Institute of Reading Development
Live online reading instruction · Pre-K–5

Help your child become a skilled, enthusiastic reader.

One live 50-minute class a week with an IRD Expert Teacher, in a group of about four. Four short online lessons between classes, about 15 to 20 minutes each.

  • A live teacher every week
  • Four printed books every month, shipped to your home
  • A reading update every six weeks

$209 a month, including books and shipping

Cancel anytime before your next billing date to stop your next payment.

Enroll your child →

Choose your class time after you enroll. If none of the available times works for your family, we’ll help find or create another option—or refund your payment in full.

A boy smiling while reading the printed book Sprocket, the Not-So-Helpful Robot

For children in Pre-K through fifth grade, wherever their reading is today.

Child in grade 6 or above? Explore our middle and high school reading program →

Your child might be just starting to hear the sounds in words, reading slowly and working hard at it, or reading fine and rarely choosing a book. Each of those is a stage of reading, not a verdict.

When a child avoids reading, it usually isn’t defiance. Reading hasn’t become easy enough to enjoy yet. Skill makes reading easier, easier reading builds confidence, and confidence makes a child want to read more. Every part of that is teachable.

Prefer a teacher working individually with your child? Explore 1:1 private tutoring →

One connected week

It works because it’s one connected week, not four separate things.

The week starts with a live 50-minute class with an IRD Expert Teacher and a group of about four children, never more than six. The teacher introduces new skills every week, shows how they work, leads students through fun activities, and opens the week’s book with the group.

Your child reads, speaks up, and gets coached every session.

A boy at a laptop in a live online reading class, with his teacher and classmates on screen and his printed book on the table
Live class every week

Between classes: four short lessons and a skills check you can see.

Between classes, your child completes four short online lessons, 15 to 20 minutes each. They read the week’s story with questions built in. They learn new reading skills directly. They practice reading a passage from the story smoothly and with expression. Then they take the week’s skills check.

The skills check is the one scored piece at the end of each week, so the teacher sees what landed before the next class. Then the next week begins with more skills and a new story. That is how reading compounds, and why kids keep doing it.

Three screens from a between-class online lesson: a phonics practice screen, a vowel-teams skills-check screen, and the story from Sprocket, the Not-So-Helpful Robot
Practice between sessions: fine in one sitting, best spread across the week.
The books, printed.

Four printed books with every month of classes, shipped to your home.

Every book in the lessons is ours, created by our own curriculum team for our own programs, and written at a level that matches your child’s reading ability.

As the program progresses, the skills and books become more challenging, building on what your child has learned.

Real pages, a real spine, a stack on the shelf that says this kid reads, and a book to reread on the days between lessons.

Pick the level your child is reading at. Tap any cover to see it larger.

Pre-K and kindergarten

Dottie’s Donut Surprise, cover
Dottie’s Donut Surprise
Frank the Cat Meets His Match, cover
Frank the Cat Meets His Match
Fruit for Possums, cover
Fruit for Possums
Louie’s Hats, cover
Louie’s Hats
Nora Jane Won’t Come Down, cover
Nora Jane Won’t Come Down
Roscoe’s Nighttime Band, cover
Roscoe’s Nighttime Band
The Cleanest Pig in Town, cover
The Cleanest Pig in Town
The Clever Baker, cover
The Clever Baker
The Enormous Pumpkin, cover
The Enormous Pumpkin
The Goat Who Yelled Toast, cover
The Goat Who Yelled Toast
The Lizard in Vito’s Garage, cover
The Lizard in Vito’s Garage
Walter’s Winter Disguise, cover
Walter’s Winter Disguise

