Friday, October 9, 2015

A TOS Review: Reading Kingdom

Reading Kingdom Review

For many children, reading can be a difficult task to master. For others, it seems that they just pick it up without any problem. As of now, I have taught four children to read, all using the same technique and program. That is one reason I was glad to review Reading Kingdom's program, Reading Kingdom Online, a new online Learn to Read program for ages four to ten years old.

Reading Kingdom Review

Reading Kingdom teaches reading proficiency up to a third grade level. According to the Department of Education, only one out of three children is considered a proficient reader. It is the most important skill that we can teach our children, and yet so many are falling short. Reading Kingdom is dedicated to teaching children to read in a nonthreatening, entertaining environment that makes learning this necessary skill seem like fun and games. 

While most reading programs are phonics based, Reading Kingdom rounds out the learning with the other 5 skills necessary to achieve reading proficiency. Those skills are: sequencing, writing, sounds, meaning, grammar and comprehension.



The most interesting thing about Reading Kingdom, in my opinion, is how the program adapts to each child. First, the student takes a Skills Survey. Once the assessment of the student's reading and writing skills is complete, the computer places the student exactly at the point that the student needs to be. There is no relearning information they already have learned, and there is no frustration with being introduced to skills he or she is not ready to learn.



Caleb is a second grader, and a fairly good reader. However, he is definitely all boy, and taking the time to sit down to read for fun has not been on his radar as of yet. So when we found out he would be reviewing this, I wasn't sure if it was going to be a very good fit. Well, Caleb has been using Reading Kingdom for a month now, at least 4 days a week. He is loving it! The Skills Survey placed him, and on he went. There is a key word to each lesson, and I admit, this had me wondering what exactly we had gotten ourselves into. It seemed so basic, and I felt like he was doing more to improve typing skills than reading. I felt he was placed in a level much too low simply because his typing wasn't quick enough, and I thought he'd be very frustrated. But as I watched him progress through the "games", I saw how much content he was absorbing, such as:

  • letter recall
  • word recognition
  • phonemic awareness
  • capitalization
  • punctuation
  • and so much more!



While, yes, being placed on a lower level was a bit of a frustration, I can now see that it was for the best. He can read words much more difficult than what he is working through. But since he isn't bored and is thoroughly enjoying the program, I haven't deemed it necessary to manually move him up a level. I believe that the content reviewed has been excellent, and the skills being taught will serve him well. And he is definitely getting more familiar with where the letters are found on the keyboard!

We have a lot more to learn about this program, but what I've seen so far has been excellent. I am happy we had the chance to review Reading Kingdom. It is not something I would have looked at for Caleb, simply because I would have thought a program that taught reading wouldn't be necessary for a child who is already reading well. But I am so glad he is able to sharpen his skills, improve  upon what he already knows, and even progress in other areas. I am looking forward to seeing how much more he learns on the next levels of the program.


To follow Reading Kingdom on social media, check them out here:

To read what other TOS Reviewers thought of Reading Kingdom, see more reviews here:


Reading Kingdom Review


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1 comment:

  1. This is a great app for children and parents. The whole app is designed with children in mind. Typing Fingers user a completely new approcah to teach the efficient touch-typing (ten-fingers) system. It makes typing fun, is interactive amd works with modern technologies and a new teaching method. The beautiful design and peacful music create an amzing atmosphere that allows everybody, including children, to improve their typing skills and get TYPING FINGERS DIPLOMA after successful completion of all levels.

    This is a great app if you're little one hates to type, but you want to teach them. I've been using it and i have to say that it's a great app. Is's in the windows and Apple Store, so go and check it out.

    Here is Link-
    http://www.foriero.com/pages/typing-fingers-page.php

    ReplyDelete