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Reading Kingdom {Crew Review}

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Reading Kingdom is an amazing online reading program designed to help children that are ages 4-10 learn to read and build reading skills they may struggle with.  This program is designed to be easy to use for both Parent and child.  It can also be used in a classroom setting for schools.
Reading Kingdom is designed to work with the child’s skill level.  Any young child can use this program at any skill level.  How quickly your child completes this program will depend upon your child’s skill level.  The complete Reading Kingdom program takes around 12-15 months to work through.  Children with advanced reading skills can complete the program within 3-6 months.
Reading Kingdom is designed to be used at least 4 times a week with your child.  Children should be at least 4 years old and able to sit quietly, paying attention for at least 15 minutes at a time.  Children should know basic computer skills like using a mouse.
Reading Kingdom uses a balanced approach of reading skills to teach children to read.  The program uses the 6 important skills of sequencing, sounds, motor, meaning, Grammar and comprehension combined together to master both reading and writing.  This allows a child to fully comprehend reading and these skills last a lifetime.
The greatest thing about Reading Kingdom though is that it customizes to your child.  Every child’s experience with this program will be completely different.  When your child begins this program, they will complete a reading skills survey that allows the program to adapt to your child.  Based on the results of this survey, the program designs itself to fit your child’s learning needs.  It also adapts as your child progresses through the program, developing your child skills as they learn.
We have used this program with my struggling reader and he really loves it.  Since it goes at his pace and adapts to his skills, he is able to really enjoy himself while using it.  Winston is a whole word learner and struggles with phonics type programs.  Reading Kingdom’s combined approach has allowed him to grasp concepts of reading that he usually struggles with when learning single reading programs like phonics or whole words.  
Winston uses the program a few times a week and works as long as he wishes on his reading.  There is no rush for him or pressure in learning.  It’s complete fun and games in reading and this has helped him relax tremendously.  We will be adding his little sister to the program in the future.
Reading Kingdom has a free trial available to view this curriculum before taking the jump into joining with a membership.  Memberships are $19.99 a month or $199.99 a year for the first child.  Additional children added into the program are $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year.  There are also additional materials available for purchase to use with the program as well.  Free online resources are also available for use.
To read more reviews of Reading Kingdom, please click the banner below!

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Reading The Alphabet: Now Available As A Bundle Pack!

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Have you seen this very awesome curriculum from Becky @ This Reading Mama? It is now available as a bundle pack just for your easy convenience.  That’s right! All of the Reading The Alphabet materials are now included in this download for the low price of $10!
To learn more about how Reading The Alphabet works, you can visit the introduction post on This Reading Mama.
All together this bundle contains over 1500 educational pages.  Because of it’s massive size, it comes in SIX download files which are all included in this bundle.
For this week ONLY {July 15-19}:
Enter coupon code back2school 
to receive $2 OFF your purchase.
Also find out how to win a FREE Bundle Pack of 
*Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

Scaredy Cat Reading System Level One {Crew Review}

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Over the years, I’ve heard a lot about Joyce Herzog and her amazing educational products.  A dear friend began using the Scaredy Cat Reading System with her son this year and I thought to myself, “I wonder just how well it works”.  I was excited to find that Mrs. Herzog was to be one of our review vendors with The Old Schoolhouse Magazine this year and my product choice was, of course, the Scaredy Cat Reading System.

I chose the Scaredy Cat Reading System Level One – Letter Names and Sounds for my review product simply because I wanted to start from the very beginning with it.  This program is for both beginning and struggling readers, both of which I have at home.  I can tell you, it works amazingly well for both types of readers.

The Scaredy Cat Reading System is fun and not overwhelming for the student or the parent to use.  Lots of fun game activities keep the child intrigued and involved in their lessons, instead of allowing them to become bored and ready to quit.  It honestly reminds me a lot of school work when I was a child, before children were required to sit at a desk for most of the day.

The Scaredy Cat Reading System Level One comes fully equipped with an extensive teacher’s manual which explains how the program works, what is needed for the program and it’s exercises/activities/lessons, and printables which can be reproduced for use with the lessons throughout the program.  This guide prepares the teacher for what’s to come and gives a good start to being prepared to use the Scaredy Cat Reading System the best way possible.

The Scaredy Cat Reading System also introduces the Story of the Letter Master, which children must know to understand the purpose of the system.  The Story of the Letter Master is introduced in Comic Book style to the readers.  Included as a bonus is a CD with the story and other important level one songs.

Other things included with this program are the ABC Reader which is written in an easy form for children to absorb and understand.  Letters are introduced in fun fonts and styles.  Song lyrics are included in this reader for the student to follow along.  Stories and bible verses are also provided for the little readers to see the words in print.

The student activity book for this program is HUGE.  It’s jam-packed full of activities and lessons.  Much like the reader, the activities come in differing fonts and styles to keep the student intrigued.  Stories are kept simple for early readers and many lessons focus on letter introduction, allowing the student to really grasp each letter they are learning.  Lessons are easy to teach and follow along with, allowing the student a firmer understanding of what they are learning throughout the program.

