Find Out what Parents & Teachers are Saying about Right Track Reading’s Effective Reading Program and Website Resources

A mom’s struggling 11 year old son  is “finally getting the hang of it ” and “standing taller” 

“I just had to write and share my experience with you to let you know the impact your work has on others. I just began home schooling my 11 year old last week due to the deficiency I saw in the school system to address what they labeled as a learning disability and I see as a teaching disability. My frustration stems from knowing that my child’s deficiency was in phonetic awareness as he scored exceptionally well on reading comprehension.  This also led to a writing deficiency for a child who instinctively knew he misspelling words but not how to correct it, so he resisted writing at all.  The school never went back and did any phonetic work with him. They kept bragging about his intelligence and his ability to substitute synonyms for words he couldn’t read based on the content.   There is so much more background info, but not the purpose of my writing.

So, fast forward to Lesson three in your “Back on the Right Track” book  when my son took a break to get a snack and as he returned from the kitchen   he emphatically  said, “They never taught me this again after first grade, even when they knew I had a reading problem!”  Day four, yesterday and three quarters of the way through he threw his arms out wide and sang, “I am finally getting the hang of it!”   We had seen the pattern of how he didn’t have a clear distinction between the /e/ and /i/ sounds. He sees the possibilities now and for that I want to thank you. Thank you for being part of helping my child return to the child I forgot I had lost.  He is standing taller, laughing more and all around more confident. It was a total miracle when the child who gave up writing said yesterday during an English assignment, ” I don’t care if I spell it wrong, I’m going to spell it the way I know and later in the year it will get better”.

Looking forward to a bright future for my son and many more happy days as he makes the connections and gains confidence in the sounds.  Your hard work changes lives and I am grateful beyond any words I could type.”   – Tracey

Special Education Teacher’s  “We do not need to spend a lot of money to have students succeed in reading” – Thanks for providing an affordable & effective reading program 

“This year my principal ( I am new to the school)  wanted to spend over one thousand dollars on a reading program for the resource room.  I looked at the program and told her I could do the same for $30 with Right Track. I feel as educators, we do not need to spend a lot of money to have students succeed in reading. Your reading program is evidence based, easy to implement and hands on-exactly what my struggling readers need. Although I use several different interventions, Right Track is our core. My middle school students are jumping several grade levels on their standardized tests! Some are even scoring benchmark and beyond. My young students with dyslexia are reading. Your time in the trenches shows! You have done an amazing job putting Right Track together. Thank you for providing a program that is effective and affordable.” – Yvette

Reading program is “An answer to my prayers” from home schooling mom of 4

“Your system is an answer to my prayers!!! Thank you for caring so much about our children’s education that you not only made an effective product, but an affordable one as well. I came across your system while doing research to help my struggling reader. We were with a public independent study program (Set up for homeschooling, but with over site) and they were less than helpful in giving me the tools that worked for her issues and learning style. I think because I discovered the issue and not them. I never liked the stuff they gave me for teaching her to read and in fact when I used my own methods I noticed she made the biggest gains in her reading. However, my methods were not fine-tuned and I went searching for something to help me be more organized with my instruction. That is what I truly believe your program is going to do for me, especially now that I am on my own for our homeschooling set up. I know that with this program I am going to get my daughter (3rd grade) on track fast and then ahead. Then I can help my 1st grader who is already reading well to excel and start my pre-schooler (5 in November) on the right footing (I would not start him so early, but he is already trying to learn his letters on his own and I want him to start out correctly vs fixing things later).

 Soooo, anyway I just wanted to say again, Thank You, for all the hard work and effort you have put into this system. What a blessing it will be to our children and to me too, who will be using it to give them the best foundation for reading success.

