great leaps

Testimonials

K-12 Schools

Having used the (paper version of) Great Leaps for decades, I can confidently say that it is an incredible fluency building. It addresses all aspects of fluency -- accuracy, appropriate rate, and prosody in a way that is easy for teachers to learn and is highly motivating to students. I have never met a student who was not excited to use it. The rate of improvement is amazing. I have taught the use of the program to teachers, administrators, parents and literacy volunteers. Not hard to use and packs a punch. I recommend it highly.

Esther Friedman Ph.D.
Literacy Specialist & Retired Executive Director of Literacy and Academic Intervention, NYC DOE
New York City, New York

I have been using Great Leaps in some capacity for 20 years now! As a teacher and tutor, I used it with students and saw tremendous gains in reading, comprehension and confidence! As a district and state consultant, I highly recommended Great Leaps to all grade levels to help close the gaps for struggling readers. Many schools adopted the use of Great Leaps, even at the high school level, and loved it. The Great Leaps staff have become friends and are always there to help in any way from implementation, tech questions, data analysis and next steps to improve student outcomes. Especially for those students who don't learn through "tradional methods," why keep doing the same thing? I recommend Great Leaps without hesitation!

Sandy Owens
District Consultant
Fayette County, Kentucky

Previously, I taught a high school reading literacy class, and some students came to me on second or third grade levels. All of my students were reading below the ninth grade level. When we first began the class, I researched what best practices in teaching all five components of reading to high school students. Part of my program included Great Leaps Fluency. As a class, we had fluency partner time with Great Leaps at least three times per week for the entire school year. I used other measures for comprehension and vocabulary; however, I attribute much of the success of this class (over a seven-year period) to the Great Leaps program.
As I reflect upon our success, many students come to mind, but I will mention Daric and Jessica. When Daric came to me reading on a fourth grade level. He had no ambition whatsoever to finish high school. By the end of that year, he was reading on an eighth grade level. Not only did he finish high school, he also completed an Associate's Degree and is now in management.

Jessica came to me at a fifth grade reading level, and we had her on grade level when she exited the class. She is now a CNA; she also had no ambition of higher education coming into the class. Not only does the regular practice of reading fluently aloud increase their reading levels, but it also gives students the confidence they need to be successful in other classes.

Many students throughout the years have told me how they were unafraid after our reading class to be called upon to read aloud in class. Now as an instructional supervisor for our district, I encourage teachers who have struggling readers to give Great Leaps a try. I know it works!

Debbie F.
District Instructional Supervisor 9-12
Munfordville, Kentucky

There is something special about Great Leaps...It's the very defined, sequential nature of the progression of tasks that keeps them hooked. As the passages get longer and the phrases more difficult, they roll their eyes, say, 'Oh, no!' but with a glint in their eyes at the prospect of the challenge, dig in.

Dr. Eileen Marzola
Educational Consultant
New York City, New York

AMAZING PROGRAM!

I am a special education teacher and use this program as a Tier 2 intervention for students not meeting grade level reading benchmarks. I have been providing reading intervention for several years using another program, but this year implemented this program as I like the skill progression for alphabet, phonics, sight word phrases, and stories. By far, the student growth has been remarkable in comparison! Average growth rates for my special education population shows a 42% increase and non-special education population shows 66% increase since implementing this program. Accuracy increases are also significant. This program is worth every penny! My students are motivated, confident, and are reading! Thank you, Great Leaps!

Jennifer F.
Teacher  

“Just wanted to drop you a line to tell you how thrilled I am with Great Leaps. I've been working with Nelson for 3 weeks now and he's making consistent progress and we're both loving our time reading.”

Kim D.
IEP Teacher, New York

“Dylan and I have really been enjoying the Great Leaps program. I must admit that I was skeptical at first. I am a Reading Recovery teacher and word lists in isolation stretch my philosophy. What I have loved about Great Leaps for Dylan is that it really forces him to look beyond first letter to know for sure. We have had lots of great conversations based around his attempts of words and his ability to confirm for himself. I also love that it lifts some of his confusions for me that aren't always present when reading in connected text. Dylan really reads for meaning so he shines when he can integrate sources but when all that is eliminated and he can only visually scan, it helps me to see areas of weakness in a sequential manner. My school psych often talks about rewiring the brain and connecting a loop or creating a pathway where there is not one. I think Great Leaps is helping Dylan's brain to do this!”

