Blast Off to Reading! 50 Orton-Gillingham Based Lessons for Struggling Readers & Those With Dyslexia

We have literally spent thousands on different reading programs, therapies, and services but none of them helped my dyslexic child advance in reading more than this little workbook, paired with the online games and captivating chapter books. Seriously. We have done ALLLLLL the programs. My girl just turned 14 and I was at the end of my rope, beyond exhausted with Barton, seeing very little growth, feeling like I’d failed her as a mother and teacher. This book had been sitting on our shelf for years because I wanted to give the “recommended” programs a try and thought “certainly, this program I’ve spent $$$$$ on will work better than this $25 workbook!” Wrong! Turns out this is just what she needs. I’m seeing more growth with Blast Off than we did in 2 years of diligent Barton instruction. She just finished reading to me “The Trap Door” and was beaming with pride in herself! A true gift! I never thought I’d see that. Thank you!!

This book has been wonderful for my eight year old that was diagnosed with dyslexia at six. We were lucky enough to attend a school that cared deeply about every child reading for kindergarten. From this school, I learned about the Barton Method (expensive, challenging for a parent, but excellent) and One Minute Reader (excellent for fluency). The public school we attended did little to assist my daughter in her struggles. We pulled her out of school to home school her for a year to see how it went. Not only did she make massive gains in her other subjects, but this book was instrumental in helping her to learn the rules of reading. Her fluency has increased from 9 words a minute to 68 words per minute. The rules have assisted her in her ability to spell. I am grateful for such an inexpensive and effective program that truly helps struggling readers. Any parent can use this system to help their child in my opinion.

I am normally not one to write a product review. However, I felt I had to comment for those parents searching to help their struggling reader. My 9yr old was just diagnosed with Dyslexia and ADHD. He has fallen behind in school as a result. So we have been working with different lesson plans all summer (including ones given by his teachers) and THIS BOOK is by far the easiest at TEACHING (for parent) and LEARNING (for child). It breaks things down into manageable portions that can be done at the child's pace. Each lesson can be done in 30-45 minutes or broken down if your child has trouble focusing. It starts from the beginning and introduces VOWELS & CONSONANTS. It may seem too simple for some kids who already know their CVC's (as mine did) but focusing on the SOUNDS that the letters make actually help them in breaking down the words for reading and spelling. For the first time, my child has written sentences on his own, without Mom or Dad helping him sound out the words. It's teaching him to sound the words out on his own and THIS is what I find so fantastic, because my child is developing the CONFIDENCE to read & write for himself. I wish I had discovered this book sooner!

As an educator, I purchased this book to work on with my 9 year old nephew who has dyslexia. The book is well laid out and builds phonics skills in a logical manner. It was worth the money and I would recommend paying for the online web app as well because it helps motivate students to complete lessons. Each lesson ends with some online games that reinforce the learning in that lesson. There are 50 lessons that could be easily finished over the course of a summer with 1 hour of work each day. Each lesson uses a lot of verbal components for pronunciation. Unlike many other programs, the was the book is written has no mistakes and no ways to confuse the children between sounds. The only part I disliked was that the online games also need the adult to listen and correct pronunciation. Partly due to the nature of some of the games and partly due to the pronunciations by the AI utilized in some of games.

Fantastic program. Self-contained, concise, straightforward, effective!! If you're at your wit's end with a struggling reader, this is what you want.

Retired teacher, now a reading and math tutor. I have read through the ratings on this workbook. Most of the ratings less than 5-stars are parents who are not trained to teach and their expectations are not met. This is not a self-help book! Someone must spend time with the student continually, employing patience and encouragement. I add dictation to the lessons, having students listen and write portions from the current lesson. I work one-on-one when tutoring and this workbook can change your child’s life! Even older elementary students gain knowledge and skills. Maybe they just need to show you what they know so you can move quickly through some parts, but every sound and every spelling is important. I have taught over 100 students with this simple workbook aged from 7 to 24, ranging from slight dyslexia to profound, and no one has failed to advance in their reading. Usually parents begin to hear positive feedback from teachers within just 2 to 3 weeks. Repetition is the key to success. There is no better gift for a student than the skills for reading. Even math improves when the student can read and understand the instructions. I will continue to purchase this book for each student who enrolls with me. It’s value cannot be overstated. P.S. There is a more advanced version with a green cover for older students.

An excellent resource to assist struggling readers. The tasks are logically sequenced and build upon one another in order to reinforce previous learning. It is a valuable addition to any early literacy teacher's professional library.

Wonderful Product for those looking for such books

Tried this book with my 6 year old and shes made more progress in reading and writing in the last 4 months than she did in the last 3 years in main stream school. Easy to follow step by step for the parent to use and for the child to learn. So happy to have found this book as at least i as a parent can help her progress.

I have enjoyed using this book and the online games. It is a great resource to complement my teaching in the Orton Gillingham method.

This is a truly amazing program. My daughter does not find it hard or frustrating to learn to read with this program and she is advancing every week by a lot. She loves playing the learning games and she enjoys reading. This is truly the only and best program in my opinion for kids that are dyslexic. I recommend this to anyone with a dyslexic child.