Toe by Toe or Headsprout for helping ds (ASD) with reading?

[cuntycowfacemonkey]

He's 7 and has made lots of good progress this year but there are gaps in his learning and with the new curriculum in place the goal posts have shifted and now just when I thought we were slowly bridging the gap it has been blown wide open again!

I've heard of Toe by Toe and Headsprout both mentioned on here before and just wondered if there was an opinion on which would be better. He's currently on ORT level 4 (which we've been stuck on all year although he can manage level 5 at home with support) he tends to read by sight and although he does know his phonics he's not great at blending them.

thanks zzzzz. Good point about level 4 ds1 didn't move up the levels very quickly at this point either and he's fine now in year 5

I would not use Toe by Toe, i used to use it with the children at school and they hated it!

Thanks shazza I suspect ds would a mile from it as it isn't screen based!

Good point zzzzz Biff and Chip bore me shiteless so I can't I blame ds if he is uninspired. I think we'll use the summer holidays to just read that captures his imagination a bit instead.

Biff and chip might bore you senseless however it is great for teaching children to read,even S,e,n children.

I do agree with you zzzzz my eldest although NT was on fairly low level reading books in year 2 but as his reading improved we stopped reading the school books and let him choose his own from the library or shops and he is now exceeding his levels in year 5. Reading should be enjoyable at any age, kids love a good story so I admit it baffles me why reading books never have a good story based on what kids enjoy.

Not sure if relevant but I recently found in our local library a Star Wars collection of reading books and I think for Star Wars fan they would be great motivators. They have several level (seen 1 to 3, possibly more). Even my 7 yrs old, who is a good reader but still into pre school characters enjoyed it.

Ive not heard of toe to toe, but found Headsprout great, and DD loved it. Very interactive which she loves, and made us realise she can read and blend phonics. I think you can get a free trial for 2 weeks. We now use reading eggs which is also fun but not as good as Headsprout, but we finished all 80 lesson!

Toe by toe is for older children, really. My DS did it at 7, but he was an exceptionally good reader and was recommended it misguidedly to help with spelling (it won't help with that).

You want to stick with simpler, more interesting stuff....definitely phonics based.

Dancing Bears is good for teaching reading.

ORT was awful for my autistic daughter especially the magic key adventures (bloody dull for me too). Was the girl Biff,Chip or Kipper? WTF. She enjoyed the Lady Bird books (Peter and Jane) which were developed for special needs children and are about real life activities (I loved the retro feel and everyday sexism). They are repetitive but that gave her a sense of achievement. I also used tons of non-fiction...the storyworld series are good and eventually (she is 12 but has learning difficulties as well as ASD)Horrid Henry. Back to the point of children enjoying a funny story. And would suggest NESSY. Designed for dyslexic children (mine isn't, but often autistic children are) it has lots of brilliant games including a dragon that burns the bum of a knight.