Reading help at home · 12 programs · ESA and scholarship funding
At-home reading programs for struggling and dyslexic readers, compared (2026)
Method in each program's own words, who does the teaching, what a year costs, and which state ESA and scholarship programs each says it is approved in. Every figure read on the program's own site on 14 October 2026, plus a hands-on run of one free reading check.
On this page
- Bottom line up front
- The comparison table
- Structured literacy: what each program says it does
- Parent time: who does the teaching
- What a year costs
- Paying with ESA or scholarship funds
- Hands-on: A New Page's reading check
- When a program is not enough: tutoring and evaluation
- Who each one is for
- How we built this page
- FAQ
When a child is behind in reading, the search for help at home quickly turns into a wall of apps, boxed curricula and tutoring services, all promising results. This page lines up twelve of them on the questions a parent can actually check before paying: what the program says its method is, who does the teaching (you, a tutor or the app), how much parent time it asks for, what a year costs, whether there is a free trial, and whether a state education savings account (ESA) or scholarship can pay for it. Every price and claim below was read on the program's own site on 14 October 2026, and every method description is quoted from the program itself rather than our label for it.
- Most intensive at home: Barton Reading & Spelling, which describes itself as Orton-Gillingham influenced and asks a parent or tutor for at least two hours a week of one-to-one lessons. It costs $350 to $400 per level, and it lists approval in 13 state ESA and scholarship programs.
- Lowest-cost structured option: Reading Horizons At-Home ($189 a year after a $10 trial, $199 in the first year) and A New Page ($299 a year for the whole family) both describe an Orton-Gillingham or structured literacy approach in their own words.
- Broadest ESA coverage among apps: Reading Eggs says it is an approved vendor in 10 states, at $99.99 a year for up to four children. It describes itself as phonics-based rather than as structured literacy.
- Free starting points: Starfall's Learn-to-Read program and Teach Your Monster to Read in a browser cost nothing and are a reasonable first step while you decide.
- Before you buy: none of these replaces an evaluation if you suspect dyslexia, and a vendor's ESA list is not an eligibility ruling. Check your state program's own marketplace this school year.
The field at a glance
state programs Barton lists on its funding page, the most of any program here.
a week of one-to-one teaching for Barton; the apps ask about 15 to 20 minutes a night.
a year for Reading Horizons At-Home after its $10 trial, the cheapest program that says Orton-Gillingham.
free options: Starfall Learn-to-Read and Teach Your Monster to Read in a browser.
Kit for the nightly reading session
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The comparison table
Every cell is the vendor's own statement on its own site, read on 14 October 2026, except where marked. "ESA or scholarship" lists only what the vendor itself says, plus the Texas Education Agency's official vendor list for its special education fund (Texas PDSES), which names several of these programs. It is a vendor statement, not a ruling on your child's eligibility.
| Program | What it is | Ages | Price (read 14 Oct 2026) | Free trial | ESA or scholarship (vendor-stated) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barton Reading & Spelling | Parent or tutor teaches one to one; 10 levels | From about age 5 (10-minute screening first) | $350 per level for Levels 1-2, $400 for Levels 3-10 (one time) | None; Level 1 can be swapped for Level 2 | 13 programs on its funding page, including AL CHOOSE, AZ ESA, AR EFA, UT Fits All, GA Promise, MO MOScholars, WY and WV Hope |
| Reading Eggs | App | Ages 2-13 | $13.99/mo or $99.99/yr, up to 4 children; Homeschool Max $41.90/mo or $299/yr | 30 days on monthly plans | Approved vendor in 10 states, including AZ ESA, AL CHOOSE, AR EFA, NH EFA, SC ESTF, UT Fits All, GA Promise and FL Step Up |
| A New Page | App the child uses nightly, with a parent dashboard | Ages 3-18 on one family plan | $29/mo or $299/yr per family; $299 per student for one school year with ESA funds | 7 nights free, no card (EduBracket readers: 45 days, below) | Live in AL, AZ, NH and WV Hope; approved and in final marketplace review in UT, MO, GA, LA and WY (company statement, 13 Oct 2026) |
| Nessy Reading & Spelling | Self-paced app | "designed for children 6-11" | From $15.50/mo; Dyslexia Home Education Pack from $195.50/yr | Free trial; length not stated | Texas PDSES vendor list; no other program named |
| Hooked on Phonics | App plus printed books | Pre-K to 2nd grade | App only: $14.99 for 1 month, $69.99 for 6 months, $129.99 for 12 months | No trial on its site; a guarantee instead | Texas PDSES vendor list; no other program found |
