Early Learning Tools for Kids

The Benefits of Educational Games

Education has been subject to many changes and improvements over the past century, and it is only somewhat recently that high profile scientific studies were conducted in order to find out how a human being learns best.

After countless studies, researches and experiments, it was finally found that humans, and children especially, learn much better when the knowledge is passed on to them in the form of a game, or at least if it is entertaining.

As the news propagated around the world many people tried to make up their own educational games, but in the end only a select few, trustworthy companies remained, one of which is MindWare. To this very day, MindWare specializes in making educational toys for children of all ages; their aim is to blend fun with education to help children develop and understand a number of basic skills and concepts.

An Overview of Q-Bitz

Among the games released by MindWare is Q-Bitz, a basic puzzle game for children of ages 8 and up. The Q-Bitz packages includes 120 challenge cards, four sets of 16 cubes, and four wooden trays. Each of the challenge cards contains a drawing that can be replicated using the 16 cubes, each side of which is painted with a certain design.

The goal is for the players to draw a card, and then compete as to who can replicate the shape on the challenge card the fastest. When a player wins, he or she collects the card, and then the next one is drawn, until none are left. Naturally, the winner is the player with the most challenge cards in the end.

What Q-Bitz Teaches

So what exactly makes Q-Bitz an educational game? Well, when a child is required to look at a representation of a structure and then figure out a way to replicate it with his or her own materials, a number of things happen. First of all, their visual dexterity is being trained as they need to spot the necessary pieces and put them together fast enough to outcompete the other player.

It also contributes to developing their perceptual skills, and they learn to keep calm, cool and concentrated while working under pressure. While it won’t necessarily teach your child how to calculate fractions or how to read novels, it will help them develop in other, equally-important ways.

Q-Bitz Pros

• The wooden trays and wooden cubes are extremely sturdy and are unlikely to ever break.
• The set is quite small and compact, allowing you to use it practically anywhere you can find a flat surface.
• While the game is fast to learn, it takes a long time to master and has a tremendous replay value.
• A game can last a really long time as there are more than 120 challenge cards to play with.

Q-Bitz Cons

• The paint tends to chip off a little from the cubes.
• The challenge cards are quite thin and need be handled with care.

What the People Say

Out of all the people who tried the product, 31 gave a review on Amazon. Out of all of them, 20 gave 5 stars, and 11 gave 4 stars, with nobody giving less than that.

Generally, who had complaints mentioned that they were very small and mostly had to do with the paint chipping off the cubes. Apart from that though, everyone had nothing but praises for Q-Bitz, describing it as a fun and enthralling game which actually contributes to a child’s development, contrary to the trash seen on television.

The Final Verdict

All in all, if you are looking for a game that will pass the time for you and your children while keeping their brains active without dumbing them down, then Q-Bitz definitely fits the bill. The game is simple, it sucks you in, and it contributes to the development of the child’s visual and motor skills.

We have looked around for some time, compared prices, and came to the conclusion that the best place to purchase the puzzle set is from the MindWare Q-Bitz Amazon product page, where it is being sold at a 35% discount for only $16.16.

Mathematics has always been one of those subjects which some kids like, but most kids simply hate. Nevertheless, mathematics remain very important to modern way of life as practically everything ever built in one way or another relies on math, meaning that your child absolutely needs to develop at least a basic understanding of the fundamental concepts.

How exactly do you teach something boring and fundamental to your child in an effective way? Disguise it as a game, of course. It goes without saying that children are much more involved and pay more attention when playing games. It doesn’t matter if those games are actually designed to teach them something, as long as they are fun.

A Look Into Equate: The Equation Thinking Game

Naturally, I am not asking you to come up with your own complete game designed to educate your child in mathematics; someone already took care of that and came up with Equate: The Equation Thinking Game.

The game is referred to by many people as math Scrabble as it follows virtually the same mechanic, only with numbers and math signs instead of letters. When a player forms a math equation either horizontally or vertically, they gain points.

There are also more complex signs such as division and fraction which earn them even more points. Designed for children of ages 8 and above, it can be played by 2 to 4 people and even in teams. There is a total of 190 tiles, a board with a surface of 19 x 19 tiles as well as 4 racks, one for each player. In general, a game lasts between 2 and 4 hours, although more experienced players will be able to make it last even longer than that by making more complex combinations.