First grade

Apples at School, cover
Apples at School
Down the Hill, cover
Down the Hill
Fluff at the Vet, cover
Fluff at the Vet
Frog and Turtle, cover
Frog and Turtle
Gigi the Too-Tall Giraffe, cover
Gigi the Too-Tall Giraffe
Lazy Jack, cover
Lazy Jack
Lucy’s Whistle, cover
Lucy’s Whistle
Pig on the Run, cover
Pig on the Run
Pip’s Pond, cover
Pip’s Pond
Raccoon’s Yard Sale, cover
Raccoon’s Yard Sale
Sam’s Strange Pet, cover
Sam’s Strange Pet
The Three Little Fish, cover
The Three Little Fish

Second grade

A Job for Otis, cover
A Job for Otis
Chester’s Flying Lesson, cover
Chester’s Flying Lesson
Chester’s Sandwich, cover
Chester’s Sandwich
Harriet’s Hiccups, cover
Harriet’s Hiccups
Kanga’s New Shoes, cover
Kanga’s New Shoes
Little Ruby Raccoon, cover
Little Ruby Raccoon
Lulu’s Extra Special Pizza, cover
Lulu’s Extra Special Pizza
Milo’s Spaceship, cover
Milo’s Spaceship
Mystery Max and the Missing Toys, cover
Mystery Max and the Missing Toys
Sprocket the Not-So-Helpful Robot, cover
Sprocket the Not-So-Helpful Robot
The Mixed-Up Mail, cover
The Mixed-Up Mail
The Very Strange Rock, cover
The Very Strange Rock

Third grade

Fisher’s Amazing Bike Shop, cover
Fisher’s Amazing Bike Shop
Grumpbert, cover
Grumpbert
Grumpbert and the Thanksgiving Wishes, cover
Grumpbert and the Thanksgiving Wishes
Maple the Very Amazing Super Fantastic Problem Solver, cover
Maple the Very Amazing Super Fantastic Problem Solver
Maple’s Hamster Weekend, cover
Maple’s Hamster Weekend
Owen Rossi’s Big Ideas, cover
Owen Rossi’s Big Ideas
Sofia and the Magic Library Card, cover
Sofia and the Magic Library Card
Switched, cover
Switched
The Forest Table, cover
The Forest Table
The Pet Pals, cover
The Pet Pals
The Swing Set Time Machine, cover
The Swing Set Time Machine
Uncle Hoot’s Invention Emergency, cover
Uncle Hoot’s Invention Emergency

Fourth and fifth grade

B.O.L.T., cover
B.O.L.T.
Felix Figures It Out, cover
Felix Figures It Out
Jello Queen, cover
Jello Queen
Miles Malone’s Winter Wonderland, cover
Miles Malone’s Winter Wonderland
Rico the Pizza Cat, cover
Rico the Pizza Cat
The Adventures of Ellie Everhart, cover
The Adventures of Ellie Everhart
The Day Dad Became Famous, cover
The Day Dad Became Famous
The Great Squirrel Olympics, cover
The Great Squirrel Olympics
The Magic Library Card, cover
The Magic Library Card
Too Many Tails, cover
Too Many Tails
Tyrone and the Magic Library Card, cover
Tyrone and the Magic Library Card
Up, Up and Away, cover
Up, Up and Away

In your child’s hands within the week

Your first books ship the next business day after you join and typically arrive in about three business days. Ebooks are available immediately inside the online lesson activities, so your child can start reading before the box arrives. After that, four printed books come with each month’s worth of classes, one book for each week.

Month to month

You’re deciding one month, with a real teacher and a real plan.

Live class · about four children, never more than six

Small-Group Reading Program

  • One live 50-minute class a week with an IRD Expert Teacher
  • Four short online lessons and the weekly skills check
  • Four printed books per month of classes, shipped to your home
  • A 20-minute reading assessment after you join
  • A reading update every six weeks
$209 a month, including books and shipping

Plus applicable sales tax on materials and shipping.

Cancel anytime before your next billing date to stop your next payment.

Start this week. Your child’s books ship the next business day after you enroll, and the first class can be as soon as a few days out.

Enroll your child →

The first two sessions decide it. If it doesn’t fit, we refund your payment in full. See the guarantee and time limits.

