Reading Kingdom

Our family was selected to review for Reading Kingdom, an online learning program.  We received a one year membership for 2 students.

Jack was my primary student for this review.  Jack is 11, and struggles with reading, so I wanted to see if Reading Kingdom Online would help.  My second student, Katie, started the program the day after she turned 5.  The program is designed for students ages 4-10.



The first thing the program does is put the student through a placement test.  I got an email after Jack took the test, letting me know that he should start at Level 1.  After Katie took the placement test, I got an email letting me know she should start at Seeing Sequences and Letter Land, a sort of pre-learning section for kids at the very beginning of the learning to read journey.  Katie had no computer experience at all prior to this point.

The program is designed to be used a minimum of 4 days a week, and it keeps track to let you know how you're doing, frequency wise.  From the "dashboard" of the program, you can also track your student's progress.

You can see that Jack did not need the Seeing Sequences portion, and has completed Letter Land, 2 placement test sections, and is working on Level 1, as of when this screenshot was taken.

I'm surprised at how quickly he's done with the program each day.  I like that I don't have to fight to get him to work on it.  It's painless and fun.  And, I have to say, his reading has improved.  We're reading a book about Squanto aloud together, and I've noticed a real difference in how frequently he needs help with a word now, versus several weeks ago.

Miss Katie has just started the program, and gets frustrated easily, so we'll be going slow.  She is overwhelmed at learning where the letters on the keyboard are.  But she's learning how to use the mouse, and how to click on things.  I think that as she gets more comfortable with the computer, she will relax a bit and start to enjoy it more.

I like that the program specifies that she should not be getting help.  I think the inclination of most parents is to give their child some assistance, and the computer needs to know what the child knows, not the parent, so they can cater the learning experience to the child's level of ability.  When she makes little whimpering noises, it's very hard for me to keep from pointing to the correct letter for her, but instead reassure her that it's okay, that's she's still learning, that no one expects her to know where all the letters are yet.  

And how do the skills carry over into real life?  Well, since beginning Reading Kingdom, Jack has progressed enough that he's started reading for pleasure!  I had some new Level 3 readers stashed away for him, and he's asking for, and reading, a new book almost every day now.  There's been a noticeable reduction in the number of times he comes to me for help with a word, too.

You can connect with Reading Kingdom on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.  Read what other Crew families had to say about Reading Kingdom and ASD Reading (a reading program designed for autistic children) by clicking the box below:

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Pumpkin Patch

I love autumn!  Summer is wonderful, but there's also something good about the weather cooling a little, the leaves starting to turn, and the return of our school routine.  (Oh, routine, how I miss you.)

Part of the fun of autumn is making trips to Apple Hill and the pumpkin patch!  I wanted to go before the Little Ones leave so I could take some cute pictures with them.

Of course, I always imagine I will be getting cute pictures of everybody, but the reality often looks more like this.

Brianna and Katie share a moon cake on top of the hay pyramid.

Because we were going in the afternoon, I gave the teenagers the option of getting a ride home from school or coming with us.

Sam chose to get a ride home.  Eli wanted to get a ride home, but didn't.  And Brianna likes the pumpkin patch.  Like Grammy and I do.

We have this same picture almost every year going back the last several years.  The 2005 picture has Annaliese, Josiah, Samuel, Brianna, Eli, and baby Jack, who we called Furby at the time.  2011's shot hangs in our school room with Sam, Bri, Eli, Jack and Hannah.

There are a couple of "horses" kids can rope "cows" from.

I'm not sure who thought giving kids rope was a good idea?  Maybe my kids are special.

Part of the fun of Fog Willow is all the animals.  Goats, bunnies, chickens, cows, etc.

Notice Katie petting the goat?  This a really big deal.  When Katie joined our family, she was terrified of all animals.  Even fish.  The first time we took her to the pumpkin patch 2 years ago, she freaked out and started climbing up my body at the sight of the goats.

I'm starting to see maternal inclinations in Hannah, which is huge.  This means that she's absorbed and observed enough "mothering" to see understand how to nurture younger people.  She was making sure the Little Ones could see the bunnies.  She likes to help them.

One of my favorite parts of the pumpkin patch is the hay ride.  You can tell by Hannah's hair how bumpy it was!  I'm surprised I got a clear picture, the first few were blurry.

Most of us chose to sit on the less bumpy sides of the hay ride.  (The other Little One picked sitting on the floor in the hay.)

