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Here you'll find advice from parents and teachers on special needs education.

Original poster

Toe by Toe structured learning to read system

10 replies

ChocoMarmalade · 04/05/2023 16:34

Does anyone have experience with Cowling's Toe by Toe structured reading system? I think it was designed to help dyslexic children but I thought I would try it with my 7.5 year old son who has ADHD and Level 1 ASD as he is really struggling with reading and not making much progress at school.

OP posts:
tothetower · 05/05/2023 10:55

hi op, my dd8 has dyslexia and adhd and we have been doing toebytoe since christmas and are about half way through. I think its definitely showing improvements. We do 5/10 mins a night and aim to do at least 4 times a week.

snakehips666 · 05/05/2023 14:42

Toe by Toe is designed to be used with any struggling reader whatever 'diagnosis' / label has been used...

Original poster
ChocoMarmalade · 05/05/2023 18:48

@tothetower and @snakehips666thanks for your advice. I'm going to order it and try it out over the Summer holidays.

OP posts:
BumbleBee123456 · 22/05/2023 19:49

I have been doing this with my DS10 for a year. He was 2 years behind on his reading age at the start and is now 2 months ahead. He has dyslexia (confirmed) and is awaiting assessment for likely ADHD. He doesn’t like doing it but there is no alternative that he does like. I have persevered as it seems to be working. It can be a battle but we compromise by doing only 5-10mins a night. The repetition, overlearning and ability to do short amounts at a time work with DS in terms of his poor focus, attention and short term memory problems

snakehips666 · 23/05/2023 08:51

Hi BumbleBee123456, Toe By Toe may look daunting and 'technical' but is actually very simple. Just follow the detailed instructions in the red ‘coaching boxes’ facing every workpage and work methodically through the manual. Your child may well resist but you have to keep going. Put the completed pages behind a rubber band so it is easy to find the starting point for the next session and also the child can easily see how much has been completed and - crucially - never has to be looked at again! Every child is different and it will take as long as it takes but, in time, you and your child will both look back on this struggle, shrug, smile, thank God it's over and move on with your lives.

BumbleBee123456 · 25/05/2023 06:17

I agree. Toe by toe is working well for DS despite some resistance. The improvement has been remarkable! I am very grateful to Keda Cowling as I would not have thought his progress possible. The instructions are concise and to the point which is essential if concentration span is short. There is no unnecessary information and few pictures which is also good if you have an easily distracted student like mine. It is inexpensive for what can be a long course. It may not be for everyone but it is definitely worth a try

Bobobab · 14/10/2023 08:24

@ChocoMarmalade Hiya wondering if you went with toe by toe? There are a lot of reading systems so keen to see if this one helped. My ds is younger but is autistic... he was progressing well but since learning tricky words he is struggling with blending

Alltheyearround · 30/01/2024 23:30

I'm training to be a dyslexia teacher - here's the resource we use to measure impact of different schemes.

I use it at home as part of what I do with DS (14), it's long and slow but many people report it as working for their learners.

It's thorough but not terribly exciting.

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