| Reading Horizons At-Home | Online software | Discovery ages 4-9; Elevate ages 10 to adult | $10 for a 30-day trial, then $189 a year ($199 in the first year) | 30 days for $10; 60-day money-back guarantee | Says ESA funds "can be used"; names no state |
| All About Reading | Print curriculum the parent teaches | Pre-Reading and Levels 1-4, any age | Pre-Reading $119.95; each level $159.95 (one time) | None; one-year money-back guarantee | Texas PDSES vendor list; Arizona ESA purchasing guide on its site |
| Logic of English | Scripted print curriculum the parent teaches | Foundations ages 4-7; Essentials 8 and up | Foundations levels $81.87 to $114.25; Essentials unit bundles from $78.27 (one time) | None | Not stated on its site |
| Lexia Core5 (through Family Literacy Centers) | Adaptive app; a school product resold to families | Pre-K to Grade 5 | $175 for a 1-year licence, plus $110 per extra student | Not stated | Reseller is on the Texas PDSES vendor list; ClassWallet link with no states named |
| HOMER | App | Ages 2-8 | Shown at sign-up only, not on its homepage | 30 days | Not stated |
| Starfall | Website and app | Pre-K to Grade 5 | Learn-to-Read free; Home Membership $35/yr | Free tier | Not stated |
| Teach Your Monster to Read | Phonics game from a children's charity | Early readers | Free in a browser; the app is paid | Free tier | Not stated |
Prices read 14 October 2026 on each program's own site. Hooked on Phonics also sells plans with printed books, from $23.96 a month, and runs introductory offers; confirm at checkout. Reading Eggs showed a separate pop-up offer of 30 days free then $9.99 a month alongside its $13.99 listed plan. A New Page's ESA status is the company's statement to EduBracket on 13 October 2026; its own funding page lists the same states.
Structured literacy: what each program says it does
The International Dyslexia Association uses "structured literacy" for reading instruction that teaches sounds and spelling patterns explicitly, in a planned sequence, with practice until each is secure. Orton-Gillingham is the best-known method in that family. Because these labels are easy to borrow, we quote each program rather than classify it.
- Say Orton-Gillingham or structured literacy in their own words: Barton ("Orton-Gillingham Influenced Simultaneously Multisensory Explicit and Systematic Phonics"), Reading Horizons ("Our Orton-Gillingham-based program"), Nessy ("Structured Literacy for Reading and Spelling") and A New Page ("Structured Literacy: the explicit, systematic, Orton-Gillingham approach"). A New Page also says its sequence follows UFLI Foundations.
- Say systematic phonics: Logic of English ("systematic phonics", "No sight words"), HOMER (its white paper describes explicit, systematic, synthetic phonics) and Hooked on Phonics (phonics lessons each followed by a decodable book).
- Describe phonics within a broader program: Reading Eggs (lessons that address "the five pillars of reading"), Starfall ("phonics, fluency, and comprehension"), Lexia Core5 ("Phonics-based instruction") and All About Reading ("Research-based multisensory instruction").
Parent time: who does the teaching
The biggest practical difference between these programs is not the method, it is who teaches. Across the 13 programs on this page there are three shapes.
The parent teaches from a script. Barton, All About Reading and Logic of English are print curricula a parent delivers. Barton is the most demanding: it asks for at least two hours a week in two or more sessions of one-to-one tutoring, plus three to five hours of tutor training video for each of its 10 levels, and it screens the student for 10 minutes first to check the program fits. All About Reading suggests about 20 minutes a day. Logic of English does not publish a time figure.
The app teaches, the parent checks in. Reading Eggs, Nessy, HOMER, Starfall, Teach Your Monster to Read, Lexia Core5 and Reading Horizons are designed for the child to work largely alone. Hooked on Phonics says each lesson takes "20 minutes or less", and A New Page says about 15 minutes a night, with a weekly reading report to the parent.
A trained tutor teaches. Lindamood-Bell, covered below, is a different category and a different budget.
What a year costs
The chart puts the subscription programs on a 12-month basis using only prices read on their own sites on 14 October 2026. One-time curricula are left out because they are a different kind of spend: you buy a level and keep it.
Twelve months on published subscription prices
Read 14 October 2026. Reading Eggs covers up to four children; A New Page covers every child aged 3 to 18; Starfall's membership is per family. Nessy is its lowest "from" monthly price times 12. Lexia Core5 is sold to families by a reseller, Family Literacy Centers, and adds $110 per extra student.
