I love to read. I have been reading and writing from a very early age. These days, though, very few people can truly say they love to read and write, many times because they are frustrated from the methods they were taught while in school. I'm hoping that my children follow in my footsteps, however, developing a love of reading and writing from an early age.
Reading Kingdom is a program designed to help kids learn to read and write. I was given a free subscription to Reading Kingdom to review. I was asked to have my five year old use the program for four weeks for 3-4 times a week.
For his first few sessions, A2 (his nickname) had to go through a skills testing called the Intro Assessment to see his level of ability when using the mouse and keyboard of a computer, plus how many letters he recognizes. It’s highly recommended that parents just observe quietly and only assist with maneuvering the mouse while the child is going through the skills testing. By giving answers, they can compromise the validity of the testing.After the skills testing, the program runs two practice lessons simultaneously: Seeing Sequences and Letter Land. Seeing Sequences shows a word and then a box of letters and asks the child to click on the letters that they see in the word. Another version of Seeing Sequences shows a word and then hides the word while asking the child to click on the letters they saw. Letter Land was mostly for letter and symbol (space bar, comma, period, etc.) recognition. Both of these lessons teach the kids how to read (and eventually write) from left to right while also recognizing letters.
Via ReadingKingdom.com
Once my son graduated from that level, he began Reading and Writing Level 1. This level works on recognizing words and how they're spelled. There's a list of about 10 words that are practiced in a variety of ways before they are all put together into a book at the end of the level. At first glance, this program seems like it's nothing special. It doesn't have all of the music and fun graphics that other programs have (think ABCmouse). What it lacks in glitter and glam it more than makes up with a solid teaching strategy.
There are no complicated rules to remember (remember rules like 'i before e except after c...'?). Children can simply master the six skills needed to read and write--sequencing, motor skills, sound, meaning, grammar, and comprehension--and become proficient if not excellent readers.
What I Like about the Program:
- Easy to use
- Doesn't rely on difficult phonics rules, which can be hard to understand, especially with all of the exceptions
- Sends a progress email to parents
Progress report via ReadingKingdom.com
What Could Be Improved:
- Graphics
- Loading time of pages
- The program's ability to recognize that a student can graduate from a lesson successfully without having to email the company
Even after this review, my son will continue to use Reading Kingdom. I'd love to see if this program helps him to read sooner than his Kindergarten classmates come this fall! Visit www.ReadingKingdom.com today to learn more and to register for a FREE 30-day trial (after 30 days, it's $19.99 a month). There's also information about how you may be able to qualify for a scholarship if you can't afford the monthly or yearly fees.
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.