Try it with confidence

The first two sessions decide it.

The school year is not the summer. Our programs are built for both, sized to be doable and sustainable beside school, not an extra burden. Working on reading belongs all year. You still can’t know until you’ve lived a couple of weeks of it whether this time, this teacher, and this workload fit your week. So the first two sessions exist for you to find out.

Try the first two sessions. If the program isn’t the right fit, tell us within 48 hours of your child’s second session or within 21 days of purchase, whichever comes first. We’ll refund your payment in full, and any books already shipped are yours to keep.

Email help@readingprograms.org to request your refund.

Backed by the IRD Triple Guarantee

  • Right TeacherNot the right teacher? We rematch within 7 days at no charge, plus one additional session with the new teacher at no charge.
  • Right LevelPlaced wrong? We re-place within 7 days at no charge.
  • Right OutcomeIf your child attends at least 90% of sessions and completes at least 90% of assigned practice over at least four weeks without measurable reading progress, we provide four further weeks of instruction at no charge.

The Triple Guarantee applies for as long as your child is enrolled. Its remedies provide additional instruction. The separate two-session fit guarantee above provides a full payment refund within its stated time limits. You keep any books already shipped.

Who we are

More than three million families have trusted the Institute of Reading Development since 1970.

In our 56 years, we’ve partnered with more than 200 colleges, universities, and school districts to offer our reading programs in their communities.

1,320+ Google reviews4.5 stars on Trustpilot from 655 reviews

That’s who we are. Here’s what the kids do.

The receipts

Kids stay with the work. It’s on the record.

Reading help rarely falls short because of what it teaches. It usually falls short because a child doesn’t do enough of it, consistently. The hardest part of reading help is getting a child to do it. That is the part we can show you evidence on.

Those are hours completed, not hours assigned. It gets done because it is sized to get done.

The hours show how much reading children completed. And all that reading mattered, because the vast majority of our students proved that skills were sticking by passing their weekly checks.

“My son had major breakthroughs. His overall confidence has grown so much. He went from avoiding books to asking to read before bed.”
Rochelle L., parent of a 3rd grader
“We searched for a program that could help our daughter, and nothing worked until this. This program is absolutely amazing. I will recommend this to everyone.”
Matthew R., parent of a 5th grader
“This program has been a lifesaver for my child’s confidence. She can read more fluently and has started to comprehend what she’s reading so much better.”
Wendy K., parent of a 2nd grader
“She is so excited about learning phonics and being able to recognize more words! The teachers have great energy and make learning fun.”
Laura T., parent of a 1st grader
As featured in TIME Reuters USA Today
Why now, for your child

Why not wait and see? Why not assume they’ll grow out of it?

Reading isn’t one more thing on the calendar. It’s the skill underneath almost everything else.

Why doesn’t a child develop strong reading skills just by getting older?

Because reading develops in stages, not on a birthday, and the build either keeps moving or it stalls. Skill makes reading easier, easier reading builds confidence, confidence makes a child want to read more, and reading more is what builds the next skill. Once that cycle is turning, it carries itself. When it isn’t turning, waiting doesn’t start it.

Why is it important to use the fall to establish reading routines?

The fall is when a reading routine gets set, or doesn’t. The week fills up, and families who mean to “add something later” find that later rarely happens. Starting now is how the year stays on your side, not a burst you try to wedge in after conferences and homework have already won.

Why can’t you rely on schools alone to develop strong reading skills?

School teaches reading among a hundred other things. It will not give your child a separate hour with a live teacher, the right book, and a few guided minutes a day. Our programs are built for school year and summer: sized to sit beside school, doable and sustainable. Working on reading belongs all year.

Why now, with us

Spots are real. So is the calendar.

