Reading doesn't just happen. It's built — one skill at a time.
BUILD is a 100-lesson, research-based reading program developed by the Luke Waites Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disorders at Scottish Rite for Children — created specifically for kindergarten and 1st-grade students showing early signs of dyslexia or a reading struggle.
Taught in Orlando, FL by Kathleen Ferrufino, M.Ed., CALT — a Certified Academic Language Therapist.
The five components BUILD stacks, lesson by lesson
The early signs of a reading struggle are easy to miss — and easy to dismiss.
Trouble learning the names or sounds of letters, even with repetition
Guessing at words based on pictures instead of sounding them out
Difficulty rhyming or hearing the individual sounds inside a word
Avoiding reading time, or getting frustrated and shutting down
Reversing letters like b/d or p/q well past the age that's expected
A family history of dyslexia or a reading struggle
If a few of these sound familiar, your child likely isn't behind because they aren't trying — they're behind because reading hasn't been taught to them in the way their brain needs it taught yet. That's fixable, and kindergarten and 1st grade are the best possible time to fix it.
It's not a lack of effort. It's a mismatch in instruction.
Learning to read isn't a natural process like learning to talk — it has to be explicitly taught. Most classrooms move through phonics quickly and assume a lot of connections will click on their own. For a child at risk for dyslexia, those connections don't click without direct, structured, multisensory teaching. BUILD is that teaching.
Not a worksheet packet. A clinical program from the leading name in dyslexia research.
BUILD: A K-1 Early Reading Intervention was written by the staff of the Luke Waites Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disorders at Scottish Rite for Children in Dallas — the same hospital-based team behind Take Flight, the widely respected program used with older dyslexic students nationwide.
Where Take Flight is built for children 7 and up with a diagnosis already in hand, BUILD exists for the years before that: kindergarten and 1st grade, when a formal evaluation may still be months or years away, but the warning signs are already visible.
Every lesson is developmentally sequenced and delivered using a direct, systematic, cumulative, multisensory method — so nothing is assumed and nothing is skipped.
Why BUILD works when "more practice" hasn't.
Nothing is implied
How letters connect to sounds, and how sounds connect to words, is taught directly — never assumed or left for your child to figure out on their own.
See it, say it, write it
Lessons engage visual, auditory, and kinesthetic pathways together, so a skill gets anchored in more than one way of learning.
One skill at a time
Skills are introduced in a fixed, developmental order and build step-by-step, so a gap from lesson 4 doesn't quietly resurface at lesson 40.
Matched to your child
BUILD is delivered one-on-one or in a small group, so pacing and attention stay matched to where your child actually is — not the whole class average.
Five components, taught in the order the reading brain actually needs them.
Alphabet
Letter identification, sequencing skills, and alphabetizing — the true starting point, taught explicitly rather than assumed as "already known."
Letter–Sound Knowledge
Direct instruction of individual letters and sounds, building toward the practice of reading real words and sentences.
Phonological Awareness
The explicit relationship between speech sounds and print — from rhyme, to blending, to spelling — so your child can hear a word's parts before reading them.
Reading & Word Practice
Guided practice applying every skill above to real words, sentences, and connected text — where decoding turns into actual reading.
Comprehension
Understanding what's been read, not just decoding it — the payoff of a solid foundation built in the right order.
Skills first. Confidence follows.
As your child begins to understand how reading actually works — not just memorize it — the guessing and the frustration start to fall away. Homework stops being a nightly battle. And the earlier that shift happens, the easier it is to make it stick before 2nd grade, when reading demands jump and gaps get harder to close.
"The earlier reading challenges are addressed, the easier they are to overcome."
Kathleen Ferrufino, M.Ed., CALT
BUILD isn't designed to be self-taught or handed to a general reading tutor — its research base assumes a specialist trained specifically in how the dyslexic brain learns to read. That's the standard Kathleen holds as a Certified Academic Language Therapist (CALT), and it's the standard every ClearPath Dyslexia session is built on.
Kathleen works with Orlando-area families to identify early reading struggles and deliver Scottish Rite's clinically developed programs — BUILD for kindergarten and 1st grade, and Take Flight for children 7 and up — one child, one small group, at a time.
Talk to Kat About Your ChildWhat parents usually ask before starting BUILD
Does my child need a formal dyslexia diagnosis first?
No. This is exactly why BUILD exists. It was designed for K-1 students identified as at risk for dyslexia, not only students with a completed evaluation. Many families start BUILD before a formal diagnosis is even possible, because early intervention shouldn't wait on paperwork.
How is this different from regular tutoring or extra school help?
Tutoring usually reinforces whatever the classroom already taught. BUILD teaches reading through a different, more explicit route from the start — direct, systematic, multisensory instruction in exactly how sounds and letters connect — delivered by a therapist trained specifically to treat dyslexia, not a general tutor.
Is BUILD one-on-one, or does my child join a group?
Both formats are available. BUILD is designed as a small-group or one-on-one intervention, so we can match the format and pace to what your child needs most.
What happens after my child finishes BUILD?
Many kids leave BUILD with a strong enough foundation to succeed in a typical classroom setting. If a child needs continued, more intensive support as they get older, ClearPath also offers Take Flight — the two-year Scottish Rite program built for children age 7 and up with diagnosed dyslexia.
My child is only in kindergarten — isn't it too early to worry?
It's actually the opposite. Kindergarten and 1st grade are the ideal window to intervene, because foundational reading gaps are far easier to close before 2nd grade, when reading demands increase sharply. Waiting to "see if they catch up" is the single most common reason gaps widen instead of closing.
Funding doesn't have to be the barrier to getting started. ClearPath Dyslexia accepts Step Up for Students scholarships for qualifying Florida families.
Ask About Funding OptionsGive your K-1 reader the foundation they were never explicitly taught.
Book a free 15-minute consultation with Kat Ferrufino, CALT, and find out whether BUILD is the right fit for your child — no pressure, no obligation.
BUILD: A K-1 Early Reading Intervention was developed by the Luke Waites Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disorders at Scottish Rite for Children. ClearPath Dyslexia is an independent practice using this licensed curriculum.