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What is Toe By Toe?

Toe By Toe is a small red book designed for anyone who finds reading difficult. This includes weak readers who struggle to decode or those with dyslexic difficulties.

Keda Cowling chose the name Toe By Toe to signify that students make progress by the tiniest steps - one toe at a time. However, even though the steps taken are small, students can clearly measure progress right from the first page. Confidence and self-esteem are boosted as a result.

Over 25 years of fieldwork went into the development of the system and it is this research that makes the method so easy to use. You don’t have to be trained in any field of education to coach with Toe By Toe. In fact, the manual often works better with non-professionals as they do not come to the task with any pre-conceived notions and thus simply follow the very detailed instructions to the letter.

The unique syllable division employed by Toe By Toe is very easy to use. Once the sound of a phoneme has been taught using the ‘polynons’ (nonsense words), these rules can then be applied to any multi-syllabic word and students find a whole new world of reading opening before their eyes.

Regardless of the nature of students’ literacy problems, they can be taught to read using Toe By Toe. The severity of their problems may only be reflected in the length of time needed to get through the book. The rapid improvement in reading age is truly astonishing.

"Toe by Toe has helped my son so much! In fact his reading level improved 2 years and 4 months (in the 6 months it took us to complete). We began seeing results after the first two weeks. I remember my son telling me "mummy, I think this is working". It takes hard work and persistence, but results were amazing!"
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Who Is Toe By Toe Designed For?

Toe By Toe supports any child or adult who has difficulty in decoding (reading unfamiliar words confidently and accurately) or reading fluently (reading without pausing or hesitating when confronted by an unfamiliar word).

It is our recommendation that the minimum age for a child to start Toe By Toe would be: 7+ years of age. In the UK then the optimum age to begin Toe By Toe (if it is delivered in school time) would be the start of year 3.

However, for children without significant reading difficulties, Toe By Toe can be used effectively at a younger age, even from the age of 5. If for example, you want to support or accelerate progress or give children the best start in learning the English language, Toe By Toe is an ideal tool. We have seen many cases of children who have started Toe By Toe in year 6 (11 years of age in the UK) who have then consequently met their end of year curriculum targets.

Children, teenagers, adults or older people can all access and benefit from the Toe By Toe programme. Toe by Toe is acknowledged as a useful tool for children and adults affected by dyslexia but whatever the nature of the reading difficulty, Toe By Toe will help. If a child or adult has difficulty decoding words and reading fluently, Toe By Toe will address this and help to make significant improvements.

Toe By Toe And Autistic Children

Toe by Toe has proved itself very useful for autistic students over the years. We believe that being autistic - in itself - should not prevent children from learning to read and we believe that the essential sense of ‘progress’ children gain from the Toe by Toe programme may help to draw the child out into the world. This has generally been our experience with the autistic children we have worked with. Certainly, if an autistic child is at the less severe end of the autistic spectrum, the rigid, methodical approach used in TBT can often be helpful, as it provides that sense of ‘routine’ which is so important for autistic children. #TBTchangeslives

“I am the parent of a now nearly 18 year old with Autism, Dyslexia and Dyspraxia. I was able to persuade his primary school to implement a ‘back to basics’ English programme as his reading ability was very poor and had not progressed at all over the previous year. They chose Toe by Toe and implemented structured daily one to one time to complete the course. This started at the beginning of Year 5. At the end of Year 6 when the (above average ability) class took their SATS tests, my son, scored the HIGHEST mark in reading in the whole class!"
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Mrs H. Bell, proud parent, U.K.

Toe By Toe In Prisons

Toe By Toe in Prisons has helped countless prisoners improve their reading and literacy skills.

Not only has studying Toe By Toe in Prisons helped many individuals, it also has positive benefits for the wider society.

“More than 40% of prisoners have literacy skills so low that on release they are ineligible for more than 90% of jobs.”

By improving their reading and literacy skills, Toe By Toe has improved the prospects of thousands of ex-prisoners. Instead of returning to crime on their release from prison, and so becoming repeat offenders destined to return to prison again and again, many now have regular employment and all the satisfaction and benefits that brings. #TBTchangeslives