How Equate Contributes to Helping your Child Learn Math

As you can probably visualize it, the game board itself is quite big and gives the children a lot of room to experiment, think strategically and creatively.

For starters, by looking how to make equations the children are going to be developing their basic computing skills and simply getting better at calculating equations, not to mention that they will also learn how to manipulate fractions, a very big point of concern for many elementary level kids.

In addition to that, the game also teaches them about which math sign does what, what is allowed in the world of mathematics, what isn’t, as well as the order of operations in a mathematic equation.

To put it in other words, apart from being fun and making your children better at basic math, it will also effectively teach them various new concepts, all while remaining a fun game, ensuring that they do not get bored.

Your child will thus gain an understanding of mathematics which more than likely be above the standards set by his or her school, making them more than capable of handling anything that gets thrown at them academically.

What the People Say

Whenever examining a product, especially if it is intended for your child, it is important to take a look at what those who have already tried it have to say about their experience.

In general, parents report to be very satisfied at how well the game manages to incorporate mathematics into a video game.

Those whose child does not like math mostly say how surprised they are at the fact that they managed to get into this game, speculating that it may the result of the game’s Scrabble-like design.

Needless to say, children who are into mathematics who have found this game more than satisfying as it lies in perfect balance between fun, challenging and educational.

There is one problem with this game, and it’s the quality of the actual set. Instead of being made of plastic as in Scrabble, the tiles here are made of extremely thick cardboard, meaning they are more prone to being damaged.

In addition to that, one person found that in comparison to Scrabble, there is less room for creativity as equations are longer than words. Other than that though, there really is nothing else dragging this game down.

The Final Verdict

In the end, we believe that Equate: The Equation Thinking Game is the perfect thing whether you are trying to teach mathematics to your children in an effective way, or if you are looking to give a fun toy for a child who is into mathematics.

It does very well to teach the most important mathematics concepts which your children are going to use for the rest of their lives, all while remaining a fun game. All in all, Equate actually managed to make the math learning process an enjoyable one.

We have looked around and came to the conclusion that the best place to purchase this game is Amazon, as they are offering a 16% discount on it, selling it for only $21.92.

If you would like to purchase it, simply check out the link below.

If you are a parent who is dedicated to raising his or her children, then chances are that their education is extremely important to you, but there is a slight problem; many of the programs out there are untested and far from guaranteed to work.

Fortunately though, there are some promising programs out there which may very well be as good as they claim to be. Not too long ago I came across the Children Learning Reading program, and the people behind it claimed to be able to even teach children who are only two or three years of age.

Naturally, I didn’t believe the claim at first, but then I took a look at the video proof they had which featured very young children reading surprisingly well. At that point, I tried to find out a bit about the makers of the program, Jim and Elena, and I learned that when they first developed their system they actually used it to teach their child to read before even turning three. These are only words however, so have a look at the actual video for yourself, located at the end of the post.

For Who was the Program Made?

Made for children between the ages of 2 and 6, the Children Learning Reading program is dedicated solely to teaching reading, although it should be taken into account that the program will not be suitable for children who haven’t learned how to speak yet.

At its base, reading is basically an activity which works by having the reader decode the letters and associate them with the proper sounds; the concept of phonemic awareness is extremely important when it comes to the development of a child’s reading skills.

If your child doesn’t have a very developed phonemic awareness then don’t sweat it as the early levels of the Children Learning Reading program are specifically designed to help children develop it.

If you aren’t exactly sure as to how important that concept is, then perhaps you would be interested in knowing that a large number of clinical studies, not to mention the National Reading Panel, have supported the idea that one of the most efficient ways of teaching children to read consists of developing their phonemic awareness.

An Examination of How the Children Learning Reading Program Works

The program is divided into two main stages, and each one of them comes with its own complete instructional book designed to guide you step-by-step through the different subjects. The first stage is directed towards helping your child develop mandatory reading skills. The second stage focuses on more advanced exercises which are designed to greatly improve your child’s reading skills.

The first stage contains 28 different lessons and it starts with the introduction to different upper-case alphabet letters one by one, teaching the child which sounds correspond to which letters.

