Featured

About Nessy
Nessy has been making fun, educational software for children since 1999. During this time Nessy has gradually developed a reputation for exceptional quality and in recent years has been winner of the prestigious Educational Resources Awards three times in a row. Nessy programs are now used in schools worldwide. The founder of Nessy, Mike Jones, experienced difficulty learning to read and write due to dyslexia. He is passionate about helping children everywhere to enjoy learning. Mike trained as a teacher in the field of specific learning difficulties and for over ten years helped dyslexics of all ages overcome their difficulties. Mike leads the development of all Nessy programs, ensuring they are uniquely qualified to help dyslexic children. All Nessy programs are designed to help address the specific difficulties caused by dyslexia but are effective for children of all abilities.

Nessy Philosophy
Nessy aims to rebuild self confidence, rediscover self esteem and establish a love of learning. Nessy believes that when children laugh then learning becomes more memorable. Where children play games the increased level of engagement leads to dramatic improvements. This philosophy is based around a highly structured, incremental system based on well established principles of learning. Nessy learning begins with an assessment to identify areas of need. Once a student has set their own learning objectives, they watch a strategy or rule, that explains using humour to reinforce memory. This knowledge is reinforced by a series of games that develop core skills in sequence: phoneme blending, word reading and spelling, rhyming and phonological skills, sentence reading, vocabulary and comprehension. Every computer game is developed to provide a multi-sensory environment that ensures success - students, see, hear, do activities. Getting a question wrong is never punished but a student is always shown the correct answer. Learning success is motivated with rewards. Nessy programs are always set in an immersive environment, often with a story or quest to complete. This quest helps to maintain motivation and pace the learning to the students needs.

Effective Strategies
The Nessy approach to learning has been developed by a team of experienced specialist teachers at the Bristol Dyslexia Centre. Nessy programs use a combination of strategies and games. All the learning techniques are developed in the classroom. Once they have proved to be effective, they are transferred into a digital program. The unique blend of Nessy characters, humour and rewards engages children in the learning activities. The Nessy approach has proved to be effective at motivating reluctant readers and re-engaging students with a record of poor attendance.

Opportunity
Nessy has been designed to be language-based, multisensory, structured, sequential, cumulative, cognitive, and flexible. Language elements are taught directly and systematically in a highly structured, incremental system of sequential lessons. Typical lessons begin with activities that develop phoneme-grapheme recognition and blending, then advance to whole words and sentences. Spelling activities reinforce reading development. Teachers are given access to a comprehensive record of data, monitoring student performance over time.