Thank you again and Many Blessings to you” – Tricia

book is informative & thorough and clearly explains why it is important to teach reading using direct systematic phonics approach– from teacher tutoring young readers

“I have both of your books – I tutor young readers 1-on-1  I have trained in many Orton-Gillingham programs, but your book is so informative and thorough – Thank you for all the time and information you have given to this and put in your book – I had a homeschooling mother in my office last week and shared your book with her – She was very excited about it and is going to order a copy –     I completely support your program and so appreciate the information and your articulation of the vital parts of teaching reading – I have never found it easy to explain as clearly as you do, why it is so important to teach reading using a direct and systematic phonics approach – Thank you    Best of luck to you and the impact you are having on the reading world – it is so needed – I hope the word about your work will continue to grow.”  – Pam

Reading specialist loves the Right Track Reading Lessons program

“I am a reading teacher for Omaha Public Schools. I LOVE YOUR BOOK!!!! It is so well organized. I’m a little sad it is so close to the end of the school year because I really want to teach with it more. Luckily I will be able to experiment on my son this summer, before he goes into 1st grade. I have been using a version of Go Phonics but sometimes don’t have enough resources. I found your site during a search & ended up using your free sample lesson. The kids loved it and you got me hooked! 

Anyway, I got your note in the cover and would like the sound cards. I’m guessing they are similar to the Spalding type cards I am using now, but I’m always looking for more resources.  I look forward to using your book! Thanks“  – Teri

Wealth of information on Right Track Reading website

“I would like to communicate that I appreciate your website with its wealth of information and easy navigation.  Your thorough research in the area of reading is indeed impressive!  Your hard work has not gone unnoticed”  Fawn

“A Godsend” – adult husband’s reading improved with Back on the Right Track Reading Lessons

“Your Back on the Right Track Reading Lessons workbook has been a Godsend; thank you so much. For years my husband has struggled to be a faster reader, never realizing (nor did I) that he needed to master more basics first. Now he reads out loud and I correct. In just a short time he has improved a great deal and we are both so excited about it. I used to teach English (high school) and was frustrated at not being able to help him; your book has shown the way. Thank you, thank you, thank you..

My husband and I have been using your techniques for over a month now (he reads, I monitor) and his reading has improved immeasurably. Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart, especially for helping my husband find a renewed enthusiasm for improving his reading.”  – Ida

Helps students master learning ~ simple way of unlocking reading problems

“I just want to thank you for your advice and to thank you for creating a wonderful book that has help me . I think this book is the only book out there that help students master their learning need and it is a simple way of unlocking reading problems. Please continue making great books like this one”  – Rebeccah

Dad extremely encouraged by materials on Right Track Reading website

“Good Morning, I am the dad of a daughter with reading difficulties. I was extremely encouraged by reading the materials on your website. Thank you for all the free information that you provide. As a result of your content and approach, I see new avenues for support and remediation. Thanks again!” –  DCJ

Special Education Teacher – “Nothing but success” with effective reading program

“Hello, This is the second school I have used Right Track for Reading in my special education room. I have had nothing but success! This program takes small steps with depth. The hands on activities make reading relevant to my students. They are becoming successful in reading and spelling! Hooray! ” Yvette  – Resource Teacher K-8 School! 

“It has been the most valuable resource I have ever used as a teacher!”

“Thank you so much! I ordered your first book several years ago and use it SO much that I have taped and re-taped the cover multiple times! It has been the most valuable resource I have ever used as a teacher!” – Katie

“Thanks for helping make my year so successful” from 1st grade teacher

“I just wanted to write and thank you for creating this wonderful tool. I am a teacher with 25 first graders. After reading some brain research myself I understand that these youngsters need a strong foundation in letter sounds in order to have success with reading and writing skills. I know comprehension and putting ideas down on paper are important but I’ve come to realize certain concepts must come first. I appreciate the information you provided on your website. I decided to give Right Track Reading a try.

My school district encourages Fountas and Pinnell as the tool to use to practice, what we call, word work. This resource never clicked with me. I know you did not recommend your program for a large group but I have to do word work and I needed something I thought made sense. I have never felt I have given children a strong background with letters and sounds as I have this year. I really feel like I am doing what is best for my students with this tool. I also enjoy word work time.