Mrs. S.
 Teacher, Wisconsin

“School is finally underway and the results have been astounding from the summer. Everyone has made progress (no summer slump) and it's showing with their confidence and reading levels! I was talking with one of my colleagues and we would love to put a proposal together to get a few of our kids accounts for the school year. Any chance you could send us a quote so we could propose it to our administrators?”

Naomi R.
 Learning Specialist, California

“I have a student during the corona virus who is a 4th grade special ed student reading on a 2nd grade level. In less than 2 months on digital Great Leaps and Zoom, he has made 1.5 years of growth and between 90/100% fluency. Today, this child who 'did not like to read' quietly asked me, 'Can I still work on this for the summer....and next year when we get back to school? I want to still do this.' He goes between two households due to divorce. Both sets of parents make sure he is on the platform such that he has been with me 4-5 days a week since he started. They are amazed at his progress and cannot stop thanking me. He is so excited when he makes a goal and tells me 'I am going to rock it tomorrow!' When the program is done with fidelity, it is just short of amazing. I want to bring this to other student at my school.”

Alessandra B.
Teacher, New York City

Great Leaps has made a tremendous impact on my students. Whether the diagnosis is Dyslexia, ADHD, or a Processing Disorder, all of the students have improved. With daily work, one 3rd grade girl moved from an early 1st grade level in reading to a 3rd grade chapter book with good comprehension in 2 months. Her parents and I were thrilled. One classroom teacher reported a middle school boy had greatly improved his fluency. Elementary students were excited to see their timed multiplication tests posted on bulletin boards with the rest of the class.

Thank you Ken Campbell for creating such a wonderful, user-friendly program to help students learn. I look forward to using any new materials you produce!

Anita B.
Academic Resource Specialist
 Indian Trail, NC

Love, love, love the Great Leaps Program. As a special education teacher I am able to collect data that can be used with parents, school staff and in the development of data driven IEP's.

This program provides students the opportunity to improve their reading in as little as 6 minutes a day. I love seeing their faces each time they get to 'leap' to the next assignment. Thank you for developing a program that is very user friendly.

Leigh W.
 Middle School Special Education Teacher
Muscle Shoals, Alabama

It's awesome when the students remind me I forgot to do their Great Leaps today!!!

Lori H.
Middle School Special Education Teacher
Muscle Shoals, Alabama

I am in my 28th year of teaching students with learning disabilities in reading in a public school. I am more excited about Great Leaps than when I was introduced to Great Leaps as a graduate student at St. Cloud State University almost 20 years ago. Great Leaps is truly amazing at building reading fluency and is our "Go-To" first intervention when students begin to struggle. The students just love the stories and I do too.

Kelly H.
Learning Disabilities Teacher and Dyslexia Specialist
Minnesota

I have been using the Great Leaps program for twelve years to help my students build reading fluency. The program can be easily and efficiently administered and has consistently demonstrated positive results. The students LOVE their Great Leaps time and it is exciting to see how this confidence transfers to all academic endeavors.

 The Great Leaps program provides an easy way to individualize instruction in a small group. Each student works at their own level to address phonics skills, high frequency words and reading rate and fluency.

Pippa K.
Student Support Teacher
Aspen, Colorado

We have been using Great Leaps Reading as part of our RTI2 intervention with Tier II & III students. Our students love this program and we've seen substantial growth in their reading fluency by doing 1 minute timed activities in Phonics, Phrases, and Stories each day. Not only has Great Leaps helped our students increase their automaticity, but their accuracy, expression, and comprehension have also improved.

Research tells us that lack of oral reading fluency is a widespread characteristic of poor readers but a defining characteristic of good readers. Oral reading fluency is such a reliable indicator of reading comprehension, and Great Leaps provides our students with the fluency foundation necessary to achieve reading success.

As a teacher, I have found Great Leaps to be very easy to implement as well as time efficient and motivating for my students.

Michelle M.
Interventionist
Collierville, Tennessee

Dear Great Leaps!
I am a Special Needs Educator at an international school in Bratislava, Slovakia. I started using your program this year with great results.

Elizabeth R.
Educator
Bratislava, Slovakia

I have never before found such an effective tool as your Great Leaps Reading. I am presently using it with eight middle and high school boys in an alternative school...The guys enjoy it so much they ask every day when I will be coming to get them.

