Reader Rabbit's Reading Ages 4-6

Copyright: KBkids.com

Reader Rabbit's Interactive Reading Journey has been one of the mainstays in the computer industry for quite a few years. This program has undergone a transformation of sorts, and is found in this new TLC title. Reader Rabbit's Reading Ages 4-6 includes 2 CD's. The first is what used to be called Reader Rabbit's Interactive Reading Journey. The second is The Reading Development 1 Library, and retains it's original name. You will not find the cute pre-printed booklets which were included in the original program, but everything else is intact.

Sam the Lion need to find the crown to the lost Kingdom of Reading. Reader Rabbit will help him in his reading journey. Along the way, your child will learn many important reading skills. Each screen emphasizes a different letter. There is a cute poem for each letter, but seldom do they isolate the letter sound for the child, which would have been helpful. On each screen there is a skill house where your child can play word recognition games. They incorporate a very small amount of blending practice here, but not much. The emphasis is on learning the words that will be encountered in each book. As a child gets a word wrong, the computer adds that word to later games so that they can gain the needed mastery. Each skill screen contains two read-along books which utilize the newly learned words. A new feature allows your child to record his or her own voice as the story is read.

The competency level desired can be set by you as the parent. The program recommends 80% accuracy for most cases. You must follow the Reading Road through Letter Land while you learn the sounds of each consonant, and several consonant blends. There is no specific emphasis on vowel sounds. Plenty of the words in the program can be sounded out, but teaching that skill will be somewhat up to you as the parent. It is possible to allow your child full access to the program, rather than forcing a screen by screen mode, but this is not highly recommended.

The Reading Development Library CD includes fun versions of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, as well as The Three Little Pigs. These are fairly standard interactive storybooks, with two innovative twists. When you choose which story to listen to, you will also choose one of three different points of view! If for example, you are listening to The Three Little Pigs you will choose the classic version, one told from the viewpoint of the second little pig, or one told from the wolf's viewpoint. Other games such as putting the story in the correct order, and vocabulary matching games are well done. You will also find pretend "e-mail" features. Your child will fill out an e-mail form to be sent to one of the characters in the story. A few minutes later, Reader Rabbit will deliver a personalized response to your child's inquiries. This is a fun and new way to enhance reading comprehension.

This program package will remain one of the standards in the learning to read category. It is well done, and has been time tested. It still lacks vowel recognition, a potentially serious flaw. Other than that, you will find this a great program for beginning readers in your home.

Bottom Line: As a reincarnation of Reader Rabbits Interactive Reading Journey, this will remain one of the mainstays in learning to read software. Still lacks vowel practice, but otherwise a great package.

Ratings: (based on KBkids.com's 4 star rating system)

Overall: 4

BrainGain: 4

FunFactor: 3

EasePlease: 3 1/2

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