Subsequently, they are introduced to very simple and basic words; naturally, as the lessons progress the words become more and more complicated, eventually forming full sentences and even stories at some point. Needless to say, by the time the first stage of the program is completed your child will some impressive reading abilities as he or she will be able to read simple stories and will even have an understanding as to how words can rhyme together.

The second stage consists of 22 lessons and was mentioned earlier, the lessons taught become more complex. Apart from teaching your child much more advanced words, sentences, stories and rhymes, the second stage also aims to teach how two letters can be combined to form a single sound, also referred to as digraphs.

What Makes the Program Different

What is it that makes the Child Reading Learning program different from the others out there? Well for starters it doesn’t require for the child to memorize phonemic rules, a concept which was implemented due to the idea that toddlers and very small children don’t take well to boring activities which have them memorize boring rules; after all, the primary goal here is to teach them to read better.

Another interesting aspect of this program is the fact that while there are quite a lot of lessons, they are each very short and dedicated to teaching one specific concept; a lesson shouldn’t take more than 10 or 15 minutes to complete. This works perfectly as small children tend to have a very short attention span and will learn much more from short and easy lessons which don’t require too much time or effort.

All in all, the Children Learning Reading program takes your child in just 12 short weeks from barely being able to understand letters to reading short children’s tales. Considering the existing proof and the sound plan which this program follows, it is more than reasonable to believe that this program actually delivers as promised, and as such I strongly recommend you consider using it to teach your child to read.

If you would like to learn more about the program, you can do by clicking the following link

Recent Findings About the Learning Process

For many years it was considered that learning was mostly a matter of repetition and that anyone could learn anything if they really put their mind to it. However, recent studies have come along to disprove that line of thinking. It was demonstrated that when information is conveyed through a humorous, clever, or distinct manner it is much more likely to be absorbed by the subject.

There was even a study* conducted at Princeton and Indiana University where two groups of students were tasked with reading textbooks. One group was to read it in a 16-point Arial font while the others were to read it in a 12-point Bodini MT, a font which is harder for the brain to process. After a short break, both groups were asked to perform exams and the group which had to read the 12-point Bodini MT font outperformed the other one 85.5% to 72.8%.
(* Study Source: http://web.princeton.edu/sites/opplab/papers/Diemand-Yauman_Oppenheimer_2010.pdf)

As most parents will confirm, kids often tend to perceive learning somewhat negatively as it just tends to bore them most of the time. However, according to the multitude of findings which researchers in the field of early education have made, if knowledge was to be passed to these children in the form of a game they would be much more likely to learn from it. As such, a few companies have tried to start their brand of educational toys, but unfortunately many of them proved to be ineffective for one reason or another. There are however a few companies which over time have proven their worth, with one of the most famous ones being MindWare.

A Bit About MindWare

Founded by Jeanne Voigt in 1990, MindWare started out as nothing but a little store with children’s toys in Minneapolis. Slowly but surely, the profits kept coming in and the company eventually grew into a cataloguer, a web retailer, and has even managed to become a distributor.

The main goal of the company is to provide high-quality learning toys for kids of all ages; they aim to teach as well as entertain. Their products are even distributed to various schools and teachers everywhere around the planet.

Apart from being very renowned, MindWare also has a 100% satisfaction guarantee plan which claims that if you are not 100% satisfied with your purchase you can return the item for a full refund.

A Look at Qwirkle

One of the most popular games released by MindWare is Qwirkle which can be best summed up as a different take on dominoes. Intended for children of ages 6 and up, the game comes with 108 wooden blocks in six different shapes and colors. The goal of the game is to connect the blocks either by color or by shape. When a player manages to build a line they earn points.

The game is designed to appeal both to children and parents alike; while kids will enjoy it as a very simple and rewarding game, adults can have their share of fun by looking at it as a strategy game, especially considering an average game lasts more than 45 minutes.

The wooden blocks themselves are quite sturdy, although it is more than possible you will lose one or two of them. In that case however, you can simply ask the company for a replacement which they will send you at no charge. The set is portable and even comes with a drawstring bag allowing your kids to take it with them for sleepovers or whenever the family goes on vacation.

Qwirkle’s Educational Benefits

To start things off, Qwirkle heavily contributes to developing a child’s matching and sorting skills, not to mention that it will develop their understanding of colors, shapes and numbers by associating them with language.

