Teaching kids with dyslexia to read at home has never been easier thanks to the development of more and more user-friendly Orton-Gilligham programs. The programs in this comparison of the top 4 Orton-Gillingham reading programs were chosen because they are affordable and designed to be used by parents at home – and because I have used all of them!
What to Know About Orton-Gillingham Reading Programs
What is Orton-Gillingham?
Orton-Gillingham is an approach to teaching reading. Some, but not all, reading programs are based on this approach. The reading programs in this comparison are ones that are most frequently used by parents teaching their kids at home.
Read more about what the Orton-Gillingham approach to teaching reading is and why it is the most highly recommended and effective approach to teaching kids (and adults) with dyslexia.
How to Choose the Best Orton-Gillingham Reading Program for Your Family
There is a lot of discussion about which Orton-Gillingham (OG) program is the best. The answer to this question will be different for each unique family. Factors like the age of students, the degree of dyslexia, family size, finances, or native language all play a big role in determining which program will be the best fit for each unique family.
There are even times when an OG reading program on it’s own, may not be enough. You can read more about that here.
The factors that I rated each program by are:
- Cost per level and number of levels
- Materials included with the program
- Any extra materials needed
- Any optional extra materials
- Format – whether digital or print
- Ages the program is appropriate for
- Whether the program covers spelling
- Whether the program covers phonemic awareness
- The level of customer support
- Any money back guarantees
A Comparison of the Top 4 Orton-Gillingham Reading Programs for Homeschoolers
These four programs were selected for comparison for three reasons:
- Based on the Orton-Gillingham approach
- Affordable
- Easy to use
Want to download a copy of the comparison guide?
Download the Comparison Chart
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What Other Parents Are Saying
Here are some comments from HWD readers about each of the programs, both pros and cons.
Please note that when I say that all of these programs are affordable, I am comparing the price for the program to the price of paying a professional tutor to teach your kids. Professional tutors can charge between $50-$100/hour and need to be seen 2-3 times per week for several years.
Barton Reading & Spelling
Pros
- Excellent training and support
- Very thorough program
- Easy to use – little prep
- Can be used with older kids and adults – not childish looking
Cons
- Price – although levels can be sold easily (or purchased used) when finished to help pay for next level
- Can be boring – not enough variety
All About Reading
Pros
- Easy to use – little prep
- Price – not as expensive as other programs
- Engaging for kids. Lots of games and hands-on materials make the program more interesting for younger kids (under 12 years old approximately).
- Spelling is taught separately so kids can progress with reading more quickly. When spelling and reading are combined, reading progress can be slowed down significantly because kids master spelling much more slowly than they master reading.
- Readers are excellent. Kids love the beautifully illustrated stories in the readers that are included with each level.
Cons
- Spelling is taught separately. I know this was on the ‘Pros’ list. Some people felt that teaching spelling separately was a hindrance. It takes more time each day and it costs more to buy an additional spelling program (All About Spelling).
Posts I’ve written about our experience with All About Reading:
- You Can Teach Your Dyslexic Child to Read With All About Reading
- Is All About Reading a Complete Orton-Gillingham Reading Program?
- Building Fluency With All About Reading Readers
Logic of English
Pros
- Very affordable
- Includes a lot of extra materials
- Includes a wide variety of games
- Includes tons of phonemic awareness exercises
- Colorful student books
- Student workbooks are very affordable ($15) which is nice for more than 1 child
- Handwriting is included
- Composition is included in Essentials (for ages 10+) levels
Cons
- None mentioned!
Reading Horizons Discovery (ages 4-9)
Pros
- Online program is colorful and fun
- Readers have beautiful illustrations and stories
- Very thorough with lots of games
- Excellent parent/teacher training and support
Cons
- Price
- Online program moves quickly (may not be best for more profoundly dyslexic kids)
Reading Horizons Elevate (ages 10+)
- Many reports of kids using Elevate online version loving the program and making significant progress
- Helpful for ESL parents teaching their kids
- Good refresher course for kids finished with AAR, Barton, or LOE
- Reading passages included with the program are excellent
- 2 kids can use 1 subscription
Read my complete review of Reading Horizons Elevate here: Help for the Older Struggling Reader
Orton-Gillingham Programs not on This List
Wilson: Wilson is an excellent OG reading program but it isn’t user-friendly and requires some kind of training to be able to use proficiently.
Spell to Write and Read: This is a highly regarded OG program but is definitely not user-friendly.
Nessy: Nessy is a fantastic program that is OG based but is best used as a supplement to one-on-one teaching.
What Would You Add to This List?
I’d love your feedback. Are there any Orton-Gillingham programs you would like to see added to this comparison? Which programs and why? Let us know in the comments.
We used the older edition of Logic of English but found it moved too fast for my most dyslexic child.
For my oldest we used the 1st edition of LOE Essentials , and we went through it muuuuch slower than they recommend, finishing in about 3.5 years. But it was so worth it. My son reads and writes and spells like an ace having such a solid foundation. I’ve done 2 all the way through LOE Foundations and am getting ready to start #4 in Foundations. With some ive moved quicker than with others but in the end it really doesnt matter to me how long it takes because i know they are getting a thorough education in the English language. 2 out of the 3 who have been through LOE so far are dyslexic, and i can say this program is amazing for dyslexic and non-dyslexic alike. Even I, a natural reader and writer and speller, have learned sooo much in its teaching. Highly recommend for all!
