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- Getting started
- How The Learning Steps works
- Scottish education and additional support
- Membership and pricing
What is The Learning Steps?
The Learning Steps helps parents identify and strengthen gaps in their child’s literacy learning.
You’ll find straightforward guidance for parents, alongside activities and games designed to help children practise the skills they need.
The focus is on five key areas:
- Reading and decoding.
- Spelling.
- Punctuation.
- Grammar.
- Reading comprehension.
Who is The Learning Steps for?
The Learning Steps is designed for parents and carers of children at Scottish primary school.
It can help if your child is struggling with literacy, lacks confidence or appears to have gaps in skills they may have been expected to learn previously.
You don’t need to be a teacher to use it.
How do I know where my child should start?
Start with our Literacy Gap Finder.
It takes around three minutes and asks you a small number of straightforward questions about what you notice when your child reads and writes.
You complete it yourself, so your child doesn’t need to sit another test.
At the end, you’ll get a clearer picture of the areas that appear secure, areas worth strengthening and where we recommend starting.
I’m not a teacher. Will I be able to help my child?
Yes.
The Learning Steps is specifically designed for parents, not teachers.
We explain skills in straightforward language, show you what to look for and demonstrate how you can help.
You don’t need to understand teaching terminology or prepare lessons yourself.
Is The Learning Steps based on my child’s school year?
No.
Children don’t always develop literacy skills neatly according to their school year.
For example, a child in P6 or P7 may still have a gap in a skill normally introduced several years earlier.
The Learning Steps focuses on what your child needs to learn next, rather than simply giving them work labelled for their age or class.
What literacy areas does The Learning Steps cover?
The Learning Steps focuses on five core areas:
Reading and decoding – working out unfamiliar words and developing accurate, fluent reading.
Spelling – understanding how sounds and spelling patterns work.
Punctuation – understanding and using punctuation correctly.
Grammar – understanding how sentences and language work.
Reading comprehension – understanding, interpreting and thinking about what has been read.
How does each course work?
Each course focuses on a particular literacy skill or difficulty.
First, we help you understand the skill and how to support it.
Your child can then use practical activities and interactive games to practise what they’ve learned.
The aim is to give you the confidence and knowledge to help without trying to recreate school at home.
Does my child have to complete a test?
No.
The Literacy Gap Finder is completed by you.
We designed it this way because the first step is helping you identify where difficulties might be occurring without making your child feel they are being tested.
Activities within The Learning Steps then help you explore and practise individual skills.
Will I have to teach my child for hours?
No.
The Learning Steps is designed to fit around family life.
Rather than trying to recreate school at home, the aim is to identify a specific gap and work on it through manageable amounts of focused practice.
Short, regular practice can often be more useful than long learning sessions.
Can my child use The Learning Steps on their own?
Some activities and games can be used independently, but The Learning Steps is primarily designed to help you support your child.
Your involvement helps you understand what your child is working on, notice where they are having difficulty and reinforce the skill outside the activity.
What if my child finds something too easy or too difficult?
If something is too easy, move on.
There’s no need to practise a skill your child has already mastered.
If something feels very difficult, go back a step. Difficulty with one skill can sometimes be caused by an earlier skill that hasn’t yet become secure.
The aim is to find the right next step for your child.
Is The Learning Steps designed for the Scottish education system?
Yes.
The Learning Steps has been created specifically with Scottish primary education in mind.
Our guidance explains literacy in the context parents in Scotland are likely to encounter, including Curriculum for Excellence and terms such as First and Second Level.
Do I need to understand Curriculum for Excellence?
No.
Part of our job is to make education easier for parents to understand.
Where Scottish education terminology is important, we’ll explain what it means and, more importantly, what it means for your child.
My child’s school says they are working within First Level. Can The Learning Steps still help?
Yes.
Curriculum for Excellence levels cover broad stages of learning. Knowing that a child is “working within First Level” doesn’t necessarily tell you which individual literacy skills are secure and which still need development.
The Learning Steps helps you look more closely at those individual skills.
My child is doing well in some areas but struggling in others. Is that normal?
Yes.
Literacy is made up of many different skills.
A child might read confidently but struggle with spelling. Another might spell accurately but find reading comprehension difficult.
That’s why The Learning Steps looks at individual literacy areas rather than placing a child into one overall level.
What if my child has additional support needs?
Children with additional support needs can also have gaps in individual literacy skills.
The Learning Steps can help you identify skills to practise and give you ways to support learning at home.
However, it doesn’t diagnose learning difficulties or replace advice and support from your child’s school or relevant professionals.
Will The Learning Steps tell me if my child has dyslexia or another learning difficulty?
No.
The Learning Steps is not a diagnostic service and the Literacy Gap Finder is not a dyslexia assessment.
It is designed to identify areas of literacy that may need strengthening and help you decide what to work on next.
If you’re concerned that your child may have an additional learning need, you should discuss this with their school or an appropriate professional.
Is The Learning Steps a replacement for school?
No.
The Learning Steps is designed to complement your child’s education.
It gives you greater understanding of what your child may be finding difficult and practical ways to reinforce literacy skills at home.
It can also help you have more informed conversations with your child’s school.
Can The Learning Steps be used instead of school homework?
In some cases, yes.
If your child has an identified gap in their literacy skills, spending time working on that specific gap may be more useful than completing general homework that doesn’t address the difficulty.
The Learning Steps gives you focused activities and practice based on the skills your child actually needs to strengthen.
We recommend discussing this with your child’s teacher rather than simply stopping homework.
To make that easier, we provide a letter you can give to the school explaining what your child is working on through The Learning Steps and asking whether this focused practice can be used instead of, or as part of, their usual homework.
This can help home and school work together towards the same goal.
How much does The Learning Steps cost?
he Learning Steps costs £12 per month or £120 per year.
The annual option gives you two months free compared with paying monthly.
At £12 a month, The Learning Steps costs less than many weekly children’s clubs or activities, while giving you ongoing access to literacy support you can use whenever your child needs it.
Your membership gives you access to guidance for parents, practical learning activities and interactive games covering key literacy skills.
And because The Learning Steps isn’t tied to a particular school year, you can focus on the skills your child needs, whether those gaps are recent or go back several years.
Can I cancel my subscription at any time?
Yes.
If you choose the £12 monthly membership, you can cancel whenever you want. There are no long-term contracts.
You’ll continue to have access until the end of the period you’ve already paid for.
If you know you’re likely to use The Learning Steps throughout the year, the £120 annual membership offers the best value, saving you the equivalent of two monthly payments.
We want you to stay because The Learning Steps is helping your family, not because you’re locked into a subscription.