I am still making this tool fit my pacing and needs but I feel it is going well. My letter tiles are tag board that I have laminated. Consonants are yellow, vowels red, and buddy letters lime green. This extra visual aid helps me in the large group see what is going on at their desk more easily and has assisted some children in breaking the word down. At this time I have worked my way up to Lesson 13. I gave the children an assessment on Friday where I told them they would be spelling with their pencil instead of their letter tiles. I called out 15 words they did not “study” so I could gage how we are doing so far. WOW! I cannot believe that 18 out of 25 scored 80% or higher. Three students scored 43%, 66% and 73% but it was due to a one letter mistake, often the vowel. That is so fixable and just involves more practice. Even the four children who scored 14%-40% demonstrated they have some knowledge and incorporated at least one correct letter sound in each word. These children also understood buddy letters.
I know as my class gets more comfortable I will see more of this knowledge transfer into their reading and writing. Many still need practice breaking words down on their own (a difficult skill) but I am in no hurry. It will come. Thanks again for helping make my year so successful.”  –  Patty

Right Track Reading Lessons complete and well structured

“If all your lessons are as complete and well structured as those online – I just want to thank you for putting it all together instead of me doing what I usually do create it all in scratch – my main issue with many reading programs is the lack of alignment – the oral language, phonemic awareness, the reading and the writing all being different – in your program the letter sounds you work on make up the reading, writing, and phonemic programs. THANKS!”  -“ Jan

Insightful information about reading on website  to help 5th grade daughter

“Just stumbled upon your website and was really excited by what I found. Thank you for posting all that insightful information about reading. I have a 5th grade daughter who is an ambitious reader but is missing some of the fundamentals and I’m afraid if we don’t address it now it will only hurt her in the future.  She struggles with just about every aspect you wrote about and it was refreshing to see the challenges compartmentalized – it made me feel like I wasn’t going crazy after all. The tracking, smooth sounding, phonics basics are all areas we need to refine.”  – Becca

Mom teaching her 1st grader and her 5th grade nephew who struggles with reading

“Thank you! We use right track with our first grader and LOVE it and I have been asked to help my sister with her 5th grader who really struggles with reading. So excited to use this with him!! Thank you for all you do!”  – Ashley

First Grade teacher can document and track her student’s success

“I wrote you last year to let you know how much I appreciated Right Track Reading in my first grade classroom. I am using it again this year and just gave my first word work lesson using paper and pencil. Every child was able to spell at least 2 words correctly out of 10 and all misspelled words had many of the correct letters. I just feel your approach makes so much sense. I can also document and track my students’ success. Thanks again for helping me provide my students with strong instruction. I know my struggling students’ reading and spelling will improve as the year goes on.

Thanks for all that you do. I have two other teachers at my school using your materials. We also hired an instructional coach  and he just ordered your materials for both young and older readers. I’ll continue to share your materials with others.”  – Patty  

Reading specialist “explicit and systematic approach to phonics extremely beneficial”

“Good morning! I am enjoying using your lessons very much. I teach small group response to intervention reading and am finding the explicit and systematic approach to phonics extremely beneficial. I have given your information to our elementary curriculum director in hopes she will order more lesson guides for other intervention teachers in our district.”  – Lisa

Thanks for article from tutoring center director

I tutor and LOVE it and am always looking for ways to improve the effectiveness of reaching the student.  When I came across your article on the importance of keeping sounds hooked together, I knew I had found something that would be especially helpful. Thank you so much for making your expertise so affordably available.” –  Susan – tutoring center director

kindergarten teaching more powerful with the reading program

“Thank you so much!  I’m hoping to make this year’s teaching of Kindergarten so much more powerful with this information.  :)” –Jerry

kindergarten teacher loves the reading program & her students say “this is fun”

“I am a kindergarten teacher and I purchased your program last year.  I absolutely love it!  My students all say “this is fun” when I work with them.  This year, I am pre-assessing my students to see where they are with letter recognition, and letter sounds.  I am discovering that many of my students all ready know how to read, obviously on MANY different levels.    Thank you so much for your reply and information!  I swear, the more I learn about how kids learn to read, the more I realize I do not know!  I apologize for not thanking you earlier, your information has been a huge help.  Thank you!!”  – Maggie

