"Toe by Toe" reading tutor. Anyone have any experience?

[LittenTree]

My thanks to indigobell for putting me onto this.

Toe by Toe

My DS2 is in Y6 and his reading age is a good 2 years behind what it could be. I think he will get a '4' in his KS2 Literacy SATS (which, tbh, to me represents a VERY average attainment!) but that's not the point- it's that I fear he will be unable to access secondary curricula with his reading difficulties so I am considering giving it a bit of a push-or, should I say, a bit more of a push!

I was interested to hear if anyone else had used the scheme or had any input/

Tia.

I used this for my ds when he was in Y1 and Y2 - he really couldn't grasp phonics but wasn't yet on an iep so it was fantastic in filling that gap and then in supporting what he was doing at school. Only required 10 mins per day and even he could concentrate on that HOWEVER it is basic phonics. I'm not sure how good it would be for an older child. Hopefully someone else will come along with some experience

btw level 4 is perfectly respectable and doesn't mean reading diffs

At Y6 I wonder if getting a tutor may give you a better insight of what probs could exist and tackle them?

We moved from Australia to London when DD was at the end of year 1 by British school years but had done only 1 term of kindergarten in Australia. So while her peers were writing lovely paragraphs and reading books, she could just about write her name. She did Toe by Toe in Year 3 and by year 4 won a place to a highly selective school and is totally thriving. I couldn't recommend it more. I think it's very accessible for any age. Good luck!

It is not just basic phonics. It covers everything. The last page (which the child needs to read) is:

..... I used to be like Christopher. My reports always said things like: could do better, needs to pay attention, lacks concentration, results are disappointing, finds time for conversation but not for comprehension, seems to prefer detention to homework, I think I should mention that your son finds time for relaxation at the expense of his education.

But now I can read words like chiropodist, philatelist, emphasis and psychologist because I have learned to build words by using the smallest steps of all: Toe by Toe.

I would certainly recommend starting with toe by toe rather than a tutor - because this is something you do every day, whereas a tutor will only be once a week.

If it doesn't work, then you can still go to a tutor.....

BTW I don't often recommend Toe By Toe. I'm only recommending it because of your child's age, and because he doesn't seem to have serious reading problems - only more mild ones.

If he was younger, or couldn't read at all, I would recommend something else.

Thanks. I had a look at it online and then managed to order it from a second hand book seller.

It seems well worth a go. My feeling is that as DS doesn't have problems 'bad' enough to raise the (state) teacher's concern- but I know he could do better, so in theory, he should progress quickly til he gets to where he's struggling.

Exactly. You're meant to do every exercises 3 times (on 3 different days) - but I probably wouldn't do that for him in the early pages.

I'd just do them each once till you got to words he found hard.

OK, Indigo, thanks for the advice. I will now wait for the book to arrive and let you know how we go!

I've heard very good things about toe by toe used by adult learners a motivated year 6 should be able to work with it.

Toe by Toe is used in the prison system to assist adult learners! My ds1 has worked his way through it from y1. He has gone from 1-2 years behind his chronological age in Yr1 to reading a bit ahead of it in Yr4. It seemed to plug the basic gaps in his knowledge. The use of nonsense words also forces them to read and think about what they are reading so they can't get away with guessing or using context. I think that Toe by Toe and similar programmes help because they go back to the basic foundations and make sure that they are solid before building up complexity. Your son may have found ways of managing complex text whilst still lacking foundation skills so is having to work very hard to read and may trip up over something unfamiliar because he doesn't have the basic techniques to deal with it.

DD1 worked through toe by toe with DH and I and it helped a great deal.
It's very slow and you need to be very patient, but it is worth it.

Out of interest, IndigoBell, what would you recommend for a younger child (Y1)?

Schnitzel - dancing bears is better for younger children.

dancing bears

We did toe by toe with my stepson aged 6. Brilliant. He went from being way behind to now taking real pleasure in reading (he's 11 now)

OK, my book has finally arrived! I got it 'second hand' on ebay but it looks as good as new.

I am looking forward to getting stuck in.

As suggested by Indigo, I won't make him do the early stuff 3 times on 3 different days, unless he fluffs something which I hadn't clocked as being a difficulty!

I did it with DS aged 6. It can be a little tedious. Make sure you do it every single day to get the most benefit from it x DS is a fantastic reader now xx

Yes, used it for my son in about P4-5 and it was excellent. It made a huge difference to his reading and writing ability. We did a bit every evening and the school special needs teacher did some with him.
We had Stareway to spelling" but found that less successful as the words only really stayed in his short term memory. The extra spelling practice probably did no harm though. we did that after Toe by Toe . Toe by Toe took a year or so, but because it's only 20min or so a day didn't seem that bad.
It really increased his confidence.
Ensuring reading books were aimed at his ability and interests and ignoring reccommended reading ages in bookshops also helped. We also read to him alot to keep his interest in stories even when he struggled to read them.