We also have several pictures with this tree over the years.  I can't believe how much my little Breezy Bunny is growing up.  

They're building a new playground structure.  They removed a couple of the older ones.  This one is designed to look like a tractor, with huge tires at the climbing tunnels.

Since this will likely not be our only pumpkin patch event this month, I had the kids pick out a tiny pumpkin each instead of getting a big one for the front porch.  I'm in the process of glittering mine (thank you, Pinterest) and will share pictures when it's finished.

Happy Autumn!

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Our Week with a Birthday and a Fire Truck

Can't believe it's October already!  Pretty soon, we'll have beautiful autumn leaves to enjoy.

Little Miss Katie turned 5 this week.  She's had 3 birthdays with our family now.

She got new games for her Leap Pad, a bus (she's obsessed with buses), and a ride on toy.

That's a very teal smile you've got there, Katie!

In cased you missed it, Hannah has been working on learning Mandarin, and we have review up for Middlebury Interactive Languages up, if you're interested in online language programs.

We did an art project this week!  The first project on the Home Art Studio Third Grade DVD is a more complex color wheel than the ones we did last year.

We were instructed to cut them out and keep them handy to refer to in future projects.

We've been able to get more schooling done this week because a friend is helping out with the Little Ones during our school time so we can work without constant interruptions.

They will be moving on next week, so we'll push hard to catch up after they go.

Autumn Moon Festival (a Chinese holiday) happened.  Paul bought the girls some cute panda moon cakes.

Brianna snagged one to take to school.  She actually likes them.  I think she's the only one, lol.

I pulled out the autumn foamy beads for Katie to make a fall necklace.  Great fine motor practice.

The completed project.  She's also just started using the computer, now that she's 5!  She likes to hang out in the school room with us while we work.  I need to get better about setting her up with activities she can do.  Usually she's content to just read a book or do a puzzle.  If she gets bored, she'll wander off and play in her room or downstairs.  I had such high hopes of doing kindergarten with her this year, and so far, it's just not happening.  Maybe that will change after the Little Ones are gone.

In other news, Brianna and I went shopping a couple days and found her a dress for Homecoming!  Please note, that is not my baby on the floor.  He belongs to a friend who was over.

Zach has returned safely from the Middle East.  Brayden spent the day here while Zach and Heather moved.  They're on base now, which is nice for Zach from a commute perspective, but I will miss having them here in town with us.

Jack Jack has started reading for pleasure!  Folks, this is huge.  I've got a stash of new books to tempt him with, and he's actually enjoying it.  I'm so excited.  He's still not up to his grade level, but he's made significant progress in the last few weeks.  I can't wait to share with you next week the reading program he's been working on.

We played a Native American "twig toss" game.  You put your hands out, palms down, and your partner places 4 sticks across them.

Then you fling them up in the air and see how many you can catch.

Longtime readers may remember the top picture above.  Paul served on the apparatus committee a couple years ago and one of the new fire engines spent the night at our house on it's way to the city he works for.

Well, history repeated itself yesterday, when the new fire truck made a stop at our house for a couple of hours between servicing and going back to the department.  The kids were facing into the bright sun yesterday, so it's not a smiley picture, but it is all the same characters.

The fire truck completely dwarfs our house in the background.

Lukey looks like a baby in the giant fire truck, but he's getting big.  His belly pops out of his 4T shirts now.  I've been trying to get him to practice walking with Hannah's old walker that she used before she got her prosthetic, but his inclination is to lean back instead of forward, so I have to keep one hand on the front bar and one hand behind him, in case he lets go.

The Little Ones have gotten used to Luke.  Sometimes he will pick up something they've been playing with and there will be a scuffle, but for the most part, the coexist well.

Last week we were almost done with Week 3.  This week, we not only finished 3, we also finished Week 4, despite not getting any school done on the day Brayden was here.  This was the sixth week of school, so we're still 2 weeks behind, but I feel like we've stopped the bleeding at this point.

Jack and Hannah enjoyed the extra play time when we weren't working, and they've been real troopers about buckling down and getting back into it.  I haven't had any complaints, which is so nice.  We worked really hard one day, and when they started getting fidgety, I looked at the clock and realized it was noon already!  We got a lot done that morning.

We don't have all the pictures back from our photo shoot yet, but we did get this "preview" shot.  This is my "class" for the school year.


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