Additional things included with this program are Reversal Prevention Charts which come in a clear page protector for your use. Letter charts to cut out and use with your student.  The games needed to complete the program and a game spinner for needed activities.

The Scaredy Cat Reading System is extensive and thorough.  It doesn’t take long to put it together and put it in place in your educational programming.  It’s a complete program and well-worth it’s investment at $75.  Additional student books can be purchased for $30 each which is a steal considering the size of the book and the extensiveness of the program.  Sample downloads are available on JoyceHerzog.com.

This is a program that we have enjoyed.  I worked with both my struggling and my new reader on this, which they really enjoyed doing together.  Several times a week, we’d pull out the reader and student book but what they really loved was the games we played.  Even my advanced reader enjoyed joining in with us on those.  This is something we will definitely be continuing to use in our homeschool.

To learn more about Joyce Herzog and her amazing educational tools and programs, please visit www.joyceherzog.com.

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LiteracySoft: Phonics and Reading with McGuffey {Crew Review}

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LiteracySoft is a quality company dedicated to developing easy-to-use, inexpensive programs to teach reading to people of all ages.  LiteracySoft uses lessons from McGuffey Readers to teach their simple method and get readers reading.  Whether through their app or on PC, LiteracySoft is fun for all.

For this review, we were given a free download of the LiteracySoft app to try.  Phonics and Reading with McGuffey contains 52 complete lessons for reading.  These 52 lessons work to bring the student up to a first grade reading level.  It is also a great reading review tool for those struggling with reading at any age.

Phonics and Reading with McGuffey allows the student to work at his/her own pace without having an instructor telling them what they need to do.  Taking away the instructor often takes the pressure out of learning to read and puts it into the hands of the child, allowing them to grasp important reading concepts as they work through the program on their own.  And what better way is there to do that then with an all time, tried and true great like the McGuffey Reader!

In this app, the student will find all 52 McGuffey Primer lessons, 44 letter sounds of English and their graphemes, over 60 letter sound animations, more than 400 practice vocabulary words, and an over 9000 nonsense word audio dictionary.

After downloading the app, the user will find the unique ABC icon on their iPad page and can immediately begin after downloading is finished.  Spoken directions tell the user what to do when beginning.  Choose a color button and type your name to get started with this app.

On the next page, the user can then read the Table of Contents, change their settings or begin the lesson.  Choosing the Table of Contents allows the user to choose from any of the 53 included lessons on the app.  This allows the user to jump around and repeat lessons as needed.

In the User Settings section, the user can choose to skip phonics rules explanations, not to sound out words in a phonics blender, use an Open Dyslexic font, monochrome letters in words and sentences for easier viewing and hide the previous and next lesson arrows throughout the program.


Upon clicking Begin Lesson, there is a brief instructional showing the student how to use the app.  At the top, the user can find a repeat button.  Below that is a menu button.  There is also a previous and next part button to click back or ahead in a lesson.  The lessons, as mentioned before, follow those in the McGuffey Primer, so they are simple and easy to follow along with.

Cute actions graphics are included along with the lesson, which also goes along with the original primer lessons in style, only more up-to-date for this time period.  As the student works through, the program sounds out the word, completing this with the complete word’s spoken name: cat = c a t (kuh aa tuh) = cat.

As lessons increase, so do the activities included.  A jump menu appears to allow the student to work on different activities throughout that lesson.  Some of these activities include workings specifically on Letter Sounds, new words, Phonics with flashcards, blending phonics, viewing the lesson’s illustrations closer, practice of reading, quizes, spelling practice and sight word drilling.  Students working through can pick and choose the activities they’d like to complete as they work through each lesson.

This app quickly became a family favorite for us.  My children’s reading skills and development has increased greatly just in the review period of a few short weeks.  This program is something that will be added into our homeschooling for all our readers.  The kids all agree it’s a lot of fun to complete lessons.  It’s also great for my interactive, video-game learner who hates learning to read anything in a book.

We used this app for several weeks.  I was able to create a profile for every one of my children and myself to play with this app.  It was very easy to set up lessons for each of them to complete.  This app was a little advanced still for my 5 year old but she is gradually growing into it.  It was perfect for my struggling reader to work with and he has made a lot of improvement in a short time.  My advanced reader also found the app enjoyable and used it to hone in on her personal reading skills and goals.

Phonics and Reading with McGuffey app is available in through the LiteracySoft website.  There is a free trail of the first 10 lessons available and also available for trial on PC.

