mom: So son, do you want to learn how to read better?
The lad: I don't know mom, I like you reading to me better.
Mom: It's an on-line program, think you want to try it?
The lad: Sure mom. I don't have to write anything right?
Mom: No, it's all on-line.
The lad: Yes!
And so we took up the opportunity from TOS Review Crew to review the Reading Kingdom. Reading Kingdom was created by Dr. Marion Blank, who is an expert in literacy, and was awarded the Upton Sinclair Award for education. We are pleased we took up this challenge.
The lad: I don't know mom, I like you reading to me better.
Mom: It's an on-line program, think you want to try it?
The lad: Sure mom. I don't have to write anything right?
Mom: No, it's all on-line.
The lad: Yes!
And so we took up the opportunity from TOS Review Crew to review the Reading Kingdom. Reading Kingdom was created by Dr. Marion Blank, who is an expert in literacy, and was awarded the Upton Sinclair Award for education. We are pleased we took up this challenge.
Vendor: Reading Kingdom
Product: This is a program designed to help children read better. The goal of this program is the help children read and write to a grade three level.
Price: You can try it free for 30 days, and after that it will cost $19.99/month ($199.99/year) for your first child. Each additional child will be $9.99 ($99.99/year).
Age Range: 4-10 years old.
Format: On-line learning. though they also sell books that go along with the program. They range in price from $9.99 to $14.99. You can learn more about those additional features here.
Product: This is a program designed to help children read better. The goal of this program is the help children read and write to a grade three level.
Price: You can try it free for 30 days, and after that it will cost $19.99/month ($199.99/year) for your first child. Each additional child will be $9.99 ($99.99/year).
Age Range: 4-10 years old.
Format: On-line learning. though they also sell books that go along with the program. They range in price from $9.99 to $14.99. You can learn more about those additional features here.
The program starts out fairly easily. Once they complete their placement test and work through learning where letters are on the keyboard, children are shown a word and asked to find the letters that make the word. They must do so within a certain time AND in the correct order. My lad finds this aspect HIGHLY frustrating. He's as distractable as I am and finding the letters in time makes him YELL at the computer. "I had it! You stupid computer. I had it you just didn't give me enough time!!!!" And then turning to me crying "Mom, I had it, I did, it didn't give me enough time."
I just encourage him saying that "Yes, I know he had it, but the computer doesn't know that. It is just a program with a built in speed. Keep trying and you'll beat the speed...it is a competition you know." Being the child who is he, the competition factor helped. :)
I found even when I got him to really focus on it, finding the letters within the time alloted was challenging for him. But we did manage to work through this aspect of the program. It did force him to learn where the letters are on the keyboard better, but the frustration level was VERY high for him. This might turn off some children, but many children, with encouragement can work through this frustration and thereby gain the necessary skills. :)
I just encourage him saying that "Yes, I know he had it, but the computer doesn't know that. It is just a program with a built in speed. Keep trying and you'll beat the speed...it is a competition you know." Being the child who is he, the competition factor helped. :)
I found even when I got him to really focus on it, finding the letters within the time alloted was challenging for him. But we did manage to work through this aspect of the program. It did force him to learn where the letters are on the keyboard better, but the frustration level was VERY high for him. This might turn off some children, but many children, with encouragement can work through this frustration and thereby gain the necessary skills. :)
The program gradually makes things more difficult, and I like the gradualness of it. Though this week they were teaching my son the word "a" and he's like "Mom, I know how to spell A.... this is taking too long to teach me a word I already know." I did not figure out if it is possible to skip past a lesson.
The first time my son met a disappearing word he was all worried. "MOM! How am I going to know the right order?????" but with time and encouragement he realized his short term memory isn't horrible and he did the job just fine. :) It was good to see his confidence grow. Other than the speed factor which often was an issue for him, this program is easy/gentle in its approach and my son DID learn new words and even the plurals of them. "Mom, did you know that if you want to make more of something you just add an S on the end??"
I have to admit... I haven't seen a screen that looks like this on Reading Kingdom. But lately my international student has been sitting with my son as he works on this program. It is good for both of them. My international student can read the words for him if he needs that boost, and he's quite more able to NOT help. This is something the program repeats frequently...that the parent/teacher NOT help their children with the program. So I sit back as far as I can since it's SO easy for me to help. My student can provide the encouragement factor without helping better than I can so I just leave them to it. :) Also a good way to build more English confidence in my student.
My opinion
My Son: "I think it's a good program. It's easy enough. but sometimes it is annoying sometimes."
Me: He's learning new words, he's gaining more confidence. I really appreciate how the approach is incremental and the child is frequently told "good job". This program DOES what it says it will do. My son is progressing well, the lessons are short which helps maintain focus, we will continue to use this program for the year that we have to use it. I expect by the end of the year he will have a greater understanding and confidence in his reading ability. :)
My Son: "I think it's a good program. It's easy enough. but sometimes it is annoying sometimes."
Me: He's learning new words, he's gaining more confidence. I really appreciate how the approach is incremental and the child is frequently told "good job". This program DOES what it says it will do. My son is progressing well, the lessons are short which helps maintain focus, we will continue to use this program for the year that we have to use it. I expect by the end of the year he will have a greater understanding and confidence in his reading ability. :)
Click on the image above OR click here to see what the rest of the crew has to say about Reading Kingdom. :)
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