If you’re a homeschooling parent feeling like the weight of the world is on your shoulders when teaching your child how to read, you’re not alone! Even if you strive for a laid-back learning experience like I do, it’s easy to get caught up in the pressure.
After all, we’re talking about an essential life skill here.
I’m excited to share our honest experience with this All About Reading Level 1 review. As a former elementary school counselor turned homeschooling parent, I’ll cover key factors to consider when choosing a reading curriculum.
Most importantly, I’ll highlight what we believe are the biggest pros and cons of the program. Whether you’re just starting your homeschooling journey, looking for a fresh approach, or supplementing a public/private school education, I hope our insights will help you make an informed decision!
This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using this link. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, which is an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Please see my disclosure for more details.
For transparency, I contacted All About Learning Press and received a free Level 1 program prior to using the curriculum and writing this honest review.
What is All About Reading?
All About Reading is a multi-sensory reading curriculum rooted in the Orton-Gillingham approach.
Its simple, step-by-step framework has earned All About Reading an esteemed reputation within the homeschooling community at large, sparking success stories among both neurotypical and neurodivergent learners alike.
What is the Orton-Gillingham Approach?
The Orton-Gillingham approach to teaching reading focuses on how the brain learns language. It emphasizes phonics, breaking down reading and writing into smaller, easier-to-grasp parts like sounds and letters, and teaching them one at a time, step by step.
As a former public school counselor turned homeschooling parent educator, I was drawn to Orton-Gillingham because it differs significantly from the controversial methods recently banned in many public schools. These methods lacked scientific support, steering away from phonics instruction, and often relying on “cueing,” memorization, and guessing.
If you are looking for a concrete, step-by-step method that builds on itself and prevents reading gaps, Orton-Gillingham may be a great fit for your family!
Multi-Sensory Learning
What truly makes All About Reading a standout program is its multi-sensory approach to learning how to read.
Orton-Gillingham invites students to use multiple senses to engage in their learning experience often an essential component for neurodivergent learners.
The All About Reading parent manual is filled with appendixes, including colorful, interactive reading games and tactile activity ideas to engage kids in their learning.
For example, instead of just drilling your child with flashcards, you can have them swat each card with a fly swatter as they recite the sound or word (I pulled this out on day 1, and my son was all in!).
Is All About Reading for Struggling Readers?
All About Reading is not only a great fit for all readers, it was designed with struggling readers in mind.
Watch the inspiring video below about All About Reading’s founder, Marie Rippel, and her fight to help her son become a successful reader!
The Orton-Gillingham approach provides a structured, systematic way to understand and decode words, making it a reliable method for teaching reading to all learners, including those with reading difficulties such as dyslexia.
My Honest All About Reading Level 1 Review After Trying It With My 6-Year-Old
Last year, my son and I dipped our toes into a gentle kindergarten language arts curriculum, as well as an online early reading program. Kindergarten fueled a love for learning in my child- and that was a big win!
However, the online reading format ultimately resulted in skipping around and feeling like we weren’t on the same page.
He already had a strong pre-reading and phonics foundation after completing 2 years of Busy Toddler’s Playing Preschool curriculum (read my full review here), so these early reading gaps caught me off guard.
Just before 1st grade, I turned to All About Reading to help us get on the same page and build a rock-solid reading foundation.
I’m eager to share with you our experience so far with All About Reading Level 1!
Key Features
All About Reading is a wildly popular Orton-Gillingham-based reading program published by All About Learning Press, an esteemed curriculum publisher.
Founded by Marie Rippel, a fellow parent to a once-struggling reader, All About Reading uses a sequential, multi-sensory approach to ensure learners have no gaps in their reading foundation.
All About Reading centers on 5 key pillars of reading, supported by a wealth of research and aligned with the science of reading:
- Phonological awareness (ability to recognize and identify sounds)
- Phonics & decoding (understanding the sounds that specific letters and groups of letters make)
- Fluency (ability to read smoothly, accurately, and with expression)
- Vocabulary (understanding and knowing the meaning behind words)
- Comprehension (understanding, making sense of, and recalling what was read)
Comprised of 4 distinct levels (plus a pre-reading level for preschoolers and kindergartners), All About Reading is designed to meet your child where they are at.