Homeschool Mom looking for a concise, clear & affordable instruction reading program

“I just wanted to say how excited I am to have found your book!  I am a homeschooling mom of four children and was not happy with the previous programs I used with my first two children.  I have not started using it yet but have spent this time reading it through cover to cover.  I have been looking for a concise, clear, and affordable instruction program for years and it looks like I’ve finally found it in your book.  Thank you for the informative website, the free printables and your expertly laid out program.  I’m finally excited about teaching reading again!  I’m also excited about using the later lessons and units to help my struggling 2nd grader with his fluency.” –  Lara

We have achieved great success already with effective reading program 

“I attended your workshop at the Reading Conference in Billings last month. I have been using your reading program with a student of mine, and we have achieved great success already, and we are only on lesson 18! Just this week in our small groups, I heard him tell another boy, “If you don’t know what a word is, you just sound it out!” It’s the program I have been looking for since I began teaching first grade 5 years ago. Thank you for all your time and dedication, Janine – first grade

Engineer mom appreciates straightforward & systematic progression of lessons in the reading program

“ I highly recommend Miscese Gagen’s Right Track Reading program to anyone wanting to teach a child to read.  I taught my daughter to read with this program and we both enjoyed using it.  The use of sound tiles is an excellent way to learn tracking and blending skills.  My daughter is now a confident reader and is reading above grade level in her school.”

I’m an engineer and I’m used to logical thinking g so I really appreciated the straightforward and systematic progression of the lessons.  This effective reading program doesn’t leave anything to chance or misunderstanding.  The lessons are so well scripted that even an older sibling could use it to teach a younger child to read.”

“This book is reasonably priced and the materials to make the sound tiles are inexpensive and readily available.  This program doesn’t take a huge investment or special skills to get started.  I’m so glad I used it.. – Sally 

Mom teaching her 3 sons with the reading program

“I just purchased your reading program this morning, and I have to say I am so happy you have developed this program.   I have three sons, one entering second grade next year, one entering kindergarten and one entering pre-k.  My oldest son has been struggling with reading and writing and was placed in guided study this year, but is still “not getting it”. I am planning to use your program with all of them over the summer.  I was so excited to find your guide because from the examples I see it will it help me to teach them.  Quite frankly, I was floundering, I wasn’t sure how to teach them reading and writing and I felt I was failing at home. Thank you for having so many free examples available, getting to really look at everything made my decision to purchase your book easy.  – Jen

Australian school principal – effective reading program makes a difference to kids

“I have worked with your program at Bowen and Gladstone with great success. We have found these books extremely useful with our low level readers. I have recently started as the executive principal in a remote Indigenous community. Many of the children here can’t read to their expected level. They have a dialect which they use at home which also complicates their learning of reading so it is a great challenge.

I worked with a student in Year 9 the other day who unfortunately has very poor attendance. I have only seen her twice so far this term. She was only able to identify 2 words ‘to’ and ‘up’. She is extremely shy and won’t talk much. I worked on lesson 1 and 2 with her for about 20 minutes using the tiles and the smile on her face when she worked words out was priceless. When I asked her if she would like to work on this again she responded with a resounding “yes”. I will continue to work with her and many others here. Again I thank you for your program which makes a difference to kids.”  – Terri 

Adult literacy  ~ Success with Back on the Right Track Reading Lessons

“I am a reading specialist with Goodwill Easter Seals of the Gulf Coast in Mobile, AL. I discovered your reading program about a year ago when I was looking for a systematic method of working with adult non-readers. We began a class here, using your book—we had only one book and could not afford another. So I made lesson plans to accompany the lessons. And students from the University of South Alabama put the words for each lesson on a flash drive so we can run them out as flashcards.  We have had so much success with a few non-readers that we were able to secure a grant to purchase more books.  We will be using your program over the next year, measuring progress to see if it can make a difference in the lives of 20 adults with low reading levels.

