I’ve tried out different reading programs and I’ve been wondering if anyone has any insight into Raz-Kids and Beestar? We’ve tried both and we’ve really liked Beestar’s classical stories and grammar sections. Does anyone else feel the same too?
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Hi @lorixcollins I actually have a good amount of experience with reading development in children and interventions when children are struggling with learning how to read reading development. There are a few different factors that help determine which reading program might be best for a child.
A program that a child is willing to engage with or likes certainly helps because consistency and repetition are needed for reading to improve. However, some programs are better than others at improving different skills at different ages and levels of skill development. So more information about the ages and skill level would be helpful.
Also, this report https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED489535.pdf while from 2005 is a really comprehensive analysis of reading and reading interventions.
Your question is very timely as I am working on an article for the Articles section of mamapedia about reading and reading interventions so please feel free to post any specific questions you might have and I will try to address those in the article to the best of my ability.
I too would love to hear from others about their experiences with reading programs and the context within which a program seemed to help or not help.
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Thank you for your response!
I agree with finding a program that suits the kid’s needs, which means, there isn’t one program that will fit all the kids. Right now I’m looking into reading programs for kids in elementary school. I’ve used Raz-Kids and Beestar, but I wanted to hear other people’s opinions on these programs (or even others!).
All in all, just trying to get a discussion going to see if there are any other programs people would recommend.
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@lorixcollins getting a discussion going is certainly what mamapedia is all about and this is a great topic. One program that I have recommended in the past is https://www.jwor.com/ Language Tune-Up. It is a program designed to remediate dyslexia/reading disorder, but the fundamental activities and step by step system to attaining reading mastery are valuable for any developing reader.
Another strategy that elementary school children generally love is paired or shared reading where you let the child choose a book that is at to just slightly above reading level and you take turn reading sentences or paragraphs. Great one on one attention and the reading practice is paired with comfort. Don’t correct child reading errors unless asked.