For the one-time curricula, the arithmetic is per level. All About Reading is $119.95 for Pre-Reading and $159.95 for each of Levels 1 to 4. Logic of English Foundations levels run from $81.87 to $114.25. Barton is $350 for each of Levels 1 and 2 and $400 for each of Levels 3 to 10, so all ten levels come to about $3,800 bought one at a time, though most families do not need every level at once.
Paying with ESA or scholarship funds
Several states now let families spend ESA or scholarship money on curriculum, usually through a marketplace run by ClassWallet or Odyssey. What each vendor says:
- Barton lists 13 programs on its funding page: through ClassWallet, Alabama CHOOSE, Arizona ESA, Arkansas EFA, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Texas PDSES and Utah Fits All; through Odyssey, Georgia Promise, Missouri MOScholars, Utah Fits All and Wyoming; and West Virginia Hope.
- Reading Eggs lists itself as an approved vendor in 10 states, including Arizona ESA, Alabama CHOOSE, Arkansas EFA, New Hampshire EFA and South Carolina through ClassWallet, Utah Fits All and Georgia Promise through Odyssey, and Florida's Step Up by invoice.
- A New Page told us it is live in Alabama CHOOSE and Arizona ESA (both through ClassWallet), New Hampshire EFA and West Virginia Hope, and approved as a vendor with its offering in final review in Utah Fits All, Missouri MOScholars, Georgia Promise, Louisiana GATOR and Wyoming (all through Odyssey). With scholarship funds it sells a $299 licence per student for one school year.
- Hooked on Phonics, Nessy, All About Learning Press and Family Literacy Centers (Lexia) appear on the Texas Education Agency's official vendor list for Texas PDSES.
- Reading Horizons says ESA funds "can be used" without naming a state. HOMER, Logic of English, Starfall and Teach Your Monster to Read do not state ESA acceptance on the pages we read.
Where each program says it can be paid for
| Program | AL | AZ | AR | FL | GA | LA | MO | NH | NC | SC | TX | UT | WV | WY | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barton | also ID, IN, MI | ||||||||||||||
| Reading Eggs | also NY fund | ||||||||||||||
| A New Page | |||||||||||||||
| Hooked on Phonics | |||||||||||||||
| Nessy | |||||||||||||||
| All About Reading | |||||||||||||||
| Lexia (reseller) |
Swipe the grid sideways for all 14 states; Texas is near the right.
Texas entries for Hooked on Phonics, Nessy, All About Reading and Lexia's reseller come from the Texas Education Agency's PDSES vendor list; everything else is the vendor's own statement. Reading Horizons says ESA funds "can be used" without naming a state; HOMER, Logic of English, Starfall and Teach Your Monster to Read state none.
Programs change their marketplace listings during the school year, so the marketplace your state uses is the final word. Our guides to what you can buy with an ESA and how vendors get ESA-approved explain how those marketplaces work. This section is general information, not legal or financial advice.
Hands-on: we ran A New Page's free reading check
A New Page gave us a review account, so we went through it the way a parent would, with a made-up 8-year-old reader marked as a struggling one. This is what the free check and the first night actually do; it is one run, not a measure of results.
Set up and make a hero
First name, birth year and a parent-consent box; no email at this point. The child picks one of 14 story worlds (three are true history: Shackleton's Endurance, Apollo 13, Kitty Hawk), a hero and a companion with a short, decodable name.
About 2 minutesThe reading check
The child reads aloud and the parent taps quick, slow or not yet. Real words first, then made-up "robot words" to test sounding out rather than memory, then letter sounds and listening games: blending, breaking words apart and dropping a sound.
About 5 to 10 minutesThe result
Shown after you give an email: a plain-language starting point with the reason for it, a list of what was not tested that night, and a one-page summary to print for a teacher, tutor or IEP team.
Free, no cardNight 1
A two-minute sound warm-up, an eight-minute story episode the parent reads aloud while the child taps words to hear them, then five minutes of word and spelling practice with paper and pencil.
About 15 minutesWhat stood out: the check adapts as it goes (a reader who struggles with made-up words is moved down to letter sounds rather than pushed on), it separates "said the letter name" from "said the sound", and the result says plainly which measures were not given rather than implying a full assessment. It is labelled educational support, not a diagnosis, and it is not one.
When a program is not enough: tutoring and evaluation
An at-home program is not a diagnosis. If a child is struggling despite steady practice, a formal evaluation tells you what you are dealing with. You can request one in writing from your public school district under the federal special education law (IDEA), or go to a private psychologist. Some families then add a trained tutor. Lindamood-Bell is the best-known national option: live one-to-one instruction online or in person using its own programs (Seeing Stars, Visualizing and Verbalizing, LiPS) rather than Orton-Gillingham. It does not publish prices; you call for a quote. It says it is accredited by Cognia.
Who each one is for
Selection guide (format, parent time and price, not outcomes)
Choose Barton if: you can commit to two or more hours a week of one-to-one teaching, you want an explicitly Orton-Gillingham influenced sequence, and you may use ESA funds; it has the longest state list here.
Choose Reading Horizons At-Home or A New Page if: you want a structured literacy approach without becoming the tutor. Reading Horizons covers ages 4 to adult; A New Page covers every child aged 3 to 18 on one family plan and has a free reading check to see where to start.
Choose Nessy if: your child is 6 to 11, will work in an app largely alone, and you want a program built with dyslexia in mind; it also sells a separate dyslexia screener.
Choose All About Reading or Logic of English if: you prefer teaching from a printed, scripted curriculum and owning it outright.
Choose Reading Eggs or Hooked on Phonics if: your child is young, is a little behind rather than struggling a lot, and you want a low-cost app; Reading Eggs if ESA coverage matters.
Start with Starfall or Teach Your Monster to Read if: you want to try free phonics practice before spending anything.
How we built this page
We opened each program's own pricing, method, FAQ and funding pages on 14 October 2026, and used the Texas Education Agency's official PDSES vendor list for Texas. Where a site would not load or did not publish something, the cell says so; we did not carry figures over from review sites. Method descriptions are quoted from each program. A New Page supplied a review account, which we used for the hands-on section, its ESA status in writing, and the 45-day reader offer above; it did not pay to be on this page. We did not test the other programs hands-on; their cells are what each program publishes. Reading Eggs, HOMER, All About Reading and Reading Horizons run affiliate programs; this page has no affiliate links to them. The only tracked links are the A New Page reader offer and the Amazon links in the practice kit.
If you are planning a homeschool year around this, our homeschool curriculum for working parents comparison covers full-curriculum options.
Frequently asked
What is the best at-home reading program for a child with dyslexia?
There is no single answer, and no program on this page has published evidence that it works for every dyslexic child. If you want the most intensive parent-taught option, Barton Reading & Spelling describes itself as Orton-Gillingham influenced and asks for at least two hours a week of one-to-one tutoring. If you want an app the child uses on their own, Nessy Reading & Spelling says it was developed at the Bristol Dyslexia Centre. A New Page and Reading Horizons At-Home both describe an Orton-Gillingham or structured literacy approach at a lower time cost. A formal evaluation from a qualified professional is the right first step if you suspect dyslexia.
What does structured literacy mean?
Structured literacy is the term the International Dyslexia Association uses for reading instruction that is explicit and systematic: sounds and spelling patterns are taught directly, in a planned order, with practice until they are secure. Orton-Gillingham is one well-known structured literacy method. On this page we quote each program's own description of its method rather than classify it ourselves.
Can I pay for a reading program with ESA or scholarship funds?
Often, but it depends on the program and the state. On their own pages, Barton lists approval in 13 state programs and Reading Eggs lists approval as a vendor in 10 states. A New Page told us it is live in Alabama, Arizona, New Hampshire and West Virginia, with five more states in final marketplace review. A vendor statement is not an eligibility ruling: check your state program's own marketplace before you buy. This is general information, not legal or financial advice.
Which at-home reading program is cheapest?
On prices read on 14 October 2026, Starfall's Learn-to-Read program is free, with a Home Membership at $35 a year. Teach Your Monster to Read is free in a browser. Among paid subscriptions, Reading Eggs is $99.99 a year for up to four children and the Hooked on Phonics app is $129.99 for 12 months. Tutor-led options cost far more: Barton is $350 to $400 per level, and Lindamood-Bell does not publish a price.
How much parent time do these programs need?
It ranges widely. Barton asks for at least two hours a week of one-to-one tutoring, plus three to five hours of tutor training video per level. All About Reading suggests about 20 minutes a day of parent-led lessons. Hooked on Phonics says each lesson takes 20 minutes or less, and A New Page says about 15 minutes a night. Apps such as Reading Eggs and Nessy are designed for the child to use largely alone.
Primary sources read for this page (14 October 2026)
- Programs: Barton (funding, FAQs, store), Reading Eggs pricing and ESA page, A New Page funding, Nessy home products, Hooked on Phonics app plans, Reading Horizons At-Home, All About Reading, Logic of English Foundations and Essentials, Lexia for Home, HOMER, Starfall membership, Teach Your Monster to Read, Lindamood-Bell.
- Official: Texas Education Agency, PDSES providers and vendors. Definitions: International Dyslexia Association.
Outcomes vary by child. This page compares published methods, prices and funding statements only; it makes no prediction about any child's results.