Second of all, it should be noted the Qwirkle is a competitive game in which each player tries to out-think their competition, at times for a duration of 45 minutes; it is a perfect way to keep the mind hard at work for kids.

More precisely, it will help them develop their logical thinking and strategy development skills because unlike other games such as Snakes and Ladders for example, the player does not rely on luck but on trying to think ahead of everyone else.

A Glance at Public Opinion

It seems that Qwirkle is by far the most popular MindWare educational toy on Amazon having garnered a total of 394 reviews. Out of the 394 reviews, 323 give it 5 stars, 59 give 4 stars, 8 give 3 stars, 3 give 2 stars, and only one person gave it 1 star. All in all, it is in very good standing with the community as the vast majority of people who bought Qwirkle have nothing but praise for it.

Our Verdict

All in all, Qwirkle is an excellent game for many reasons, the first one being that it can actually appeal to people of all ages. Adults and children alike find the game to be very fun and challenging for different reasons. Considering that MindWare’s goal is to create entertaining toys which educate children, it can be said that Qwirkle is one of their best achievements; most people find it to be fun and it actually helps children develop their matching, logical thinking, strategizing skills, and more. It is everything an educational toy should strive to be.

We have looked around a bit and found that Amazon is the best place to get Qwirkle seeing as how it comes at a 50% discount for $17.46. If you would like to purchase it, simply check out the Qwirkle product page.
 

Early education is not something which should be taken lightly… after all, how your child is going be when he or she grows up will largely depend on this critical period which serves to form the base for all future decision-making.

While the approach to early education has largely remained unchanged for the past few decades, it seems that some progress has been made as of late as various researchers have concluded that children learn much better when they are doing so through games. As a matter of fact, chances are that most of your school memories consist of fun moments rather than boring lectures.

Of course, it goes without saying that coming up with an educational toy is much more than a simple challenge. Apart from having to create a balance between playing and education, the maker also needs to make sure that the toy itself serves to teach useful concepts which are going to help the child later in life.

Needless to say, a large number of companies have tried to come up with such a toy and have miserably failed, with some of them even going out of business.

However, there is a company by the name of MindWare which has already been making waves in this industry for quite some time now as they have released a large number of highly-acclaimed educational toys, including the Pattern Play building blocks.

An Overview of What Pattern Play Is

Just like many of MindWare’s toys, Pattern Play is a building block set which consists of 40 high-quality pieces. In addition to the blocks themselves there are also 40 pattern design cards in order to provide children with some kind of a challenge.

In addition to that, a 10.5” square tray and a muslin storage bag are also included. The blocks themselves are coated in very vibrant colors including red, blue, orange, yellow, green, light green, purple, baby blue, dark purple and pink. It is recommended for children of ages 3 and up.

As you can probably imagine, the purpose of the MindWare Pattern Play is to have children use the building blocks in order to create various patterns according to their own ideas and imagination, or create shapes which match those on the design cards.

The concept behind the whole thing is pretty simple, but what exactly does it help to develop in a child, and does it actually work?

How the Pattern Play Helps Children to Develop

As is claimed by MindWare themselves, the blocks are designed to in order to introduce the children to basic and essential mathematic concepts such as sorting, matching, fractions, congruence and symmetry.

The idea is that for children, figuring out which piece goes where and in what direction is not only going to be educational, but it will also be a perceived as a fun and challenging game. The cards which are used to challenge children even further are sorted according to their difficulty range and they can prove to be useful for children of different ages.

In addition to teaching the children some basic mathematic concepts, the MindWare Pattern Play also contributes to expanding their capacity to think creatively as the children are also encouraged to stray from the challenging design cards in order to work on some creations of their own.

Regardless of whether the children will be trying to complete challenging designs or making their own, they are going to be learning something, not to mention that they will be having fun at the same time.

Does the Pattern Play Work?

Well, first of all it needs to be taken into consideration that this toy was meant for three year-colds, which means that they still need to be taught the most basic academic concepts there are. By following the instructions on a challenge card the child’s brain becomes stimulated as they are actively trying to find the necessary blocks by differentiating them from the other ones, an excellent method to teach visual discrimination, sorting, matching, and congruence.

