The science behind the magic
The world of words, in the works.
Learn word parts (morphemes), unlock the language.
The hidden pattern
One root. Thirty+ words.
Without the need of rote memorisation.
port comes from the Latin portare, to carry. Peter the Porter is a pelican working relentlessly in the world of Locus Crocus. Watch how easy it is to unlock the meaning of 30+ words at once, and there is more.
12 words here, and many more waiting in the dictionary. Tap any word to take it apart.
We ask an open dictionary for every English word containing port. Some are true relatives of portare. Some only look the part. Sorting one from the other is exactly the skill Lex teaches.
Why it matters
Why is this important?
Decades of research in cognitive science have confirmed that children who see the system inside words read faster, understand better, and forget less1,2,3.
The science is there, and it does make sense. When a child learns that one root can unlock thirty words, reading stops being a wall of things to memorise and becomes a pattern they can spot for themselves.
That confidence compounds. It shapes how much a child reads, how much they enjoy it, and how far it carries them, in school and long after.
There has been very little focus on this until recently. We are hoping to change that, and to work with Ministries of Education across the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US to make these available.
Lex The Saurus has a great ambition, to bring morphological awareness to the masses in a playful way.
Revealing the patterns through words and words through patterns.
It matters because morphology predicts literacy, and literacy predicts what follows (see below).
Where it comes from
Morphology predicts literacy. Literacy predicts what follows.
Morphological awareness, knowing that words are built from meaningful parts, predicts reading and spelling outcomes across languages and age groups1,2. Instruction in it produces measurable gains, and a systematic review found the largest effects among younger and less able readers3. Early literacy also predicts what comes long after it, in school and beyond4,5.
Meanwhile reading attainment has fallen. PIRLS 2021 recorded declines in average reading achievement across a majority of participating countries6.
Every word we choose is checked against that evidence base before it reaches a page, and we are working together to support education curriculums to generate evidence, so that such teaching may be included in national curriculum and find its place alongside the existing teaching methods to better learning outcomes.
If you are a research organisation or a school in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States or Canada, and you are hoping to participate in our research, we would like to hear from you.
For parents, please follow us so we can keep you updated with the latest research and our collaborations. We will publish all our research online to help you make the right decision to buy the best products that are not only fun but support early literacy outcomes. We call it funducation.
- 1. Carlisle, J. F. (2000). Awareness of the structure and meaning of morphologically complex words: Impact on reading. Reading and Writing, 12, 169 to 190. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008131926604
- 2. Rastle, K. (2019). The place of morphology in learning to read in English. Cortex, 116, 45 to 54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2018.02.008
- 3. Bowers, P. N., Kirby, J. R., & Deacon, S. H. (2010). The effects of morphological instruction on literacy skills: A systematic review of the literature. Review of Educational Research, 80(2), 144 to 179. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654309359353
- 4. Cunningham, A. E., & Stanovich, K. E. (1997). Early reading acquisition and its relation to reading experience and ability 10 years later. Developmental Psychology, 33(6), 934 to 945. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.33.6.934
- 5. Duncan, G. J., Dowsett, C. J., Claessens, A., Magnuson, K., Huston, A. C., Klebanov, P., Pagani, L. S., Feinstein, L., Engel, M., Brooks-Gunn, J., Sexton, H., Duckworth, K., & Japel, C. (2007). School readiness and later achievement. Developmental Psychology, 43(6), 1428 to 1446. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.43.6.1428
- 6. Mullis, I. V. S., von Davier, M., Foy, P., Fishbein, B., Reynolds, K. A., & Wry, E. (2023). PIRLS 2021 international results in reading. TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, Boston College. https://pirls2021.org/results
Tested where it counts
Every book is checked by the little people we write it for.
We are collaborating with schools and kindergartens across England. Our books go into real classrooms and real story corners, and children tell us, in the way only children can, whether a page works.
They are checked for fun first. If a rhyme does not land, if a page does not get turned, if nobody asks to hear it again, it goes back to the drawing board.
Then we check the language: every word against the research, every line counted syllable by syllable, so that reading it aloud carries the pattern on its own.
If a child does not want to turn the page, nothing else we do matters, so we make sure they do before every product we launch.