Fisher-Price Ready for School Reading

For those preschoolers who need a good introduction to the ABC's, this is a good program. For those who are ready for letter sounds, or parents who want to emphasize letter sounds, it is only mediocre. The Little People featured here are cute, and peaceful. Therefore the program does not have the frenetic pace of other programs. The emphasis here, however, is on letter names and beginning sounds. Phonics purists will do better with Dr. Seuss Preschool.

Your child can use this program with or without mouse skills. By clicking on "no mouse skills," your preschooler will simply need to tap on the keyboard to progress to various activities. For this reason, the program would be a good choice for a very young child who was showing signs of accelerating in reading, but had little small motor dexterity yet. You can also set this program for "board game" play, or "free play" mode. In board game mode, the program will walk your child through each letter and activity in sequence. When I free play mode, your child clicks on a key and that letter appears. Your child is then free to choose from any of the four activities.

In Little People land, there are four activities which will introduce your child to letters, rhyming words, matching, listening comprehension and more. At one stop, they will decorate a letter of the alphabet with stamps starting with that particular letter. At another stop, your child will match letters.

Two other activities round out the instructional portion of the program. When visiting the farm, your child will peek behind the barn doors to find rhyming words. If all other activities are completed (in board game mode,) your child will write a story in the story castle. Here they can choose one of two words starting with each letter they have learned. The story is then animated using the selected pictures.

Throughout the program, the real emphasis is on letter names rather than sounds. Beginning sounds are taught by showing pictures starting with that letter, rather than isolating each letter sound. For that reason, this is a good introduction program,

but can not substitute for a more substantial phonics program. While we love the Fisher-Price Little People programs, this one was met with less enthusiasm than others. Preschoolers will enjoy it, but frankly there are better reading programs around.

A good program for toddlers, but preschoolers will fare much better with one of the other strong preschool reading programs.

Grading for Fisher-Price Ready for School Reading

Educational Value- 3 1/2

Entertainment Value- 3 1/2

Replay Value- 3

Ages- 2-4

While this title has been replaced, you can still find Ready for School Preschool at CDAccess.com http://www.cdaccess.com/html/quick/007800.htm