Review: Reading Unlocked

I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
We received 12 months of access to Reading Unlocked’s online learning to read program to review for all of you.  Over the past few weeks, I’ve been working on Reading Unlocked’s program with my 4.5 year old son.  Being the youngest in a family of 5 kids, he’s eager to catch up with his siblings and start reading.

When we first started Reading Unlocked, honestly I didn’t love the program.  I found many of the words didn’t match up to what we typically call items here in the United States.  My preschooler particularly struggled with the concept of a hat being called a cap.  He also struggled with a water faucet being referred to as a tap.

There were also times that I even had a particularly hard time understanding what word the program was trying to get us to use.  One that we struggled with was “ran” and “rang”.  The accent of the computer was hard to differentiate for us.

One part that I wish had a little more instruction is the letter writing practice.  It simply shows the letter and says “draw it in the air and then write a row of them on paper”.  I think having a little animation showing how to write the letter would be very appropriate rather than just showing the letter and asking a young child to write it.  This was definitely a program that I had to be right with my son the entire time he was working.

Once we got used to the accent and the way things were done, we both started enjoying the program.  It’s suggested to use the program several times during the week for about 10-15 minutes each session.  My son asks to do Reading Unlocked daily, but we typically do it about once or twice a week.  I felt that it was a little more advanced for him at the beginning, so we are taking it slower than most.  Taking it slower has helped build his confidence and get frustrated less.  We are spending the other days practicing the letters and words we learned.

I’m super pleased and surprised at how quickly he is picking up on the words at a young age!  Thanks to Reading Unlocked, he has been recognizing the word “cat” and others when we read books together.  He also is starting to try to write more words or asking me how to spell things.  The other day, he made his deputy dad chuckle when he was able to read and write the word “cop”!

 

My son’s favorite part was the “Say it with me” section.  A letter would flash on the screen and the child was to make the sound of that letter.  He loved being surprised with what letter would come up next.  Overall, we are thankful we had a chance to review this program and we plan to continue working on it at our slower pace over the next year.

For more information on Reading Unlocked, please visit their Facebook page.  You can also find out more on the Reading Unlocked website.

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