【Business Relationship】

While many parents were adjusting to the demands of remote schooling last spring,Business Relationship I was doing the opposite: Trying to prepare my dyslexic daughter for a return to an in-person classroom.

After years of attempting to meet her needs in a traditional schooling environment, and being dissatisfied with the results, we switched to homeschooling. The goal was a return to a more traditional classroom by middle school. But even though I have a professional background as an English language arts teacher, I lacked the expertise on my own to address my daughter’s dyslexia. Searching for more resources, I found Reading Horizons, and it's been a boon.

For most neurotypical kids, in-school reading programs will be sufficient to help them learn to read. Online platforms can supplement their progress or give them more practice. However, for kids who struggle to read or have dyslexia, a different approach may be needed. For those kids, Reading Horizons is a budget-friendly program rooted in a well-regarded method of learning called the Orton-Gillingham approach.

Neurologist Samuel T. Orton and educator/psychologist Anna Gillingham collaborated in the 1930s to help students overcome dyslexia, a condition then known as “word-blindness.” Their methods became the foundation of the Orton-Gillingham model, which remains one of the top ways for dyslexic students to learn to read today.

What is Reading Horizons?

Reading Horizons is a comprehensive, interactive reading system based on the principles of Orton-Gillingham. Simply put, Orton-Gillingham takes the idea of “sounding things out” to the next level. Rather than just teaching students to break down words into their sounds, it teaches the sounds in a specific order and trains the brain to recognize them.

At first, this might not seem that groundbreaking. Sound recognition comes naturally with practice in many students, but those with dyslexia struggle. Contrary to the popular belief, dyslexic students don’t simply see words “backwards.” Rather, their brains literally process language through a different neurological pathway than typically developing brains do.

Taking a slow, deliberate and methodical approach to “sounding out words” is vital to teaching dyslexic students to read. Reading Horizons shines by standardizing this process and making it accessible to students and parents online. It eliminates the need to pay a high price for a tutor to walk through the same steps in person, and it gives students the freedom to progress at their own pace within the comfort of their homes with little parental direction needed.

Parents can purchase a 30-day trial for 10 dollars to see if Reading Horizons will be a good fit. Meanwhile, a year of access to the virtual program costs just under 200 dollars and covers up to two students. Parents can add additional students for 25 dollars each, and the annual renewal fee for the original purchase is 50 dollars. A complete set of companion workbooks with teacher guides is also available for purchase.

How to use Reading Horizons

Reading Horizons begins with an automated student assessment. This determines which lessons need to be addressed first. The lessons blend recorded audio with interactive graphics and conclude with three activities designed to test the student’s comprehension.

The system scores the activities upon completion and then determines whether the student will unlock an achievement or be asked to complete additional practice.

If more practice is necessary, the system will offer a video-refresher before presenting the activity. Meanwhile, achievements include virtual trophies and points that can be used to “purchase” items for a virtual clubhouse.

There are over 60 lessons contained within the complete Reading Horizons program. At the start of each lesson, students can expect to see a variety of words. A recorded voice will pronounce them and highlight the sounds they have in common.When different letter combinations make the same sounds, the recording will provide a detailed explanation about why this happens.

For example, Reading Horizons would not simply teach that both “foam” and “home” have a long “o” vowel sound. Neither would it teach the students to simply memorize rules such as the one that says there will be a long vowel sound before a silent “e.”

Instead, Reading Horizons would show students a brief animation that explains a bit of linguistic history and reveals the “why” behind the rules that many of us have simply memorized. Then, the program would break down that “why” into small chunks of information that are presented both independently and as a whole.

Within a single lesson, students can expect to see and hear more words. They will follow guided instruction in identifying which words go together and which do not. They will be asked to identify specific words. They will also be asked to diagram each word in the way that some English professors have students diagram sentences. Finally, they will be asked to type the words that they hear and to identify which grammatical rules influence the pronunciation of each word.

It’s a lot of information that comes together in pieces, and Reading Horizons allows students, parents and teachers alike to see how these pieces fit. If building language skills is like building a model from Legos, Reading Horizons functions much like a good set of instructions with photographs.

Even though I studied English language arts extensively in college, Reading Horizons taught me to identify linguistic rules that I previously recognizedbut did not understand.

Meanwhile, I underestimated how much my daughter would enjoy decorating her clubhouse, and I was happy to see how much earning points motivated her to progress through her lessons. She could also use the points to play learning games, and she could get quick practice writing words on her “world wall” for additional points.

In addition to points and trophies, books function like prizes within Reading Horizons. When a student successfully completes a unit, they unlock one of the digital books in their online library. After reading it once through on their own and answering basic comprehension questions, they earn more points and can choose to hear a recording of each story.

While it wasn’t necessary for me to supervise my daughter’s use of Reading Horizons, I did find it helpful to check in on her progress. Otherwise, she tended to navigate through the lessons more quickly and encounter more difficulty with the assessments.

Highlights

Reading Horizons comes in two versions: Discovery and Elevate. Each features the exact same lessons. However, Discovery is marketed to students age four through 9, and Elevate is marketed to students age 10 to adult. The primary difference between the two is the aesthetic design and the content of the storybooks.

When choosing which version to purchase, homeschooling parents should consider the preferences of their specific child. Personally, I chose Discovery, and it worked well for my daughter even though she used it from age 9 through 11.

Upon completing the program, students will most likely be able to read and write at a minimum of third-grade level with a firm foundation in place for future study. While the program can double as a comprehensive language arts curriculum for kindergarten through third grade, students in fourth grade and up would benefit from using supplemental reading materials to enhance their comprehension and critical thinking skills.

Is Reading Horizons worth it?

Reading Horizons is ideal for dyslexic students and for students learning English as a second language. Typically-developing children will also benefit from using Reading Horizons as a teaching tool from kindergarten through third grade.

Some potential drawbacks include the cost, a confusing parent portal and graphics that remind me of the nineties. However, the program as a whole offers excellent value for its price point. Customer support is happy to help, and the goofy graphics accompany lessons that spark hope in students who have grown accustomed to struggling to read.

After using Reading Horizons for three years, my daughter achieved our goal of entering middle school this year. She chose a hybrid education center that meets twice weekly with pandemic-friendly classes of under 10 people. This is a major step forward that would not have been possible without Reading Horizons.

Finally, this Christmas gave me even more reason to celebrate the program. In a stunning break from tradition, my daughter wrote her own list this year, and she asked for books! When she opened them, she was almost as happy as the kindergartner who told her first-ever teacher how much she wanted to read.