We have used All About Reading for over five years now, across three very different kids, and it is still the program I recommend first when a new homeschool mom asks me how to teach reading. It is also a program people spend a lot of money on without quite knowing what they are getting. So here are the ten things I wish someone had told me before I bought it — what to know before you buy, what to do when the box arrives, and how to actually use it day to day.
Before you buy
1. Understand the method
All About Reading is multisensory and explicit — it is built on the Orton-Gillingham approach, the same method used with struggling and dyslexic readers. Every concept is taught directly and in order, nothing is left for a child to guess. That makes it wonderful for every kind of learner, not just the ones who read easily.
2. Place your child, do not guess by grade
There is a free placement test on the All About Learning Press site. Use it. I have started a “kindergartner” in Level 1 and held an older child back a level, and both were the right call only because I tested instead of assuming.
3. Pre-reading is optional but gentle
If you have a four- or five-year-old, the Pre-reading level is a soft, playful on-ramp — letter sounds, rhyming, and listening skills with very little pressure. You can absolutely skip it and start at Level 1; just know it exists.
4. Buy the Teacher’s Manual once, the Student Packet per child
This is the budget tip that matters most for big families. The Teacher’s Manual and the readers are reusable — you buy them a single time and pass them down. Only the consumable Student Packet needs to be repurchased for each child. Knowing that changed how I budgeted for six kids.
When the box arrives
5. Do the one-time prep
Before your first lesson, punch out the cards, sort them behind the divider tabs, and set up the review box. It takes one cup of coffee’s worth of time and it makes the entire program run smoothly afterward.
6. Do not skip the letter tiles
The magnetic letter tiles (or the letter-tile app) are not a gimmick — the hands-on, move-the-tiles step is where the phonics actually clicks for a lot of kids. Put them on a cookie sheet or use the app, but use them.
7. It is genuinely open-and-go
Once the materials are set up, the lessons are fully scripted. You do not prep, you do not plan — you open the manual and teach. For a tired mom juggling several grades, that is the whole reason this program survives in our house.
While you teach
8. Lessons are not one-per-day
This is the mistake I made first. A “lesson” is a chunk of material, not a daily assignment. Go at your child’s pace and stop at a natural break. Some lessons take us two days; some we finish in ten minutes.
9. The review cards are the engine
The daily review of the cards in that little box is the secret to it all sticking. It feels almost too simple, but the spaced review is doing the heavy lifting. Do not skip it on busy days.
10. Let the readers build fluency, and pair with spelling later
The included readers are decodable and refreshingly free of busy, distracting pictures, so your child reads the words instead of guessing from the art. Do not rush them. When your reader is solid, All About Spelling is the natural next step and uses the same comfortable rhythm.
Would I buy it again?
After five years and three kids — yes, without hesitation. It is an investment, but it is reusable, it is gentle, and it works for the strong readers and the strugglers alike.
Want to see the materials in my hands and how I organize them? Watch the original video above, and find the rest of my favorite curriculum on my resources page.