My 8 year old is profoundly dyslexic. We have had success using AAR along with the Dianne Craft sight words and readers.
You ask if there are any other Orton-Gillingham programs to add to the comparison. I’d like to submit a program that I’m writing for consideration. It’s a series of free YouTube videos that teach kids letter sounds, phonogram sounds, and syllable types. Kids write along with me as they learn. Most lessons include studying the concepts that they’ve already learned in short passages of text from classic children’s literature. Each lesson ends with read-aloud recommendations so that kids aren’t just learning the mechanics of reading, but are getting exposed to great stories and poetry that will help them want to read. I call it Story Hour Academy. The playlist of free video lessons is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH7x8G1bcUM&list=PL7be6Dn_-FcpFdG7JTfS6Zq17nmdkONce
There is also a website for it that will eventually include all the lessons. I still have about another 40 lessons to record to be finished, so the focus right now is getting the YouTube playlist of lessons completed rather than updating the website.
Feedback is welcome!
My daughter, who’s homeschooling 4, and I agree that Logic of English was confusing for my 1st grade grandson who is moderately dyslexic. He needed a program with a slower logical, cumulative sequence for phonemic awareness and time to acquire the auditory skills he needed before moving to phonics. She used a good phonemic awareness program until he heard sounds clearly. Then she moved into Level 1 of Barton Reading and Spelling. They are in Level 5 and as a 3rd grader, he’s easily reading chapter books and writing good paragraphs using IEW! I was surprised that you didn’t mention that after Levels 9 & 10, Barton students are ready for a 9th grade Biology text because of the advanced language skills taught. She’s found it to be very good. Spelling Success has some excellent games to go with Barton.
Absolutely agree, Spelling Success and others (including Cardinal Concepts, ISee ISpell ILearn, and TeachersPayTeachers) have great games that “mix it up” with Barton. For those who suggest Barton can be ‘boring’ I suggest adding in a card game or two. We have used cards games for reviewing sight words, practicing sounding out nonsense words, and fluency. The kids look forward to having a chance to play these games (matching, slap-it, and simple board games). An extra purchase is not necessary, since many free games are included in the Barton tutor materials and in the Google Barton Tutors group.
Thanks for this input Cathie. I think all OG programs can benefit from outside sources for games and review.
We have found Wilson Fundations to be a good fit for our homeschool.
I would suggest adding Sonday System to the list. It has 2 levels, Sonday 1, which starts with phonemic awareness, and covers CVC, diagraphs, blends, silent e, trigraphs, and common vowel teams. Sonday 2 covers syllable division, less common vowel teams, prefixes, suffixes, and common roots. Each lesson switches back and forth between decoding and spelling every 5-7 minutes. Each level is about $550, available at http://www.winsorlearning.com. The author is an Orton Fellow, and past president of the International Dyslexia Association. The program compares favorably with Barton for depth and pacing. It includes directions on how to customize lessons if mastery tests are not passed. I used it with two of my children, and found it very easy to follow, and more engaging than Barton.
Thanks Tonya!
My 14 YO dyslexic child is on level 4 Barton. I’m tutoring her and the company wasn’t sure it would work for her because of her social pragmatic language disorder and receptive/expressive language disorder. we went for it because she’s been through level 2, 3, and now on 4 just this school year . Being her Mom, I can really guage how she’d doing and when she needs breaks, etc. We started out doing only 5 mins a day because that’s all she could handle. Now she can go up to 20 mins 5 days a week. I think it can work for some of these kids but must be customized for them. I highly recommend the program.
Just a note of encouragement , today we finish our long adventure with Barton. My son was diagnosed to be profoundly dyslexic . We being working with Barton over 6 years , I loved it and he like and hated it altogether. Some levels were hard and some were not so hard. But I notice huge improvement after he mature a bit and understood the importance of reading. As a young teen he put a lot effort in our time with Barton . Today is a very happy day for me and him , because I know how much he had to work extra hard to be able to finish. He is finishing 8 grade and yes he is reading, not perfect but well. Still takes his time, but accomplish any task that is given to him. He is doing some of his school on his own , without any help from me. And that is amazing to me, because I used to help him with every subject. I am glad that we used Barton over the years , also helped me to understand the English language , since English is my second language.
My 11 year old son just received a diagnosis. He can read, although it is slower than average and takes him more effort to comprehend. Can any of these programs help with that or are they more basic phonetic programs?
Hi Rebekah. It sounds like he needs to fill in some gaps and work on fluency. Reading Horizons Elevate would be excellent for that.
I LOVE Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW)’s Primary Art of Reading and Primary Art of Writing with the Phonetic Farm and incorporates All about Spelling when the child is ready. Andrew Pudewa developed this program for his son who is dyslexic. It is fun and so well developed. It provides plenty of review and games to keep it exciting for the child.