Reading Kingdom

Our family was selected to review for Reading Kingdom, an online learning program.  We received a one year membership for 2 students.

Jack was my primary student for this review.  Jack is 11, and struggles with reading, so I wanted to see if Reading Kingdom Online would help.  My second student, Katie, started the program the day after she turned 5.  The program is designed for students ages 4-10.



The first thing the program does is put the student through a placement test.  I got an email after Jack took the test, letting me know that he should start at Level 1.  After Katie took the placement test, I got an email letting me know she should start at Seeing Sequences and Letter Land, a sort of pre-learning section for kids at the very beginning of the learning to read journey.  Katie had no computer experience at all prior to this point.

The program is designed to be used a minimum of 4 days a week, and it keeps track to let you know how you're doing, frequency wise.  From the "dashboard" of the program, you can also track your student's progress.

You can see that Jack did not need the Seeing Sequences portion, and has completed Letter Land, 2 placement test sections, and is working on Level 1, as of when this screenshot was taken.

I'm surprised at how quickly he's done with the program each day.  I like that I don't have to fight to get him to work on it.  It's painless and fun.  And, I have to say, his reading has improved.  We're reading a book about Squanto aloud together, and I've noticed a real difference in how frequently he needs help with a word now, versus several weeks ago.

Miss Katie has just started the program, and gets frustrated easily, so we'll be going slow.  She is overwhelmed at learning where the letters on the keyboard are.  But she's learning how to use the mouse, and how to click on things.  I think that as she gets more comfortable with the computer, she will relax a bit and start to enjoy it more.

I like that the program specifies that she should not be getting help.  I think the inclination of most parents is to give their child some assistance, and the computer needs to know what the child knows, not the parent, so they can cater the learning experience to the child's level of ability.  When she makes little whimpering noises, it's very hard for me to keep from pointing to the correct letter for her, but instead reassure her that it's okay, that's she's still learning, that no one expects her to know where all the letters are yet.  

And how do the skills carry over into real life?  Well, since beginning Reading Kingdom, Jack has progressed enough that he's started reading for pleasure!  I had some new Level 3 readers stashed away for him, and he's asking for, and reading, a new book almost every day now.  There's been a noticeable reduction in the number of times he comes to me for help with a word, too.

You can connect with Reading Kingdom on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.  Read what other Crew families had to say about Reading Kingdom and ASD Reading (a reading program designed for autistic children) by clicking the box below:

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