Monday, March 7, 2011

TOS Crew: Reading Kingdom

We were selected to review the Reading Kingdom.  I was happy to get to do the review and really thought that my kiddos would love the program. 

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Let me tell you a little about Reading Kingdom.  It is online based program for children ages 4-10 that teaches them to Read and Write to a 3rd grade level. 
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Reading Kingdom was created by Dr.Marion Blank, a top expert in literacy.  It was designed to customize itself to each child.  It is the only online program that teaches that all 6 essential skills for reading and writing success. 

These skills include:
  • Sequencing
  • Motor Skills
  • Sounds
  • Meaning
  • Grammar
  • Comprehension
Unfortunately, my kids did not love this program.  You see, initially, you take a skills assessment to see what level you belong in.  My 2nd grader and 4 year old both tested into the training section, which means that they needed a little help with mouse and keyboard skills.  I think part of this was because at first we thought they were supposed to be using the keyboard to type the letters, not using the mouse to click on them. 

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In the training sections they had to practice clicking on letters, the same letters, over and over again.  They did not enjoy this very much and thought it to be very boring.  I encouraged them to press on, and told them both that they would be on another level real soon.  After using the program several times and doing the same thing repeatedly they decided they didn't like the program. 

I do understand that the program wants you to know how to match letters and be able to click on them, but personally I felt it was a little too repetitive.  I do believe that my kids would have liked the program, if they could have gotten past the Letter Land in a more timely fashion.  They really just got bored with all the letter clicking.

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I even set up my own account to see what I thought of the program.  I took the skills assessment and tested in Level 1.  Once I got to Level 1 I was reading a little bit, typing out words and whole sentences.  I can see the educational benefits from this Level but can't really talk about Levels 2-4 because honestly, I didn't get there. 

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In all fairness, I think this could be a pretty nice program if the intro/ training section were shorter and the kids could dive into really learning.  If you have a struggling reader or a little one that is just starting out I would definitely Try the 30 Day Free Trial.  Your children may have a totally different take on the program and it may really work for them. 

The Reading Kingdom program is a monthly online subscription, it costs $19.99 per month or $199.99 for a 12 month subscription.  If you have multiple children using the program, it is $9.99 per month for each additional child.  If you are
interested, you can sign up HERE.

Please what other TOS Crew Members are saying about the Reading Kingdom. 

We received a 12 month subscription to this product free of charge for review purposes.  The opinions expressed here are my own and I was not influenced by the free product.

1 comments:

familymgrkendra said...

My boys had the same experience, they felt it was boring and didn't enjoy it at all. I am going to "try again" in the future though!

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