If the children are a bit older, then these same blocks can be used to introduce them to what fractions are and how they work, effectively giving them an academic head-start. Also, it should be noted that the intricacy of the patterns create by the children can also be used as a very accurate indicator of their level of development, which is a very practical way of keeping track of their progress.

As far as the public opinion on the matter goes, one simply needs to take a look at the MindWare Pattern Play’s Amazon ratings. Out of the 26 reviews, 19 give 5 stars, 2 give 4 stars, 4 give 3 stars, and only 1 gave 2 stars.

The general opinion is that it is a great tool which one can use to teach various mathematical, geometric and spatial concepts to children while keeping it fun.

There were only a couple of complaints, with the main one being that the frame doesn’t allow the pieces to fit in too well, not to mention that some people felt that 40 design cards wasn’t really enough. Apart from that though, the people who tried it seem quite happy of the results.

We have looked around a bit and found that the best deal on the MindWare Pattern Play is available at Amazon as they are selling it at a 22% discount for only $23.42. If you would like to purchase it simply follow the link below
 

Learning is a never-ending and complicated process which requires different approaches depending on the age of the person. While some people may dispute it, a number of development psychology researchers firmly believe that when it comes to toddlers and children knowledge is most easily absorbed when it is presented in the form of a game.

After all, one doesn’t need to be a rocket scientist to conclude that learning is much easier, useful and pleasant when it also manages to be fun. With that line of thinking in mind, a company by the name of MindWare decided to manufacture educational puzzle toys for small children who are only getting started with the learning process.

A Brief Overview of the MindWare Imaginets

One of the most popular MindWare toys are the Imaginets which can be basically described as magnetic building blocks of various shapes and sizes… something like simplified LEGOs. There are 42 brightly colored magnetic blocks and they were designed to engage children in an activity which promotes creativity as they are encouraged not only to complete the fifty design challenges but also to come up with their own unique creations.

Apart from the building blocks themselves there is also a magnetic surface which can also be used as a dry erase board, which only serves to further stimulate children as they are encouraged to expand their creation through the use of a background.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that the wooden box in which everything comes is relatively durable, coming with reliable hinges as well as a rope which was designed specifically for small hands.

How the Imaginets Contribute to Child Development

While the Imaginets can certainly be fun from a child’s perspective, are they indeed as educational as they claim to be? Well, to start things off let’s take a look at what the game demands from the child.

Simply put, it requires children match different shapes and colors and various angles in order to solve a myriad of different challenges. Also, as was mentioned earlier, the game also places a lot of emphasis on creativity as it heavily encourages the child to stray from the pre-rendered designs in order to do expand their imagination.

Apart from developing a child’s motor skills, this toy also serves to teach children spatial and color recognition, two concepts without which navigating in this world becomes difficult. Consequently, it actually stimulates the child’s brain in completely new ways, which is pretty much how learning occurs.

What People Say About Imaginets

First of all, it should be mentioned that MindWare, the company behind Imaginets, is a legitimate BBB-accredited business which provides a 100% satisfaction guarantee for every product they promote, meaning if you are not happy with a product you can return it any time you want to for a full refund based on the purchase price.

In addition to that, they have actually been in business since 1990 when they started out as a small business; if they managed to keep expanding for more than two decades, the chances of them being untrustworthy are practically nonexistent.

As far as the Imaginets themselves go one simply needs to take a look at the available Amazon reviews to get a picture of the public opinion. Out of the 41 reviews, 33 gave it 5 stars while the remaining 8 people gave it 4 stars… which is quite amazing considering even the most popular products manage to get some bad reviews.

The general consensus is that the Imaginets magnetic blocks are the perfect child development toy from every perspective, as they are fun, challenging, and very stimulating for the younger minds.

Our Verdict

All in all, we believe that the Imaginets magnetic blocks are a very good toy for children aged from three up until five or six. They manage to actually be both fun and educational at the same time, there are absolutely no negative reviews about it and you can even return it for a full refund if it doesn’t live up to your expectations.
In the end, the approach used by Imaginets does work and hasn’t given cause for concern so far.

We found that the best place to buy MindWare Imaginets is Amazon as they can be found there at a 25% discount for only $22.54. If you would like to purchase them, simply click on link below to visit MindWare Imaginets page.
 

