Parents are also urged to learn the pronunciation of the letter sounds exactly in order to teach them properly. There is a simple pronunciation guide in the form of a table in the parents' guide that serve this purpose. Parents are guided as to where to place their finger along the line and how long to hold their finger at the different markers. The goal is not to replace the alphabet with their own alphabet, but rather to make the beginning stages of learning to read a bit easier with these symbols. They are slowly phased out later in the program.
Kids learn to read almost immediately in the program, which is a good motivating factor.
The authors are quite strict about following through the program without skipping steps or lessons. Sound writing is part of each lesson, and is included only for the impact it has on reading, not for teaching a child to write. As kids progress through the lessons, reading comprehension is incorporated as well. The lessons are meant to be no more than 20 minutes long, and the idea is to teach your child in 100 lessons altogether. A very dedicated parent and child may thus be able to complete the program in a little over 3 months, and perhaps less if more than one lesson is taught per day.