Kiddo is really ready to start learning to read, and she has already starting learning to put words together, so we've bought her pre-reading, and early reading, games for her Leapster. But being a child of the technology age, she wanted to play on my computer! So I went off in search of a program, that would not only be FUN for her to play, but would teach her the skills she needed, to become the reading bookaholic, she is poised to be!
I found Reading Kingdom, right before they contacted me about doing a review, and it felt like Kismet, so I was quite willing to give them a try!
Reading Kingdom is a fun, easy-to-use online program that teaches children 4-10 years old how to read and write to a third grade level.
- Most kids can do the online reading program on their own after just a few lessons- Kiddo only needed one super quick lesson and she was flying away on the mouse and keyboard! I really liked that they had a practice skill test to see how well she could use a mouse and keyboard BEFORE they set the actual program to her level. By reducing her level of frustration, she is way more involved than I thought she would be!
- It's fun and children enjoy doing it- Kiddo constantly wants to play/use the program, whenever she sees my laptop on! AND she's good for about a 45 minute session, which is amazing to me!
- It's created by Dr. Marion Blank, one of the world's top experts in literacy
- It works with any other curriculum a child may be using- I was very surprised at this, but Kiddo was VERY quick to point out things she had just learned, and she was very surprised at how the vowel sounds helped her sound out letters to spell words. I am constantly surprised at how well she is doing on those levels!
- It's the only program to offer customized online reading instruction for each child- every time Kiddo signs back on, the program does a reassesment from her last visit, and resets the program to where she is. Some times she's levels ahead of where I think she'll be, other times, below where I know where she is. But that is ok, because
- And, it's the only system that teaches all 6 skills (sequencing, motor skills, sound, meaning, grammar and comprehension) needed for reading & writing success! When you see your child progressing through different stages, or not, it helps you to know what they need more help with and how you can help their learning progress at a better rate!
As you can see, the program is bright and simple in it's design, so your child will WANT to play it! Seriously, they will NOT realize they are 'learning', they will see it as more of a game. You can view sample lessons, of all the sections on the Reading Kingdom website. While you do no need to be right there as your child goes through the software program, it IS recommended that you monitor, so you can see what your child is doing, to help you understand the reading update, you (the parent) receive after each session your child does! 
For instance, on one assessment, Kiddo suddenly dropped, but I had been watching her and saw that she tried to click the letters immediately when asked to, but the mouse was not responding in time, and she was noted as not completing the word. So I knew that assessment was not correct, due to outside factors. Reading Kingdom also has book available, that go along with the program, that are excellent for homeschooling and tutoring! Plus they have a book for children on the Autism spectrum, if that is a special need you have!
What I have seen is an increase in Kiddo's confidence level and her teacher has agreed that she is ahead of most of her class, in her reading readiness. I really think her time on the software program, during our review period, has really helped her get great strides ahead!
To me, it is well worth the $200 annual cost of the program, to help your child (especially if they are struggling and need assistance). Seriously- how many books/learning games is that? And what learning games give you detailed reports of 6 different levels of reading skills? Right, none!
Reading Kingdom is offering BTHM readers a 50% off discount, if you try the program FREE for a month, and use promotion code: HOLIDAYRK when you sign up! It would be perfect to download onto an ipad, tablet, or reader, you are buying for your child for Christmas, or their birthday, so they have a great program to get them started! And at $100 for the annual subscription, with the discount, it's less than $9 a month! That's VERY dealable! You can subscribe monthly, or by the year, too. If your child is young, I'd recommend the yearly subscription! The discount ends on January 1st, so hurry and sign up today!
Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received a subscription to the Reading Kingdom prgram, free of charge, from Reading Kingdom, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about them.
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