About Online Education and ABC Mouse

For centuries now education has always been an activity which required physical books as well as face-to-face interaction with a teacher. Even if you take a look back to how things worked only ten or twenty years ago, things were still largely the same.

However, along came the internet and opened up a world of new possibilities for many niches and industries, including that of early learning. As it happens, there are a few kids learning websites out there dedicated to providing online activities to help children acquire the foundations for academic education, with one of the most renowned being ABC Mouse.

To sum it up ABC Mouse is basically a website which contains a large number of learning activities designed for children aged between 2 and 6. There are three levels: preschool, pre-kindergarten, and kindergarten. While using this website is totally free for all public schools in Canada and the U.S., the general public has a bit more of a restricted access with only some of the features being available at no charge; to use the full capabilities of this website one must enroll in a subscription-based membership.

An Overview of the ABC Mouse Levels

There are six levels in total to their program, each one containing materials on reading, math, art & colors, and the World Around Us. The levels have been carefully designed to challenge your child, but not too harshly so as not to make things unpleasant; after all, we don’t need a scientific study to tell us that learning is much easier when it’s also fun. Here is a very quick overview of what each level covers:

ABC Mouse’s Pre-School Levels

The pre-school levels were mainly designed for children between the ages of 2 and 3 who are only starting to learn letters and numbers. There are various puzzles and activities designed to help your child develop the most basic fundamentals needed to get through life in general.

Ideally, by the end of this level your child should be able to spell the entire alphabet in upper case letters, count from one to five, have the ability to identify circles, squares, triangles, rectangles, diamonds, stars, not to mention the ability to differentiate red, yellow, blue, orange, green and purple.

Also, there is a section called The World Around Us which in this level teaches your child how to get dressed, about their body in general, as well as various ways in which you can learn while at the market.

ABC Mouse’s Pre-Kindergarten Levels

Picking up where the pre-school curriculum left off, the pre-kindergarten levels are intended for children between the ages of 3 and 6 who already have the knowledge which the previous levels bring.

In a nutshell, this curriculum teaches the alphabet in both upper and lower case letters, numbers 1 through 20, and all the basic geometric shapes (circles, squares, triangles, rectangles, diamonds and stars).

As far as arts & colors go, the levels are mostly dedicated to white, black and brown, and finally The World Around Us teaches your children about weather, plants and the connection between the two.

ABC Mouse’s Kindergarten Levels

Finally, there are the Kindergarten levels which are meant for children who know everything the last four levels teach, as well as those aged between 4 and 6 who are already somewhat familiar with the alphabet and the numbers 1 through 10.

In any case, this final curriculum aims to get your child ready for an academic life by first of all giving them an understanding of how to mix lower and upper case letters. In addition to that, numbers from 1 to 20 are thoroughly covered, as are all the geometric shapes to which hearts and ovals have been added.

As far as arts & colors are concerned, basically every color taught up until this point is used, with a couple of new additions: pink and grey. Finally, The World Around Us section aims to expand your child’s understanding about the universe, teaching them the four seasons, as well as very basic astronomy about our solar system.

Learning More about ABC Mouse’s Early Learning Features

Of course, there is much more to the early learning tools for kids ABC Mouse has in store, as amongst many things it allows you to easily track your progress, not to mention build your own lessons customized to your child’s learning style.

Needless to say, this was just a very brief and shallow overview of what ABC Mouse is and what it has to offer. You can learn more about what they have to offer by simply following this link, not to mention that some of their features are accessible for free so you can try it out without having to worry about anything.

While it is true that the Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Program comes with instructions and such, there are still a few unwritten general guidelines you should aim to follow when using the Hooked on Phonics in order to educate your kids. I highly recommend that you take a few minutes reading this post as it may end up saving you some trouble later on.

Starting Things Off

Naturally, you will want to start your child on the first level of the Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Program, dedicated to learning letter sounds. Slowly go through the first steps of the program, and as your child becomes more and more skilled try combining letter sounds in order to already have your child practice reading parts of words.

You will know that your child has mastered this level of the system when he or she can fluently string together letter sounds as well as retain information related to them.