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EMG Educational Systems, LLC (READS) {Crew Review}

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READS Parent/Child Reading Comprehension System was developed by Elaine Meyers and is available from EMG Education Systems, LLC.  Ms. Meyers is a certified reading specialist in suburban Philadelphia.  She’s spent over 25 years educating and guiding young readers reading at all reading levels.
Through her extensive research, Ms. Meyers developed the READS system to help parents develop strength in their children’s reading comprehension skills.  The program was designed to be used with Elementary grades 1-4 and can be used with any chosen book or other reading material.  It is effective to be used with readers above, below and on grade level.  
The READS Parent’s Manual
30 Question Cards and Ring
Rewards Chart and Stickers
Magic Finger and Reading Guide Strip
Speedy Speller
Reusable Storage Pouch
The READS Parent’s Manual explains to the parent how to implement the READS system with their readers at home.  An explanation of how to use each specific component is included within this guide.  A thorough explanation of how to use the question cards is also included within the guide.
The 30 Question cards are hole-punched so that they can be added onto the provided ring for easy use.  Every question is different and allows the child to think about the book they are reading.  Questions like, “was this book easy to understand?” and “describe your favorite character” help to encourage the child’s comprehension of their reading material and also help to make sure that the parent knows the kind of questions to ask to help develop the child’s comprehension.
The rewards chart and stickers encourage reading and comprehensive development by providing a goal for the child to reach.  Each day the child completes their reading instruction they receive a sticker.  After they complete the chosen amount of tasks – a week, two weeks, a month – the child then receives the chosen reward for completing the program.
The Magic Finger and the Reading Guide Strip help the child to follow along with their chosen reading materials.  The reading strip is clear in the middle and gray on the outsides to block out the words above and below the sentence the child is attempting to read, therefore keeping the child focused on the reading at hand.  The Magic Finger is green with a red nail like a witches finger.  It’s color is created to encourage better following along in reading, to be used as a pointer as the child follows through word by word.
The READS Speedy Speller is a handbook for Readers and Writers.  Inside the child will find a list of over 1400 words with plenty of room to add more words as the child learns them.  In the back of the Speedy Speller the child can also find a list of Punctuation and Other Symbols that are used throughout writing, Capitalization Rules, and abbreviations for states, time, measurements and more.  The Speedy Speller encourages the child in both writing and reading.
The READS system was immediately well-loved in our house.  All three of my school-age children were able to use this program.  They are still using it today.
The youngest enjoys the rewards portion of the program to help encourage her early reading.  She also likes using the Magic Finger to point to words that she knows and understands, as well as the pictures throughout what she is reading.  The sentence strip has helped her to stay on track with sentences in her reading.
My middle child really enjoyed the READS Speedy Speller.  She struggles with spelling words even though she loves writing.  The Speedy Speller stays with her at all times, allowing her to look up common words she may forget while writing.  She’s added a great many words since we began using this program.
My oldest child, who is also my struggling reader, benefited the most from this program.  He was able to use all the elements of the READS system to learn how to be a better reading and have better reading comprehension.  We have tried many programs to help him in reading and have struggled to find something he truly could  use at home.  The READS system has helped that tremendously.
My son is able to use the reading strip to help keep himself on track.  He uses the finger to keep himself on track word for word along with the strip.  The rewards stickers are used with him too so that he remembers to do his daily reading of 20 minutes a day.  The questions come in handy for me to ask what he’s read and he likes to pick them out for me every day we use the program.  We have seen a great deal of improvement in his reading focus and comprehension since beginning this review.
READS Parent/Child Reading Comprehension System is available from EGM Educational Systems, LLC for $19.95.  The package includes all of the items mentioned through my review above for this amazing price.


*Disclaimer – The full product package of READS was provided to me by EGM Educational Systems, LLC and the TOS Schoolhouse Review Crew.  This product was free in exchange for my honest opinion shared in a post on my blog.  I am including this disclaimer in accordance with FTC regulation guidelines.


Reading Kingdom {Crew Review}

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I cannot express how much I love this product!!  It is simply amazing.  When this review became open, I was unsure who I really wanted to use it with.  I thought it would be great for all three of my children but my son stood out the most since he’s my struggling reader.  So, of course, I chose him to use Reading Kingdom and it’s surpassed my expectations and his too.

Winston’s preferred method of learning is digital through video games and websites online, videos and lots of hands-on activities to bring things to life.  He struggles with reading simply because books are boring to him. Reading Kingdom has changed all that simply by making reading fun!!

Reading Kingdom helps promote reading skills and build reading strengths by using reading games, online incentives, and progressing at a child’s skill level.  Reading Kingdom teaches important skills such as sequencing, sounds, meaning, comprehension and more with it’s program.  It is super easy to use.  My son was able to work through the program on his own with sound cues throughout the program prompting him to move forward in his learning.  Nothing was over his head in terms of learning either, all adapted to his skills through assessment in the beginning of the program.  Lessons are a short 15-30 minutes each, allowing a child time to adjust to things he’s just learned about.

Reading Kingdom is definitely a program we will be sharing throughout the future.  It’s perfect for leveled readers as well as struggling ones like mine.  It captivates the child and keeps them interested in learning to read in a fun way.  My son absolutely loved the program which says a lot to me since it’s so hard for us to find a program that keeps him interested and fits his learning style.

Reading Kingdom is available risk-free for free for 30 days.  A subscription is available for $19.99 a month or $199.99 a year for the first reader and additional readers can be added $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year. Additional products are also available through the website for learning to read.

For more reviews of Reading Kingdom, please visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog!!

*Disclaimer – This product was provided to me free for a blog post review by Reading Kingdom and the Schoolhouse Review Crew.



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