  • Six to a class. Every small group caps at six, so families who enroll sooner get the widest choice of days and times.
  • The week is already moving. There’s no start date to wait for. Every class is already on a week of one continuous curriculum, and your child starts with the week they join.
  • Start this week. The books ship the next business day after you enroll, and the first class can be as soon as a few days out.

Waiting doesn’t start the cycle. Starting does.

Enroll your child →

The first two sessions decide it. If it doesn’t fit, we refund your payment in full. See the guarantee and time limits.

What happens after you enroll

  1. Pick your day and time. The first class can be as soon as a few days out.
  2. Schedule a 20-minute reading assessment. We encourage you to schedule it as soon as you can, but your child’s first class doesn’t have to wait for it.
  3. Your books ship the next business day. They typically arrive in about three business days. Ebooks and online lesson activities are available immediately, so your child can start reading before the box arrives.
  4. The first class. Live, with an IRD Expert Teacher and a group of about four.
  5. Every six weeks, a reading update: a short note on where your child is reading now, compared with where they started. There’s nothing for you to fill in and nothing to log into.
Questions

Straight answers

What does it cost?

$209 a month, including books and shipping. Plus applicable sales tax on materials and shipping. You pay when you enroll, and your subscription renews monthly on your enrollment date. Cancel anytime before your next billing date to stop your next payment.

When does my child actually start?

Within days, if you like. After you enroll, you can pick your day and time, and the first class can be as soon as a few days out. We encourage you to schedule the 20-minute reading assessment as soon as you can, but your child doesn’t need to wait for it to start class. Your books ship the next business day.

What if none of the available class times works?

Choose your class time after you enroll. If none of the available times works for your family, we’ll help find or create another option—or refund your payment in full.

What if we need to stop?

Cancel anytime before your next billing date to stop your next payment. Email help@readingprograms.org. Classes continue through the period you’ve already paid for. Any books already shipped or being prepared for shipment are yours to keep, with no return required and no additional charge. We stop any remaining shipments that can still be stopped.

When do the books arrive?

Your first books ship the next business day after you join and typically arrive in about three business days. Ebooks are available immediately inside the online lesson activities. We issue new sets of books for every 4 weeks of our classes. If you enroll close to the start of the next set’s classes, we’ll send you the upcoming set to start. After that, we’ll send you the next set of 4 books for every month’s worth of classes you take, shipped based on our class calendar, rather than your monthly billing date. That way your child always has the books that match up to their lessons.

What if it isn’t the right fit?

Try the first two sessions. If the program isn’t the right fit, tell us within 48 hours of your child’s second session or within 21 days of purchase, whichever comes first. We’ll refund your payment in full, and any books already shipped are yours to keep. Email help@readingprograms.org.

What if my child misses a class?

Tell us at least 24 hours ahead and we schedule a makeup lesson so your child doesn’t lose instruction time. With less notice, tell us anyway and we’ll do what we reasonably can. That week’s book and the online activities are still there either way. The online activities are designed to be done independently, even if a child misses class.

Can we pause later?

Yes. You may pause once per calendar year, for up to 90 days, by email to help@readingprograms.org. You name your return date. Billing and classes stop together and start again together. We do our best to hold your place, but we can’t promise the same day, time, or teacher when you return.

What is the 20-minute reading assessment?

It gives you and your child’s teacher a clear idea of where your child is with reading right now. It helps confirm that this is the right program and the right grade, and it lets the teacher start personalizing instruction from the very beginning. It takes 20 minutes, low pressure, with a warm and encouraging teacher. We encourage you to schedule it as soon as you can after you enroll, but your child doesn’t need to wait for it to start class.

Do you offer one-on-one tutoring?

Yes. 1:1 Private Tutoring gives your child one teacher to themselves. Explore 1:1 private tutoring →

How do I reach someone?

Email help@readingprograms.org. That is the contact path for enrollment questions.

Put them in the program kids actually do.

Enroll your child →

$209 a month, including books and shipping · The first two sessions decide it.

Plus applicable sales tax on materials and shipping.