I felt unsure where to begin with a formal reading program. Fortunately, All About Reading provides a free placement test, along with parent questions about what your child knows, to ensure you begin at the correct level.
Format
All About Reading is a fully printed, comprehensive, mail-order reading curriculum.
The Level 1 materials include:
- 1 Teacher’s Manual
- 1 Student Activity Book
- Phonogram & Word Flashcards
- Student Progress Chart with Stickers
- 3 Readers (student story books)
In addition, you will need to purchase letter tiles or use their “Letter Tiles App.” We opted to use the traditional tiles that come with attachable magnets. Fortunately, you will be able to repurpose these tiles across all 4 levels of All About Reading, as well as use them in their All About Spelling curricula.
While I suppose you could get by without it, I’ve wholeheartedly enjoyed the organization of their Reading Review Box. The box not only helps you to store your phonogram and word flashcards, but helps you categorize what your child has mastered, what you have yet to introduce, and what your child needs more review on.
The review box also includes a super handy viewfinder bookmark… which I don’t think we could get by without! It allows your child to only see one word at a time when sounding out phrases or sentences.
Typical Lesson
A daily level 1 lesson for us typically looks like:
- A brief review of sounds and words from previous lessons using flashcards
- Introduction to new sounds and words*
- A hands-on game or tactile activity from the student book
- Reading practice using letter tiles and/or readers
*One of my favorite parts of All About Reading is that they include a special symbol (with a corresponding hand motion) on sounds likely to confuse new readers. For example, for the short a sound, you hold up a pretend apple and take a bite. Then, if your child gets stuck on that sound, you can prompt them with this motion instead of giving them the answer.
Additional Materials Required
If you are using the traditional letter tiles (as opposed to the app), All About Reading recommends adding a 2 ft x 3 ft magnetic whiteboard to your program materials.
Letter Tiles are a one-time purchase and come with everything you’ll use across all 4 levels of All About Reading (as pictured below). Once I removed the tiles we didn’t need for level 1, we could get by with this smaller whiteboard (for now!) that we already had at home.
The only other materials we needed were basic school supplies (and I mean VERY basic… scissors, glue stick, and pencil!).
All of our level 1 materials (except for our letter tiles whiteboard) fit perfectly in this 16 in (W) x 18 in (L) x 6 in (H) storage container.
“Open-and-Go”
If you’ve been homeschooling for more than a minute, you know how much the phrase “open-and-go” is overused by curricula developers (sigh).
I’m pleased to report that All About Reading is the most open-and-go program we’ve used across our subjects to date! While you’ll do minimal prep at the start of each of the 4 level programs (e.g., separating phonogram and word cards along perforated lines), each daily lesson has taken me no more than 2 minutes to prep!
Typically this “prep” looks like cutting out 1-2 pages of one of the multi-sensory activities from the student book, as well as briefly reading over what’s coming up in the parent manual.
Cost
At the time of this post publication, the All About Reading Level 1 program will cost you anywhere between $160-204* depending on what options you choose for storing your flashcards, as well as for the letter tiles.
Knowing this is a significant financial and academic investment, All About Reading offers a one-year money-back guarantee, minus the cost of shipping, should the program not meet your needs.
*Prices are set by All About Learning Press and are subject to changes following this post-publication.
Time Commitment
All About Reading recommends spending about 20 minutes daily, 5 days per week on reading instruction.
This said, they also recognize the need for flexibility when working with younger readers, as well as older students who need extra reading review and support.
What I love most about All About Reading is you are encouraged to take the freedom to move at your child’s pace.
For example, while Level 1 consists of 53 lessons, each lesson does not necessarily correspond to one day of instruction. Rather, you can set a timer for 20 minutes and stop where you are.
In addition to the 20 minutes of daily instruction, All About Reading advises that you also read aloud to your child for 20 minutes per day. With our Charlotte Mason-inspired curriculum for most of our other homeschool subjects, combined with nightly bedtime reading, this was very easy to do!
Duration
I could not find a set timeframe for program completion in the All About Reading curriculum (likely because every child is so different).