How to Go About the Second Hooked on Phonics Level

When it comes to level two, you will begin teaching word sounds and sound combinations to your child. You should start by practicing on very common items or extremely familiar words, such as names or everyday tools. A fun and effective learning technique is to walk around the room with your child, having them identify the first letter and syllable of everything they can.

As your child is learning, you can make have them try and find objects beginning with the same letters as the ones provided on the flash cards included in the package. Once your child has mastered individual syllables and word sounds, it is time to get him or her to read entire words based on the knowledge they acquired. Until your child can read independently, do not move onward to the third part.

Teaching the Third Level of the Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Program

The third level is dedicated to teaching your child ending sounds of words, as well as how sounds can be combined together. After having gone through the theoretical part of the process, ask your child to use their knowledge of the beginning of words and think about whether or not those sounds can come at the end. Have your child go through the reading material with their newly-acquired knowledge, and keep on working until your child can read simple stories fluently.

Going Through the Fourth Hooked on Phonics Level

Once your child can read fluently, it is time to move on to level four, dedicated to teaching about vowel sounds through flash cards, musical materials as well as hands-on activities. A very effective way of speeding up the process in this part is to have your child identify nearby household items that start or end with vowels.

While you are learning you can put into place a system where each time your child wants to use an item, he or she must name it and identify the vowels of the word out loud. Of course, don’t overdo this outside of your learning time as your child will grow very weary of it.

Mastering the Fifth Level of the Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Program

Finally, once your child is capable of reading the workbooks as well as reading books out loud, it is time to move on to the fifth level of the Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Program. This level is dedicated to the learning of additional sounds and combinations that can be made with them, teaching your child to read more difficult words and more detailed stories.

In order to help your child practice at this stage it would be wise to have them read things such as cooking instructions, assembly directions or even whatever they print on cereal boxes these days. Ideally, at this point your child should have progressed tremendously from when you first started as he or she should have very little to no problems reading new words. When your child is able to read texts aloud to other people, such as the family for example, then you will know that the fifth level has been mastered.

All in all, keep in mind that there is no one concrete, foolproof approach to teaching the Hooked on Phonics system; every child is different and will require as somewhat different approach in order to succeed. If you would like to know what I thought of this program in general, then I recommend you take a look at our Hooked on Phonics review.
 
 

Hello, if you’ve landed on this page then I am guessing that you are looking to get a bit more insight into the system of thought behind reading readiness in relation to the Hooked on Phonics Learn To Read Program.

What is Reading Readiness?

To start things off it is necessary to define what reading readiness is. According to the official definition of the concept, it is a point at which a person is ready to start learning how to read. In other words, it is the phase during which a non-reader transitions into a reader.

How is it Acquired?

Contrary to what some people may think, babies actually start to work on their pre-reading skills starting from birth as they listen to what is being said around them. While they cannot really distinguish meanings yet, they can make out sounds and associate certain emotions to them. In order for a child to learn how to read, they first need some type of a grasp on the oral aspect of the language. However, it is theorized by the Ontario Government (2003) that while acquiring knowledge of the oral language comes naturally, reading is something that must be taught.

How to Develop Reading Readiness in your Child

It has been observed that children who were more exposed to literacy-related activities from a young age were much more successful when learning how to read. It is recommended that you engage in pre-reading developmental activities, which basically means that you will have to work the oral aspect of the language with your child, such as reading them children’s stories for example. What your child will learn during these critical early stages will serve as the foundation for all the knowledge they will absorb from that point on.

Before you start teaching your child you must remember that reading readiness is something arbitrary, meaning that different children will require different approaches. It may take you some time before you find a method that will produce good results. A child always learns better with someone more skilled guiding them through the learning process, whether it’s a parent or a more capable child.

How does the Hooked on Phonics System Integrate this Concept into their Program?

Well, the Hooked on Phonics Learn To Read Program actually has pre-kindergarten levels that are based on the concept of reading being a skill that is best learnt through coherent and skill-based instructions. Naturally, these levels are meant to give your child a better understanding of the oral as well as the written language before he or she goes off into kindergarten.

In order to help children attain reading readiness they provide a variety of learning materials including workbooks, flash cards, education online games and DVDs as well as step-by-step instructions that come along.

If you would like to learn more about the Hooke on Phonics system itself, then check out my Hooked on Phonics Review.