Phonics Pathways, as wonderful as it maybe, will not be the answer for every child.Some younger children are born with a passion for reading and others are competitive by nature and long to do what their older siblings are doing. To these younger children, Phonics Pathways will seem dry and tedious while The Reading Lesson's larger text and adorable line drawings will be very appealing.The logical progression of using both phonics and developmentally-appropriate sight-words without all the rules makes this program more successful for these beginning readers.

The vocabulary of The Reading Lesson closely corresponds to the 500 most commonly used words. Special typography of symbols helps children see exceptions to standard pronunciation rules. As they gain competency they are slowly weaned from these cues. Words, sentences, and short stories are interspersed throughout the lessons for reading practice. As the child progresses through the book, type size is reduced. The twenty lessons mentioned on the cover of the book are more akin to twenty chapters and the program will take many families four to seven months to complete.

Because it was designed by a physician specializing in behavioral, attentional,and learning problems in young children, any child who is struggling to master reading may find the slower pace and clean, distraction-free pages of The Reading Lesson more suitable to his learning style. Used successfully with children with ADHD, autism, and Down syndrome, this may just be the program your family has been searching for.

Because The Reading Lesson is strictly a beginning reading program, we would encourage every family to finish their phonics journey with Phonics Pathways. But our experience is that many families have younger, eager pre-readers and for them The Reading Lesson is the better starting point.