A third was to integrate phonics and keyboarding with whole language activities. Safety nets were built in for those children who have difficulty with language tasks or who are learning English as a second language. Every time they sound out a word, they associate each sound with a finger, press the key, see the letter appear, and hear the computer say the sound. They make those associations thousands of times as they progress through the adventure. They will hear, say, see, and type hundreds of words.
Children use their eyes, ears, mouths, and fingers simultaneously.
This multi-sensory approach engages motor memory as well, and greatly strengthens learning. Using the keyboard makes spelling out words and writing much easier for young children, since most first-graders find keyboarding easier than using a pencil. Because they are highly motivated to complete the stories, children enjoy this continuous practice, which develops an easy fluency with the phonics code.