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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.

"I found Toe by Toe in January and ordered it to try. We started in January daily and finished in April and she was retested. The SLP has never had a result this drastic in one year and she does Wilson Reading with kids. I want parents (and adults with literacy issues) to know that this can be addressed and changed. I have been telling everyone I know about Toe by Toe and have several friends using it. They are also seeing results after years of failed programs in and out of schools..."
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Beckye Barnes, Special Ed Advocate in South Carolina

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 sing the praises of TBT wherever I go! I have one teacher at a special school in Jamaica, Queens. She is so passionate and came to me desperate to teach her how to teach a young lad in her grade to read. Every time I visit the school she rushes out and hugs me and thanks me for empowering her in such an important way! It's been the highlight of my career working with her, and TBT is the reason for that. Her little guy is knocking it out of the park! I can't wait for the end of the year to see him reading independently. I could tell at the start of the year, he was not at all convinced that this little book could help him learn to read at 12 years old…”
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Margaret Bertram, Australian reading expert currently working in New York

“It took us a year to complete the book and my child is now reading at grade level. He started at age 9 on a 1st grade reading level and finished TBT at age 10 on 5th grade level. It was a wonderful journey and he continues to improve everyday. The website audio files were a big help and seeing other children on the FB group achieve goals was very encouraging. I recommend the book everywhere I go.”
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FJ proud Mom, USA, March 2022
“I am super happy with Toe by Toe.  After we started using it in October last year, I have noticed that my 9-year-old daughter has improved in her reading ability, and in her confidence. For the first time, she wanted to read a book and started to enjoy reading. When I started looking for workbook options, I wanted something that I could do at home with her, that could fit into our very busy schedule. I found very expensive options and then, I read a blog online and that person was recommending Toe by Toe. I checked the reviews from Amazon and saw the YouTube explanations, which convinced me to buy it. I am not a native English speaker, but I get help from "How to pronounce from Google". I would love to have found this book earlier. I don't understand why when I asked for help in her school, it was like nobody knew how to help us. Here in US the system is very bad, the teachers are not prepared for dyslexic children. They don't test them in the early stages, they wait until the kids are already very behind.  I am going to recommend Toe by Toe to everybody who has kids struggling with reading.”
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LM proud Mom, USA, Jan 2024

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