Our take
A self-running reading intervention built on Orton-Gillingham-style lessons. Short videos teach each pattern, then the app listens to your child read words, sentences and decodable stories, and asks them to spell from dictation using letter tiles or handwriting. Every lesson ends with a checkpoint your child has to pass. The sequence runs through multisyllable words, suffix rules and Latin and Greek roots, but vowel teams and r-controlled vowels are not built yet.
A good fit for
- Readers from 2nd grade up, including teens and adults, who stall on longer words
- Families who cannot get or afford a trained tutor several times a week
- Dyslexic learners who need explicit, cumulative practice with spelling
Look elsewhere if
- Preschoolers who are still learning letter names
- Children who need vowel teams and r-controlled vowels right now
- Families who want a phone app; it runs in a tablet or computer browser
How far it goes
About the skill ladder- 7Latin and Greek rootsconstruct, phonographTaught
- 6Prefixes, suffixes and spelling ruleshopping, unkindTaught
- 5Multisyllable wordsnapkin, fantasticTaught
- 4Vowel patternscake, rain, carPartly
- 3Blends and digraphsstop, ship, chinTaught
- 2Short-vowel wordscat, sit, hopTaught
- 1Letter soundsm says /m/Taught
Covers closed syllables, blends, silent e, open syllables, prefixes, suffix rules, -tion/-sion, and Latin and Greek roots. Vowel teams and r-controlled vowels are planned but not built.
How it works
How we rate- Who hears your child read?
- Speech recognitionChecks whole words, sentences and story pages read aloud.
- Does your child spell?
- Writes from dictationYour child hears a word, maps its sounds, then builds it from letter tiles or writes it by hand.
- What do they read?
- DecodableTexts primarily follow taught patterns; see each program’s treatment of irregular words.
- How is progress gated?
- Mastery checksA timed checkpoint ends every lesson; a missed checkpoint sends your child back to practise only the skills they missed.
- How much of your time?
- Light check-insRuns by itself; you review progress.
- What does the evidence show?
- No outcome studyNo independent outcome study yet.
Watch-outs
- Common words that break the patterns taught so far ("power words") are practised for quick recognition and spelled with letter tiles; some appear before their pattern is taught.
- Vowel teams, r-controlled vowels and diphthongs (Levels 7–10) are not built yet.
- No self-serve placement test yet.
- No independent outcome study yet.
How it compares
| App | Price | Goes up to | Hears reading | Spelling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unleash LiteracyOurs | Free (2 lessons a month); Core $29/mo with a 30-day free trial; Max $49/mo for up to 5 learners | Latin and Greek roots | Speech recognition | Writes from dictation |
| Reading Horizons At-Home | $199 for the first year, then $50/yr; $25 per extra student; $10 30-day trial | Multisyllable words | No automated listening | Writes from dictation |
| Brainspring Virtual Tutoring | Contact for price | Latin and Greek roots | A trained tutor | Writes from dictation |
| iReading Tutor | $85.50 per 45-minute online session, or $684/mo for 8 sessions | Prefixes, suffixes and spelling rules | A trained tutor | Writes from dictation |
| Lexercise Basic Therapy | $150/mo, 14-day money-back guarantee | Latin and Greek roots | You do | Writes from dictation |
Sources
Checked October 2026 against the maker's own pages and the sources above. Spot something out of date? Tell us.