Julie C.
Teacher
Somerset, Kentucky

The passages are humorously appropriate...I am excited to see the impact this program will have on my students' rapid naming skills and overall reading fluency.

Pieter D.
Teacher Seattle,
Washington

Parents

Thank you so much for all of your work with Sam. He keeps saying, “It just doesn’t feel right not to see Ms. Sonya every day.”...  I just wanted to take a moment to let you know how special and important you have become in Sam’s life in the last two years. He always looked forward to his time with you every day. Even on his really bad days, you were a bright light, and always made him smile and laugh.

We welcomed you into our home daily, and took you around the country with us. He did reading with you in the Black Hills of South Dakota, Nashville,TN, and even across from Wrigley Field. You were there when we got stuck in Jordan, when Israel went to war and you were there when we walked through my breast cancer in the last year. You were a constant presence in Sam’s life, even when life felt uncertain and scary for him. I cannot begin to thank you enough for taking my reluctant reader, and helping unlock his potential and helping him cultivate a love for reading. Not only did he learn how to read, he learned how to fail with grace and try again the next day. This mama’s heart is eternally grateful. We started this journey feeling hopeless, and we are left at the end hopeful, strong and confident.

Erin Provost
Illinois

Great Leaps has been a game changer for our son. He does it 5x/week, for 15 min each day. Even when he's home sick from school, or we are on vacation, or his teacher is out sick, I never worry about him getting behind or missing reading, because he can meet with his tutor anywhere with internet access.

Also--his PROGRESS. He started in Sept and it's now Feb, and just last week his tutor (Janice, who we LOVE) had him redo his first exercise. The first time, it took him 60 seconds to read the passage and he had 4 mistakes. This time, it took him 14 seconds and he had zero mistakes.

This program is amazing. Begin IMMEDIATELY. You won't regret it. It's research based and so intentional, and you will watch your child FLOURISH.

Megan Adams
Washington

Great Leaps Tutoring made a world of difference for my son. I am so appreciative of our tutor, the staff, and the genuine care for my son. Before beginning the tutoring, he was three grade levels behind in reading. Within three months, not only has his reading level increased nearly two full grade levels, but his fluency, phonics, and vocabulary have improved. It is helping to build his confidence and speech articulation significantly. I look forward to seeing him continue to grow and flourish as he continues with the tutoring. I highly recommend Great Leaps Tutoring, they are truly amazing, and words cannot express my gratitude.

Chantel Brown
Maryland

In 3.6 months - Adrian has progressed by 1.5 years with a 1% increase in rate!!

Asher quite literally changed the course of our son’s life. He was a tutor and a role model, switching struggles from frustrations into challenges, and challenges into proud moments. Catching up on skill and confidence in reading has shifted his relationship to school and all classes, and online tutoring has helped deepen his investment and understanding of remote learning. Without this experience, there’s really no telling how much farther behind he would’ve fallen, or how upset with himself he might have become.

John M.
New York
In 10.2 months - Jack has progressed by 3.7 years with a 32% increase in rate!!

My son, Jimmy, has dyslexia and has struggled to read - well since he started to read. Well this week, he 'graduated' from the Great Leaps reading program and is ready for high school! Jimmy started in December 2020 and in 7 months, he went from below grade-level reading to grade-level reading by practicing 15 minutes a day (M-F) with a 'live' online reading tutor. Best investment I have made! I am so proud of Jimmy! He enjoyed both of his tutors (Sonya and Carolyn) who did an outstanding job with him, not only working with him but getting to know him and building a rapport. He set his own alarm each day and would hop on without any 'mom' reminders or complaints.

My son is now confident in his reading and feels that he is ready to tackle the challenges ahead of him in high school. As a mom who has tried so many different avenues to help her son without much success, I am thrilled with the outcome & welling up as I am writing this... If any parent out there or if you know of someone that has confided in you that his/her child is struggling, please do them a favor and let them know about Great Leaps!

Nicole Audette
California
In 6.9 months - Jimmy has progressed by 2.8 years in his reading grade level!!

My 13-year old grandson is really lucky to have Carly Baluarte as his tutor. When she speaks to him, it's always in an upbeat and encouraging tone. She always asks him about his day, or his plans for the weekend to make him feel comfortable. Sometimes teens can be difficult because of the many distractions, but she is extremely patient and understanding. He has made a lot of progress over the past 6 months and we are very happy!

Gina M.
Pennsylvania
In 7.2 months - Nazir has progressed by 2.8 years with a 54% increase in rate!!

