One person will win a Year Subscription (RV: $199) to Reading Kingdom in my 12 Days of Gifts Galore Giveaway which starts Nov. 25!
Reading Kingdom is an online reading program designed for ages 4-10 and can be used by parents as a supplement to what they learn at school, by schools directly or as a homeschooling reading lesson plan.
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| Sequencing | |
The program covers
all six skills needed for reading: sequencing, motor skills, sounds, meaning, grammar and comprehension and the lessons are tailored to your child's ability. Reading Kingdom recognizes that children of the same age aren't necessarily at the same reading level.
My two oldest children are in JK and SK and so are right at the beginning of the age group for this program. They WANT to learn how to read and practice reading and writing every second they get (because they want to, I don't sit them down and make them do it.)
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| Letter Land |
How It Works
I set them up with some profiles (quick and easy) and then there is an optional keyboard/mouse skills training for children who aren't familiar with the keyboard. My kids are pretty adept at it so we skipped that. They perhaps could have used a bit of it as they didn't know where every key is or the punctuation but the have done okay without it.
So first they do a Skills Survey which is able to figure out where they need to start out. If it's determined they need to do the Sequencing and Letter sections, then that's where they start. That's where my children are right now.
The program is designed to take a while. It will take 4-6 weeks for my kids to do the section they are on, more if they don't work on it a few times a week.
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| My 5 Year old Playing Reading Kingdom |
When we first started, they had a little trouble and I got frustrated. They say you can help your child with keyboard or mouse skills if need be but not to help them in any other way as the program takes how well your child did and determines how much more practice and at what level they need it. So I tried to do that but it kept assuming they didn't know what to do because they were taking too long to do it. So it would say click p for example and before they clicked it, it would stop and explain what to do and then give them another try. Then before they clicked it, it would show again and do it for them then move on to the next one. I've realized that the problem was they needed more keyboard skills. The keyboard skills are not just knowing how to use the keyboard but where each button is so they can click it quicker. Once we figured this out, everything went fine.
Tips From Me
- Turn off other distractions such as TV, music and take siblings that are distracting out of the room.
- Make sure the keyboard and mouse are at the right height for the child. Right now we only have a laptop and as you can see from the above photo, it's too high for my children. I did plug in a USB mouse though so they don't have to try to use the laptop mouse.
- Do only one session at a time. The sessions seem short once they get the hang of it and they often ask to do a second session right afterwards but then half way through that one inevitably have trouble sitting still and get distracted which affects their work. You want to end while they are having fun so they will want to do it again.
- Call it a reading game (which it is) or Reading Kingdom. Do not call it homework, lessons such (unless you are using it with homeschooling in which case it is but still, it sounds more fun that way)
Reading Kingdom offers a way to see your child's progress. It offers a progress meter for each child:
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| (c) Reading Kingdom. Screenshot from Kathleen Garber (does not appear blurry for real |
There are also little icons beside each section that show if it's in progress, not yet started, completed and level of performance (needs attention or good, very good or excellent performance.)
So Does It Work?
Well before we started Reading Kingdom, my 5 year old SK girl was getting the hang of letter sounds and sequencing (left to right) and such but wasn't reading more than 5 words not including family member's names.
We've been doing the program for about a month (and not even as often as recommended) and she is reading beginner books and signs all around! She is catching on so quickly and although she is learning at school, this big jump all of a sudden I'm sure is at least partly because of Reading Kingdom.
Subscriptions and Free Trials
You can
sign up for a free 30 day trial to test it out. The regular membership prices are below but if you subscribe when you sign up for your trial, you save 25%!
$19.99/month or $199.99/year for first reader
$9.99/month or $99.99/year for each additional reader
Subscription is risk free - you can cancel at any time.
Also be sure to check out the
Reading Kingdom blog for great articles and tips on reading. Also find Reading Kingdom on
Facebook and
Twitter.
*Disclosure: I received the product(s) mentioned above free of charge by the company or PR representative for evaluation purposes. No other compensation was provided. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.
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