I just want to thank you for your diligence in creating the program. My favorite feature is that it teaches to mastery” –  Margie

Website has science based information relayed in way helpful to parents and educators

“I am an educational diagnostician and am enjoying reading your reading resources. It appears you put a lot of time and effort into this. I love scientific based information relayed in ways helpful to parents and educators. Your website has done a fantastic job of this!  – Nora

Reading specialist in high poverty school – Right Track Reading program improved teaching & understanding of reading acquisition 

“First of all, I want to tell you I absolutely love your products and I am so grateful to you for creating these resources. Your books have greatly improved my teaching as well as my understanding of reading acquisition and reading difficulties. Thank you!

 I am a reading specialist in McMinnville, OR. Our poverty rate is around 70%. We have recently made a lot of positive changes to our reading program, but unfortunately we have a lot of students in grades 2-5 who are struggling due to inadequate phonics training. We do have wonderful families who want to do more to help their children succeed. I am examining the feasibility of using our parent involvement funds to purchase your book + the materials needed for the lessons for these families.  Thanks again for all of your amazing work.  Mark –  Title I Reading Specialist

1st grade teacher’s students positive results with Right Track Reading

“I teach first grade. All of the teachers at my school purchased the books this fall and had great success. We have truly loved using this book to help our students and have seen so much growth. This year I would brag on one little boy in particular and I  would ask him what helped you be a great reader. He would point to the carpet and say that book…referring to the RTR book! We shared the book with teachers across the county. I also saw positive results last  year working with a second grade student and even our special ed teachers and school psychologist say they love the progression. I am so happy to have the resource!  Thank you again for sharing such a valuable tool with us!!!”   – Lori 

2nd grade teacher – thanks for structured phonics program 

“Thank you so much! I’m really looking forward to getting started with this program.  Our district is lacking heavily in basic foundational skills.  We have no program that puts phonics in the forefront.  I have been fighting this obvious missing link to for years.  Our scores reflect the lack of phonics so I want to enlist the first grade teacher with myself in using a structured program for the rest of the year.  We have to call it an intervention but I will be using it with most of my students, 2nd grade and the 1st grade students.  Thank you!  Lisa

3rd grade teacher –  reading program affordable & available to everyone 

“I enjoyed listening to you speak at the Reading Conference in Billings this week. Thank you for making this program affordable and available to everyone. I have had negative encounters with — tutors charge an outrageous price and convince the parents to pull them out of school.  So, thank you for being real and giving children the right to learn how to read.  ….  Thank you for creating this and making it accessible to teachers and parents.  I have already changed my teaching in the classroom and am looking at the students reading differently.”  – Lacy

2nd grader who previously did not like to read hiding under covers with flashlight to stay up reading 

“Your Right Track Reading has helped me teach the students, parents and colleagues that there are language rules that help make words more comprehensible. Thank you so much!!! I have had parent conferences where the parents said that their child did not like to read before 2^nd grade, but now they love it so much that they hide under their covers using a flashlight to stay up reading!!! That is the dream. A couple of parents literally told me that the only “punishment” that matters to their child now is that their books may be taken away if they break rules. They follow the rules much better now because of that. Thank you again! The order of these three books was a birthday present to myself- an investment that I appreciate so much!” –  Kathleen 

2nd grade teacher has seen Right Track Reading program work 

“I would love a complementary set of the sound cards! I have seen the program work for several students in my school and can’t wait to use in with my struggling readers!”  Emily 2^nd grade teacher/Title 1 Coordinator

Elementary reading specialist Loves & Uses Right Track Reading Lessons 

 “I am a reading specialist at an elementary school. I LOVE and use your Right Track Reading Lessons. It is the best step-by-step phonics program I have seen in a long, long time.   I am in dire need of your next volume that is directed toward the older struggling reader. So many of our classroom teachers in the intermediate grades do not teach or even know how to teach phonics. Now, with No Child Left Behind, it is becoming more and more obvious that lack of knowledge of the more advance phonics skills is at the core of our fluency and comprehension problems. Your new book is just what I need to help them get on board. Please let me know when it is available.”  – Jo   (note this feedback received in 2008 shortly before Back on the Right Track Reading Lessons for older students was published)

well laid out and comprehensive Back on the Right Track Reading program helps tutor 