My child has a mild intellectual disorder/ADD/ADHD/Auditory Processing Disorder, so I did not know how the tutor would handle him. His tutor was Carolyn and she was very patient and got to know him over the first month and I felt she really understood his disabilities. He enjoyed sitting with her each day and she was able to get him to participate in an acceptable manner. Sadly, she had to take a leave of absence and we are on our second tutor (Jammye) who is still getting to know my son, but even after a couple weeks she is also learning how to teach him with his disabilities. Both tutors communicated with me through text which I requested to make my life easier.

Both tutors have listened to my suggestions and followed through with them. Both tutors have changed times if I requested due to schedule changes at my house. Both tutors responded to my texts quickly. His learning speed is not fantastic, but Great Leaps is helping. I would recommend Great Leaps.

Margaret B.
Canada
In 3.8 months - Calvin has progressed by 1.8 years with a 59% increase in rate!!

I am so happy with the great leaps program, and especially with our tutor Sonya. I am most happy with how much Venitia enjoys her daily classes. Sonya makes it so fun and special for her.

It has never been about speed for me, but about daily, consistent learning--it's more of a marathon than a race and for that to be sustainable, it needs to be fun as well as informative. This program achieves that.

So yes, I am very happy with the program, and Venitia's progress, and especially with Ms. Sonya!

Carolyn Cyzegal.
Canada
In 2.4 months - Venitia progressed by 0.3 years with a 180% increase in rate!!

I’m really happy with the program and especially Mrs. Jammye. My kids love her so much and she motivates them to read everyday!

Nouf S.
Saudi Arabia
In 5.3 months - Ahmad has progressed 1.8 years with a 39% increase in rate!!
In 5.3 months - Salman has progressed by 2.9 years with a 125% increase in rate!!

Jammye has become the teacher my daughter every day is very excited to meet and do her reading with. She doesn’t like it when she misses her class. My daughter’s eagerness to read showcases the confidence she is getting and her reading is improving gradually.

Ambreen A.
Canada
In 4 months - Eshaal has progressed by .6 years in her reading grade level!!

Carly is fantastic! My daughter’s reading has progressed in leaps and bounds (no pun intended) since she started with her!

Martha N.
New York
In 12 months - Georgie has progressed by 1.8 years in her reading grade level!!

“When my daughter discovered that her subscription expired, she was shocked & dismayed. She grabbed a book, made me set a timer, and after her read she wanted me to write her a list of words and phrases. It amazed me how she’d gone from being convinced to include fluency work in her day to insisting on it!”

Alicia F. Parent,
Washington

"My child is excelling, and looks forward to his next steps in education in middle school. To say Great Leaps has changed my son's life and future is an UNDERSTATEMENT... Just think, a child's success in life can be directly impacted by this program in only fifteen minutes a day!"

Carolynn K.
Parent, Maryland

“Just checking in to let you know (as you probably do) that my son has increased his fluency in the past 7 weeks by an unbelievable amount. Today he read at 107 WPM! And the story he was only reading for the second time and single word list for the FIRST TIME!!! We religiously do GL, every day for 10 minutes, and I don't know what the magic sauce is, but thank you for the encouragement to get started. He's so proud of himself.”

April B.
Parent, California

When our daughter was in first grade my husband and I were called into the school office for a meeting. I was shocked when I heard the words come out of this teacher's mouth, she said that our daughter would never read and most likely, if she graduated, she would graduate with a special diploma. Our daughter was diagnosed with a severe case of dyslexia and also a short memory deficiency disorder. On top of that she had a severe case of ADD.

The school had no plan to help her succeed. No one had a plan. Ken was so kind to come to meetings to fight for Samantha on our behalf to no avail. Fast forward- Samantha was in four schools in six years. Her I.Q. was high, but her learning level low. She did not fit anywhere in the schools program. Ken took the time to meet with our daughter and started her on Great Leaps. We started the process every day at home. What a wonderful change to positively reinforce learning instead of negatively like her daughter was learning in the school system. Fast forward again up to last week. Our daughter graduated from high school. She had four honor chords, a decorated pin and 3.4 GPA. Thanks to Ken and Great Leaps, and a lot of hard work, we made it and will always be grateful.