I also feel strongly that having a set deadline for completion could be damaging to our homeschool experience and our relationship with reading. Reading is one of those areas where it is best not to compare your child to others because every journey is unique!
I do want to mention though, that there is a very real possibility you will need to purchase more than one level per academic school year depending on your child’s pace.
Child Experience
Within the first week of using All About Reading, I watched my 6-year-old’s confidence soar!
The most impactful resource for his confidence has been the readers. When you grab an early reader off the library bookshelf, it will surely have words your child has not mastered yet. Understandably, this can be super intimidating for a beginner reader!
The All About Reading readers only include words your child has practiced in the curriculum materials and as a result, you can truly set them up for success when you open to a new story.
I recently asked my son, “Which do you prefer, reading or math?” Without hesitation, he answered, “Reading… Because of that!” (pointing to the All About Reading student progress chart). “I feel like I’m actually getting somewhere!”
As a Certified Positive Discipline Educator and former Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support Coach, I cannot emphasize enough the value of recognition rather than rewards/bribes, when it comes to learning.
When kids work hard and recognize their efforts, rather than gaining motivation from extrinsic rewards, they are more likely to develop a self-driven love for learning.
To be clear, my 6-year-old doesn’t particularly love stickers, so for him, this is not a “reward” but rather a visual recognition of his hard work he can look at and gain intrinsic motivation from!
Following this conversation, I made him a visual “Math Map” inspired by his All About Reading progress chart so he can document his 1st-grade journey!
Parent/Teacher Experience
All About Reading has taken the overwhelm out of teaching reading for me.
In other subjects like science and social studies, I will modify our curricula, supplementing them with different activities and lessons to make them my own and cater to my child’s interests. For me; however, reading is different.
Following the All About Reading curriculum, as is, step-by-step has surprisingly given me a sense of freedom and peace knowing we aren’t missing anything. This is the first time I’ve taught a child how to read and it is not a responsibility I take lightly.
While I’ve researched the science of reading to the best of my abilities, I don’t know what I don’t know. But I do know I do not want to leave any stones unturned that could result in reading gaps for my child.
Honest All About Reading Level 1 Review: What I like & don’t like
Pros
Here is a rundown of what I love most about All About Reading:
- Rooted in the science of reading
- Open & go (low-prep program)
- Easy-to-understand facilitator guide
- Reading review box organization system for flashcards (can see at a glance what your child knows, needs more practice on, and has yet to learn)
- Reasonable time commitment (20 minutes per day)
- Flexibility to move at your child’s own pace
- Child-friendly, colorful, hands-on activities in each lesson (see example below)
Cons
- Cost (While I think you get what you pay for and it is well worth it, there is no denying that continuing through all 4 years of All About Reading will be a significant expense).
- Difficulty obtaining “work samples” if you need them for a homeschool portfolio (This highly depends on your state requirements, but if you need to collect samples of student progress you will either need to take photos of the student activities or have them glue down their answers, which means you cannot reuse them with another child).
- Not a full Language Arts program (This doesn’t bother me personally, but I want to mention that All About Reading does not include areas like writing. All About Spelling is sold separately, once your child is ready).
How to get started with All About Reading
So, was All About Reading Level 1 worth it? 100% yes!
It has not only helped my son develop a strong foundation in reading but has nurtured his confidence and love of learning.
To get started with All About Reading, I invite you to hop over to the All About Learning Press website.
Before purchasing, I highly recommend reviewing and completing the placement questions and test to ensure your child begins at the best level for their success.
Questions about our first-hand experience with All About Reading Level 1? I invite you to leave a comment below. I’m happy to help!
The Last Thing You Need to Know Before Choosing a Reading Program
No matter what reading program you choose, I hope you find one that helps you and your child connect and build lasting memories with one another.
If your homeschooling journey feels like a daily battle of butting heads, you are not alone. Homeschooling is more than instruction, it’s parenting at its deepest level. (After all, the definition of “discipline” means “to teach!”).
I invite you to stick around and explore some of our positive parenting resources here at Such a Little While to spark the homeschooling journey you dreamed of:
