Do you have 15 minutes? Do you have a child that needs a bit of extra help learning how to read? If this sounds like you, you have to hear about Children Learning Reading. It’s one of the best programs out there to help youngsters learn how to read and love it in the process.
This program could help your child not only read better, but also turn them into consumers of books, graphic novels, autobiographies, and other literature.
Yes, in just 15 minutes a day, your child can get a leg up on reading, all while becoming a better student in the process. Let’s dive in and learn more about this great program.
Intro To Children Learning Reading
A man named Jim Yang is the creator of Children Learning Reading. He used the program to teach his kids, all of whom were 3 and under, to read. Granted, the kids were not reading Dickens or Yeats at this time, but they were doing far more than kids their age.
How could Yang have done such a thing? It’s all in the construction of the program itself. The curriculum is designed to appeal and cater to children between the ages of 2 and 3, but any child who is having issues reading can benefit. If a child is very behind, the fact that it is an introductory program to reading means it is less intimidating and more accessible.
The goal of the program is to help youngsters develop phonemic awareness. By doing this, they will become more fluent readers as they grow older and take in more difficult texts. And the main benefit of phonemic awareness, or the ability to understand individual letter sounds, helps them sound out every word and become independent readers faster.
Program Overview
The program is composed of several bite-size lessons that your children need to practice their reading. After purchasing the program, you need to only take a few minutes each day for a few weeks, and your child will slowly but surely begin saying and reading many words.
There are 50 lessons in total, broken up into Stage 1 and Stage 2. Per Yang, parents should begin the reading process at age 2.5 as that is when kids begin speaking relatively clearly. But, it can be done earlier so long as the child has begun speaking.
Who Is Jim Yang?
Jim Yang is a dad of three, and a reading teacher. He and his wife Elena worked to create this program. They explored many already available reading products for kids, but none of them really had what he was looking for.
As a result, Elena and Jim created their own program and tried it out on their child. When it worked with him, they had other people try it out. The program did well, so Jim and Elena decided it was time to market it.
How Does Children Learning Reading Work?
Yang based his program upon phonics and phonemics recognition and repetition. A phoneme is a sound a letter makes when you speak it. For instance, the letter T. When teaching kids how to read and pronounce T, you say “T… Tee, tee, tuh…” and so on. You are using a variety of sounds to help the child understand how to say the letter.
Yang divided the program into two different stages. Your purchase comes with instructional workbooks and lessons broken down into easy parts for each of the stages. In the initial stage, Yang shows you all the tools needed to build foundational skills your child will need to begin reading. It offers all you need to boost your child’s fluency in reading.
In Stage 2, you are given all you need to take the reading skills learned in the first stage to the next level. Let’s learn about what you get in each stage.
Stage 1
This portion consists of 28 lessons. Each of these lessons gives kids the skills needed to decode and take in printed words. The lessons will show your child sounds and letters in an order that is intuitive and helpful.
They will also introduce your child to basic words and have your kid performing various activities to boost their fluency. As the lessons go on, they get harder, teaching your child advanced skills such as rhymes, full sentences, and small stories. By the time this lesson is over, your child has all they need to get reading at the most basic level.
Stage 2
This is where things get advanced. Here, you will find 22 lessons consisting of advanced knowledge such as diagraphs. (These are nothing more than letters put together, by the way). They will then learn rhymes, lesson stories, bigger words, and sentences. This is going to be a game-changer for your child’s fluency in reading.
It’s great though because the skills really help your child learn instead of just memorizing, as is the case with sight words. As your child does these lessons, they will learn basic reading along the way, all while having a good time.
How Long Is Each Lesson?
Each lesson is bite-sized and perfect for young readers who don’t have lots of attention. Some are just 10 minutes long. Others take 3 minutes only. The program in total lasts just 12 weeks. It’s easy to repeat to enforce the skills your kid has learned, too.
More Cool Features
The primary goal of this program is to make your child a fluent reader when they see lowercase and capital letters. The program is packed with basic strategies for reading, plus detailed lessons your child can use to master the intricacies of sounding out words and tackling new words/letters.
Using these strategies, parents can instruct their child the names of each letter and the sounds they make. There are several ideas and strategies about blending and combining letter sounds so words can be easily sounded out and read, eventually committed to memory.
You need not worry about executing the lessons, either. It’s all organized for you, and there are even strategies about how to handle kids who resist the teaching. You’ll learn how to present the lessons in a variety of ways so your child stays engaged.
Everything is in PDF format, which is both good and bad. On one hand, you can pull it up on any device when it’s time to learn, but on the other, you will have to print it out when it’s time to fill in the worksheet. There are also cue cards included with the Premium package, so you will want to print those out when it’s time to use those.
Another reason these lessons are easy to implement is the audio recordings of letters. These are great especially for people who speak English as their second language- in some cultures, letters are pronounced differently and this can make learning a bit difficult. But thanks to these recordings, it becomes much easier.
Pros and Cons of Children Learning Reading
Pros
- Easy to practice, easy for kids to understand
- Many other happy parents/caregivers have used and enjoyed the program
- Lessons are short but fun for kids
- It’s affordable
- There is a money-back guarantee if you’re not satisfied
Cons
- Every child learns differently- this program is not a guarantee your child will be fluent in reading
- Digital-only- you’ll have to print out course materials to have a physical copy available.
Buying Guide: Premium or Standard?
Children Learning Reading includes a few great bonuses you are sure to enjoy. Let’s learn about them now:
Standard & Premium Version: You can choose either edition; both will benefit your child. But, the bonuses are different for each one. Let’s learn about each.
Standard Version
- 1v1 Counseling:If you’re stuck on a lesson, or need additional help, Yang can help you. He offers 1 on 1 counseling for the program.
- Free Upgrades: Every time an update is made to the program, you will get it free of charge.
- Rhyming: You will get a helpful nursery rhyme booklet with your purchase, designed to help your child internalize rhyming words and have fun reading. It’s for use after they have completed all lessons.
- Sight Words: This program is much more than sight words. But, these are used as a bonus tool in this program. You will get a list of sight words for children that you can make into flashcards if you wish.
- Letter Audio: Kids learn language and reading by hearing as much as they do actually taking in books. So, you can use these audio clips to help your child learn to read faster. All letters are included for your convenience.
- Advanced Stories: After your child takes in all the short stories and completes all lessons and bonus content, you can show them some of these advanced stories. They’re great fun for kids to read and a good “mile marker” for parents to use as they check on their child’s progress.
- Short Stories: These are easier than the Advanced Stories and great for your child to build confidence in themselves as they read the stories again and again. The subject matter of these stories is enjoyable and interesting for kids.
Bonuses with the Premium Program:
- With the Premium program, you get everything you would get with the Standard program. Alongside those bonuses, here’s what else you get:
- Children Learning Reading Video Edition: This is the whole program, delivered to you in video formatting. It has all the strategies needed in a handy, easy-to-watch format.
- Printouts: You will get printout worksheets for Stages 1 and 2 that your child can use to practice their skills. You’ll also get the Stage 2: Rhymes booklet also. The illustrations match up with the lessons in Stage 2 and are great for helping kids remember what they’ve learned.
- These tools are just perfect for helping all parents assume the role of instructor, even if you don’t have any early childhood education experience.
- Children Learning Reading Workshop & Lessons: These are beautifully produced DVDs that showcase Ethan, a two-year-old, learning how to read. Ethan is the son of Jim and Elena, and you will get an example of how to use the program with a real toddler.
Is This Program Right For Me?
Many of you are wondering if your child is a good fit for the program. Yang created this program to be compatible with kids aged 2-6. But even so, parents with kids older than 6 can benefit. If your child is behind their grade level, try this program out. It gives them activities and fun things to do that they can understand, and build their confidence with.
The program is chock-full of concepts that any child can use to decode printed words. After they get through the program, your child will be able to look at and pronounce words correctly and clearly. The program is ideal for preschoolers, kindergarteners, elementary kids, and any youngster that could use a bit of help mastering reading.
In Conclusion
Children Learning Reading is truly a revolutionary program; a one-of-a-kind thing you just have to have in your “school readiness” toolbox. Reading is fundamental to everything we do in life- everything from sending and receiving text messages, to reading a menu, to being able to work and provide for yourself is all based upon reading.
Not only that, a love of reading makes your child smarter and gives them the chance to learn about a relaxing and stress-busting hobby. Nothing beats a good book you just can’t put down.
Leave frustration about reading in the past and set your child up for success. Get your copy of Children Learning Reading Today!
Hey, wait…
You’re still here! Glad you stuck around. Another great program I’d like to mention is called Hooked on Phonics. It’s been around forever, and for good reason- kids learn tons of useful information about reading, sentences, sentence structure, and more with this program. It’s great for older kids, so this in conjunction with Children Learning Reading can help your child greatly.