“I am getting ready to start using Back on the Right Track Reading Lessons next week with 5 students, Thanks so much for your help as I begin this new tutoring endeavor.  I feel confident using your program.  It’s really laid out very well, and it is very comprehensive.  In His love”  – RuthAnn

2nd grade teacher loving Right Track Reading Lessons

“I went to your workshops at the reading conference in Billings.  I have been using the “Right Track Reading Lessons” with my students and loving it.  Our co-op would like know if we could schedule you for a inservice. Thank you, Gretchen

Special Ed Students Making Steady Improvements

“Hello,   I am in my fourth setting teaching reading in classrooms with special needs learners. This is my third year using Right Track in small group instruction and one to one instruction. My students love using the tiles and are making steady improvement. I like the no nonsense/direct instruction approach. Best yet, I love watching students taking a hold of their reading skills and growing!! Hooray! I have told my peers if they read all of the information on your website, they would have the equivalent of  two semesters of a reading endorsement. 

I love teaching reading!  Keep supporting reading in students’ lives. They are worth it!  Yvette Resource Teacher k-4

Previous struggling reader now “doing wonderfully'” 

“”It has been quite some time, but I thought I would give you an update. I am the gal from Melville who met you at the Big Timber Library and at the Livingston Park to learn how best to help my daughter.  We used your materials + Learning Ally books.  I also used them with my now 5th grade son.  Now, my  daughter is in the 9th grade and doing wonderfully. I firmly believe that doing the tile work and learning the spelling patterns did wonders for her. We are currently working on vocabulary. Your book, my children, and especially my profoundly dyslexic father inspired me to get training in dyslexia therapy. I now work online with a handful of children across the United States. Your book sits under my document camera and I use it regularly.  Thank you, Miscese, for all you did to help my children and countless others!”. Catherine

Remedial reading tutors love the clear comprehensive & methodical system 

“I am so grateful to you for always being available to help whenever I call and very very much appreciate the practice sheets you emailed me for multisyllable practice with your scooping technique and for extra blending practice (both of which are big hurdles for my students.) My two colleagues (we’re all remedial reading tutors) LOVE your book. I showed them what a clear, comprehensive and methodical system it is and they both ordered their own copies…

Thanks again so much for the great work you do and for the tremendous help it is to so many of us out there teaching!  – Susan

Right Track Reading Lessons “is a wonderful addition to bank of interventions”

“I am a reading specialist in a K-4 building that has been in desperate need of a systematic, explicit phonics intervention for a long time.  Your book has been a wonderful addition to our bank of interventions to help our struggling readers.

I am currently using Right Track Reading Lessons  with a small group of 2nd grade students who have been getting by as whole word readers.  Now that the text complexity is increasing, they are falling further behind because they lack the understanding of the phonics code.  I wish I was able to work with the students individually. Unfortunately, due to time constraints and a heavy caseload, I need to work with them as a group.  I have found that activities such as practicing sound cards, write and say sounds, word making game and sound changing game are easy to implement with a group.  I struggle
with the word and sentence reading.  Do you have any tips or suggestions for making these parts of the lesson more effective with multiple students?
 I have truly enjoyed using your program and  watching the progress my students have made in the past few months.  Thank you in advance for any tips or information you can provide.”  –  Sarah  Reading Specialist 

2 daughters showing great improvement with reading program

“Hello. I recently purchased this book from you. My friend had started  tutoring my daughters, ages 14 and 10, that struggle with reading  using this program. In only a few lessons they have shown great  improvement and we plan to continue using this book for this school  year.”   Thanks     ~   Nichole

Parents & students thrilled to see growth & progress with reading program

“The kids are doing fantastic with you curriculum and parents and students are thrilled to see the growth and progress in reading.”  Emily – learning studio

Back on the Right Track Reading Lessons provides an effective intervention plan for 4th grade teacher 

“I teach 4th grade and have a few dyslexic students. Our school reading curriculum is a balanced literacy program and is not meeting their needs. I was  on the reading  curriculum purchasing team and strongly advocated for a structured curriculum, but was sadly outnumbered.

