My younger children use digital resources much more readily than their older siblings do. I don’t know if this is due to their age, the growing number of resources available, or that we are more comfortable allowing our children to use digital resources. Some years back, we reviewed Reading Kingdom as part of the Homeschool Review Crew. Our user at that time was our oldest daughter that has some reading challenges. Working with our youngest two children and helping them learn to read has proved to be the same kind of fun. The main thing I have learned is that repetition is key, everyday. If you have helped your child learn to read, you know all the fun this can be (and all the times you’d rather scrub the toilet). I was so excited that Reading Kingdom is still in the business of helping children learn to read – and that we get to review it for you.
Both of our youngest children are working in Reading Kingdom. Both started at the beginning, Level 1, after taking a placement test. Not only are phonics and reading skills tested here, but spelling and typing as well. That is one of the things that really sets Reading Kingdom apart from other reading programs we have used. It is working on six skill areas at once to teach and improve reading. They call it Phonics-PLUS Decoding System. It incorporates not only sounds (like phonics) but also writing, grammar, sequencing, meaning, and comprehension. From the beginning typing the words is part of the activities.
The activities are very short, animated, and interactive. Once the student is prompted to do something, select the word they heard or type it for example, they have a short time to do so, then are prompted again or guided into it. The time can be adjusted if typing is new to them or their physical issues with speed in typing. The typing is spelling the word or words for the lesson. It is not a touch typing course. If you are using a tablet and the onscreen keyboard or a computer and a traditional keyboard is also something to select when setting up. My children prefer to do their lesson time on the computer – we have it connected to a 42″ screen. That is much more fun than the tiny iPad Mini screen! My children are 8 & 10 and smart, just not good readers. I have not had to help them other than the first day in getting things set up. If your child is new to online learning, using the mouse or trackpad, their may be a bit more of a learning curve.
It is pretty easy for our youngest daughter, she gets to work at her own pace. She often completes 3-4 lessons at a time. This will let her work through each lesson and soon be at a level more appropriate for her age. Her younger brother also started at level 1. He is doing mostly one lesson a day. We’ve only been loosely working on reading since the beginning of the school year. Even if a few lessons seem easy, he comes across something needing a bit more work often enough that he will be sticking with this pace. They both are working on it 4 days a week. This is the recommended pace and how we are using it. We only do school 4 days a week, so this fits well. I love that I can tell where they are and how they are doing with just a few clicks. Within a lesson, they can tell how many more activities they have to complete. My daughter likes this. She is trying to move through quickly and this keeps her motivated.
At first, it seemed as though this was mostly focusing on sight-word style of learning. I feel strongly about phonics, but honestly, if you look at word-frequency lists, most of the words in American English are not phonetic. Sounding out words that don’t follow phonics rules is not a fun or easy way to learn to read. The way Reading Kingdom is incorporating different skills is very effective. We can really see a difference in how well this son and daughter are reading. I do wish there was some sort of prompt for them to read aloud the word or book they are reading. When I am sitting in the room with them while they are working, I do prompt them to. Maybe that does not matter, but we do read aloud quite a bit in our family, so I want them to practice this as well.
Not only are Crew families reviewing ReadingReading Kingdom, but also ASD Reading, developed for children on the autism spectrum. To check out more reviews, simply click the image below.
