Meet the Founder

I’m Ashley Joseph, a former public school teacher and a 2024 Teacher of the Year in California’s 78th Assembly District.

I taught across a variety of grade levels before becoming a homeschool mom. During my time as an upper elementary teacher, I saw firsthand how wide the range of reading ability could be within a single classroom. Even as a trained educator, I saw how varied students’ foundational skills were. Many were bright, capable learners who had missed systematic phonics instruction in earlier grades. At that level, there was very little guidance on how to rebuild those foundations clearly and sequentially.

Later, when I began homeschooling my own child, reading instruction became deeply personal. I was no longer differentiating for a classroom of thirty-plus students. I was teaching one child, intentionally and step by step.

That was when I began examining what was actually available.

Week after week, I searched for books that matched the exact phonics patterns and sight words we were practicing. Even with time, training, and intention, I kept running into the same problem.

Many early readers:
• Included spelling patterns that had not yet been introduced
• Relied heavily on pictures, context clues, or novelty themes
• Used broad “levels” that meant something different from one publisher to the next

There was no clear sequence. No reliable structure. No simple way for families to know, “This is exactly what my child is ready to read.”

Reading Trails was created to change that.

Each book clearly shows:
• The phonics skill and sight words being practiced, arranged in a logical order
• Text that includes only the patterns being taught or previously learned

Nothing extra. No unexpected spelling patterns. No guessing required.

When children can truly read the words in front of them, something powerful happens. They reread. Fluency builds. Confidence grows.

Families no longer have to piece together a system on their own.

My goal is simple:
*Give children books they can genuinely read.
*Give families clarity, direction, and peace of mind.

Thank you for being here and for investing in your child’s reading journey. Building confident readers from the very beginning matters, and I am grateful to walk alongside you in that work.