I recently bought the first book to teach my preschooler to read and absolutely love it. I ordered the next book and read through the evaluation document. I’ve been looking for an evaluation plan for a long time, so that was super helpful! I’m excited to dive into it with my two students tomorrow! It feels refreshing to have a plan for intervention! This is my 5th year teaching, and I’ve always been frustrated with the advice I’ve received for intervening with kids who don’t make the fluency benchmark for the FAST test. The advice was always to do “repeated readings” which never really seemed logical to me.

Luckily, I went to the Iowa Dyslexia Conference last fall and learned about The Simple View of Reading which was a game changer for me. I can’t believe they never mentioned this stuff in college!  I love what you said about using a bottom up approach. I will be sure to reach out with any questions. Thanks again!    Bea

Title I teacher – thanks for putting all research together in usable form

“Thank you for coming to Reading Conference.  I am ae K-12 Title I teacher.  I just got a first grader that could not do our classroom reading series.  He is also struggling with Read Well as an intervention program.  I purchased your program on the spot because I believe it will be just what he needs to get started reading.  I attended all three of your presentations – by the third one I found myself highlighting your Back On Track Reading assessment test to try with a 6^th grader I also have that is struggling and placed in the first phonics book in my series because he didn’t know his short vowels.  I have been studying and hope to get us all going on the right track this week.  Thank you again for all of your work putting all of the research together in useable form. Pamela – Title I Teacher, RTI Coordinator

Mom of 1st grader – Thanks for putting your information out there for all of us to share!

“After a big, hairy, unpleasant hour spent reading with my 1st grader this evening, I started looking for ways to help him (out of desperation and frustration and a lot of other -ations!)  I swear some Google-angel must have been directing my mouse because I quickly found your information and immediately began to recognize my very bright, very capable, very frustrated boy!  He is EXACTLY the child you describe who isn’t “filling in the holes” for himself.  He absolutely looks at a word and using the initial consonant sound (and frequently ONLY the initial consonant sound), starts wildly guessing.  

I am the mom who believed (with all of my little heart) that if I read to my babies every single day, they would love reading so much that they would “just learn to read” when it came time; like a magic reading fairy would touch them on the head and POOF, it would all suddenly make sense.  Not so much for this boy.  

I just ordered your book and we’re going to start over, at lesson 1, and see if we can’t get him back on the right track.  He’s still in regular ed., and his test scores are normal, but as his mom, I just know this kid is struggling more than he needs to be right now.  It’s like he’s searching for the right road (or track to keep with your metaphor) and occasionally I see glimpses of him running along it, but then suddenly he’s off again and he’s incorrectly decoding a word like “his!”  

Thank you so much for putting your information out there for all of us to share!   Natosha 

Grandma helping 11yo grandson who significantly struggled to read

Background:  A grandmother from New Zealand contacted me about helping her 11yo grandson who struggled to read. She purchased Back on the Right Track Reading Lessons and started worked with her grandson.  I received a series of email communication from this grandma. At first her grandson “hated” reading & resisted reading remediation lessons. Fortunately,  his loving grandma did not give up & had an outstanding way of working with her grandson. She continued to work with him using Back on the Right Track effective reading program and her emails related: 

“I have explained to him (before) that this is hard work, but he’s smart, has lots of other knowledge that will help him learn faster that younger kids, and that he’s making progress. I also explained that he’s making “roads in his brain” and at first it’s hard work, but it gradually gets better.

…He’s doing such an outstanding job! It’s amazing how he has improved! And he has such a vast vocabulary, so he can use all his knowledge and a lot of things are making sense now for him. His teacher scanned a book and made a power point presentation for him. He had done this previously with her: he records his own voice reading (the teacher told him these presentations would be shown to younger students). Today we finished a book (22 slides) and I told him how I wished he would be able to see how much he’s improved. We went back to the first slide and he immediately noticed a reading mistake he made, so he said that he would re-do it. He then continued to check all the slides (except today’s) and corrected most of it. He was thrilled to see he could read faster, with better intonation and more fluency! I didn’t have to say a word, he could see and hear for himself!  Thank you very much for your help and encouragement. I look forward to reading your notes on older students.