Jody & Alex F.
Parents
Alachua County, Florida

Great Leaps is the greatest reading program I have ever seen anywhere. In February of 2000 my youngest stepson came to live with his father and me. He had never attended formal school, having been home schooled when parents were married, and his mother made sure she kept up with his studies. However from age 9 years to age 14 years of age after his parents divorced he had very little schooling. By the time he came to live with us it was discovered his reading level was less than 3rd grade level.

I did my research and discovered the Great Leaps reading program and ordered the Adult reading program for him. Within two months our son was reading at college level. His motivation that summer was to be able to read Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, and when we finished Great Leaps, he went on to read the complete series. Today he is capable of reading technical manuals as well as pleasure reading. He is now 29 years old, enjoys reading, works as a linemen and has a wife and two lovely little children.

Lisa B.
Parent
Plano, Texas

I have been using Great Leaps Grade 3-5 with my grandson, who is in grade 4. He has a diagnosed learning disability and ADHD, and was a full two years behind in reading. When we started the program, he was reading about 70 correct words per minute, and could not read grade level material independently. After five months at five times per week, we are finishing the program.

He has doubled his reading speed and comprehension, regularly achieving 140 correct words per minute on grade 5 level material, while also answering the comprehension questions correctly. I am so pleased with the program.

Although I am a special education teacher, I could not have achieved this success without Great Leaps. It's easy to use, all laid out, just add your time and effort.

Thank you for creating this program, and helping me help my grandson to make his "great leap".

Susan H.
Vancouver,Canada

We've been using the program for 2-3 months now & what we've witnessed with my son has been close to miraculous. His reading has taken off! I've recommended this program to many of my home-schooling friends, in real life and online. At least one of them has purchased the program. My initial contact with your company was a phone call to Ken. He spent an hour speaking with me and answered all my questions. That gave me a very positive impression.

Brenda Peter
Home Schooling Mom

Dear Great Leaps,
I just wanted to share our experience and we are only 3 weeks in. I have a sweet, active 8 year old, little girl who struggles with comprehension. In my head, we just needed to read more and ask more questions. (This just frustrated her and me.) I had no idea there was more to comprehension than that. One of the many things that was identified which affected her comprehension was that she was not self-correcting when she read. I never picked up on that and didn’t realize that was playing a huge part in her lack of comprehension. After just 3 weeks with Great Leaps she is self-correcting herself when she reads. This seems like such a small thing but when I stop and think about how it will help in her with comprehension, I am so excited for her. She loves doing Great Leaps. Neither one of us are frustrated at the end and I am seeing incredible growth already!

Jessica Howell
Parent
Florida

Dear Great Leaps Community,
I wrote an update about 4 weeks ago and just have to write another one! My 8 year old has been doing Great Leaps for 7 weeks now. We started at the end of the school year, had lots of family in town and went on a month long vacation as a family. Through all of that it has been so easy and fun to continue Great Leaps. It’s even more fun because of the results I am seeing in Elsie. At 3 weeks I was seeing her self correct.I was ecstatic! At 7 weeks I am seeing her finally pause at periods which allows her to actually make sense of what she is reading.

We’ve also seen her begin to tell stories and they have a beginning, middle and end. Before she started Great Leaps I just thought “she’s not a story teller. She doesn’t like to talk about her day. She’d just rather be playing than talking to me.” I honestly didn’t think too much about it and then this summer she is telling me what happened on a hike with her dad. She told me the entire process of how she made a keychain with her Grammy. Before when I would ask her a question about what she did or how she did something her response usually was, “I don’t know!” as she jumps up to go play. I don’t know if Great Leaps has just given her the confidence to say what she wants to say or if what she is learning about reading and comprehending, has given her the ability to recall and want to tell us about the things she is doing. Either way, I am so thankful for Great Leaps and the difference it is making in my little girl’s life!

Jessica Howell
Parent
Florida

Hi Lisa, Just checking in to let you know (as you probably do) that my son has increased his fluency in the past 7 weeks by an unbelievable amount. Today he read at 107 WPM! And the story he was only reading for the second time and single word list for the FIRST TIME!!! We religiously do GL, every day for 10 minutes, and I don't know what the magic sauce is, but thank you for the encouragement to get started. He's so proud of himself.

April B.
Parent
California

I just wanted to thank you for all of your hard work with helping November. She was tested lat week and is reading at a 6th Grade level! She's now working on simple multiplication. She made so much progress! Thank you so much for giving us a great foundation! 

Petra F.
Parent
Indiana