensive Phonics for Yourself curriculum in response to students’ poor reading performance in her school’s reading programs. By tutoring students in her office daily while employing Orton-Gillingham-based techniques that incorporated multi-sensory, high-kinesthetic / verbal / visual learning cues, Lockhart was able to teach her students quickly how sound and letter relationships create words. Young students learned to read and spell and lives were changed.

Reading Horizons, located in North Salt Lake, Utah, distributed Charlotte Lockhart’s instructional manuals for over 20 years. In 1984, Reading Horizons created companion software, which provided individualized instruction and accompanying hands-on practice with Charlotte Lockhart’s product, for elementary aged students. In 1987, however, the staff became aware of the vital need for a sequential, basic reading program for adults. They applied for and were awarded an SBIR (Small Business Innovative Research) grant from the federal Department of Education to produce the Discover Intensive Phonics for Yourself software for non-reading adults; the result was Reading Horizons. Thousands of sites and hundreds of thousands of older students have since reaped the benefits of the development of the Reading Horizons program.

In January 2001, Reading Horizons purchased the manual copyrights from the Lockhart family. Now, all materials used to teach Discover Intensive Phonics for Yourself (the direct instruction manuals and the computer courseware) are united under one publishing umbrella.

As new products and enhancements are released, the efficacy of upgraded materials continues to help teachers present the principles of Discover Intensive Phonics for Yourself more clearly and concisely. Upgrades and enhancements, based on feedback from experienced field users, are applied every few years. Reading Horizons’ ever, evolving product line and methods continue to positively impact individuals and the accountability issues of public education.

A Dynamic Present: Ongoing Teacher Training

The National Reading Panel (NRP) 2000 recognizes the significant and positive impact that explicit, systematic, supplemental phonics instruction can have on a comprehensive reading program.

Many teachers face the dilemma of trying to find affordable, sound training in explicit, systematic phonics methods that integrates with basal reading programs.

Reading Horizons offers this kind of training either at its business office or at the requesting location. All trainers have undergone rigorous preparation and also have had hands-on experience teaching Reading Horizons' program methods to actual students.

Most trainers are field users spread among approximately 5,000 national sites in a variety of institutions: public and private schools, corrections, literacy centers, and counseling facilities. Literally hundreds of thousands of students across the nation have learned to read using Discover Intensive Phonics for Yourself methods.

In addition to out-of-your-seat, hands-on instruction, participants are eligible for state-required CEUs (Certificated Educational Units) upon completion of a Discover Intensive Phonics training.

Another recent Reading Horizons advancement is our Online Workshop where teachers worldwide can reinforce concepts taught in our on-site workshops.

A Promising Future: Combining High-Tech Tools and Traditional Methodologies

We at Reading Horizons believe we offer the best of both worlds: the efficacy and autonomy of technology combined with tried-and-true direct instruction principles and techniques.

Active, hands-on learning sessions are enhanced by the latest computer technology. Reading Horizons software is available for both struggling and beginning-stage readers. The elementary (K – 3) package assesses, assigns, reinforces, remediates, tracks, and prescribes under the watchful guidance of a trained instructor. Adult software versions ensure older students the autonomy they need. The software is also an excellent tool for non-English speakers as they privately listen to and vocalize phonemic elements of English.

Other technology includes an in-depth Web site with an interactive community page for teachers. Here, program using professionals from across the country can post questions and relate experiences, allowing for collaboration among peers outside one’s locale.

The timing is now right for Reading Horizons / Discover Intensive Phonics for Yourself, and time presses us to not only make choices in compliance with national mandates (NCLBA, 2001) but also to give struggling and new readers a chance to master an attainable language when properly and skillfully taught.