I am so happy I found your program. I have enjoyed tutoring for many years (Elementary students, mainly in Math) and I am considering tutoring older students who are having reading difficulties using your program. I think it is wonderful!!
Thanks again, have a wonderful day, Alicia

Thank you  note for reading program changing a life from thrilled teacher

A thank you email from the mom one of my tutoring students 

background: This particular boy – (I removed name for privacy) was starting 3rd grade with significant struggles. In my initial evaluation, he had significant gaps in necessary skills reading 10wpm with over 30% error rate in a simple 1st grade reading passage.  Using Right Track Reading Lessons I quickly helped him build skills so he could achieve reading success .He was up to speed in about  2 months. The note below shows the impact of direct intervention with an effective reading program. 

I just wanted to let you know that yesterday W did the reading in mass for the school. He had to stand in front of everyone and read three paragraphs and the response. Grandma and I were there and both in tears because we knew that not even a month ago could he have done this let alone back in September. I just wanted to thank you again for all your help with him and patience with him and helping him get to this point in his reading. It’s made a world of difference for him in so many ways. He’s more confident when it comes to doing his homework and I think overall he’s feeling like he’s smarter. He enjoys reading now and even volunteers to read aloud to his little sister and is excited to go to the bookstore and buy books so that he can read them. It’s amazing that in just a few short months you helped him completely catch up. – Maranda

Mom motivated by her son’s success promotes Right Track Reading direct systematic phonics across three states  

Background: This mom, originally attended a presentation I made to a local moms of preschoolers organization in Livingston MT. She used my Right Track Reading Lessons program with her older son. He and his younger siblings all excelled at reading and she became a hard core proponent of effective reading instruction. She ended up moving from Montana, to Nevada and then to Utah. Over the years, she continued to contact me to purchase the effective reading program for other children, parents and educators. Some of her feedback is listed below:

“I wanted to say I’m so thankful I met you at a MOPS group in Livingston a few years ago. Your book has changed a lot of lives – I’ve seen it first hand. I had one boy go up two levels in testing last year – they had him in the “red.” His parents were really happy and so was he! You should be very proud of yourself! Thank you!”  – Nichole

So, slowly but surely your book is helping the Nevada kids learn to read! I have two teachers on board and the preschool teacher uses the book every day with her kids!  The third grade teacher has tutored a couple of students and recommends it to her kids’ parents. It is amazing the kids in third grade that are still struggling with basic words, because they don’t know their sounds. I am talking with three kindergarten parents about the book. I really hope they get on board. The best response was from a teacher who said, “When we use to teach this way, our kids were reading by the end of first grade.” I wanted to scream, “Then do that way now.”  Anyway, just wanted to say hi and let you know your work is reaching more kids.  Thank you! Nichole

Well, we moved to Utah this summer and now I’m taking your book to a new school with new parents. I just ordered two more books. It’s crazy how it’s the same in all three states – Montana, Nevada, and Utah. My daughter’s second grade teacher is really impressed with the book and is allowing me to work one-on-one with the students. She’ll offer it to some of the parents. The teachers are always so surprised how far ahead they are and I’m just dumbfounded. I don’t know some of the teachers don’t gather in force to change the system. By 1st grade, almost all math is in the form of word problems. The kids can’t read! The word problems aren’t just site words – surprise, surprise. It kills me. I can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate using your book to teach my kids how to read and helping others. I know it made a big difference on the 1st graders in Nevada last year. 

Well, I’m trying to get kids reading in Utah. It’s sad that Montana, Nevada, and Utah do not teach phonics. It drives me insane. A 1^st  grade teacher went to a conference about phonics and she’s been  implementing it in her classroom and is just shocked by the results! Crazy. They all continue to teach sight words. Anyway, I am tutoring a Mexican girl who played on my softball team. She really struggles with the vowels, but she’s is making great progress. I tell everyone I can about your book! I’m not sure if one of the teachers here ordered your tiles, but she got them right away after reading the book. Thanks for sending them!   Nichole