Let the Computer Teach Your Kid to Read
Reading is a fundamental skill that most children develop early in life, but some children experience difficulties when trying to learn to read. Although books and learning techniques are designed to help children learn to read, not all of them capture a child's imagination and make him want to learn. Because of this, computer games, educational software and other entertaining computerized options may succeed where other reading tutors fail.
Other People Are Reading
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Reading Games
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Reading games are available as both online activities and standalone software. Websites such as PBSKids.org and the Nick Jr. Boost subscription area at NickJr.com provide preschoolers with reading and language-skills games based on popular characters from their respective networks. Software games such as those the "Reader Rabbit" series and "Bookworm" series found at the Software for Kids website teach reading and spelling to children from preschool age and up. Both types of games present reading activities in a manner that is fun for children, helping them to read while creating positive associations with the act of reading itself. Some of these games are designed for parents to play along with their children, while other games are self-guided so that children can play them alone. Many of the games have received official recognition from parents' and teachers' groups, such as the 150 awards won by the "Reader Rabbit" series and the WiredKids Safety "Best of the Web" award that PBSKids.org has won twice.
Educational Software
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Not all reading-related software comes in the form of games. Some reading software such as Starfall Education's "Learn to Read" series and Learning Today's Education Software Review Awards-winning "Smart Tutor" software provide reading practice and instruction for preschool and elementary-aged children. The lessons taught by educational software titles such as these are typically more focused than those found in games because the primary purpose of educational software is to teach rather than entertain. Depending on the format of the specific program, quizzes and other reading tests may be included in the software to help monitor the development of your child's reading skills.
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Online Tutoring
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Some websites offer educational materials designed to help both children and adults with their reading. Preschool-focused websites such as Montessori Home's LearnToReadFree.com offer reading lessons and activities aimed at younger children, while all-ages websites such as K12Reader.com offer lessons, activities and worksheets designed by actual teachers to help elementary-aged and older students strengthen their existing reading skills. These online tutoring websites are often free, although the amount of content that they contain and the quality of that content varies greatly from one site to the next. The interactivity of games and other educational software is often missing from these websites. Those aimed at younger children tend to feature animations and basic interactive features to hold a child's attention.
Reading Videos
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Online reading videos range from read-along animated shorts to story time videos in which someone reads a book for the camera. Reading videos can be found on a number of streaming video websites such as the "Rock n' Learn" video series on YouTube.com, while commercially released reading videos can be found on subscription-based services such as the "Netflix for Kids" portion on Netflix and Amazon.com's Amazon Prime. Streaming episodes of long-time favorite shows such as the Daytime Emmy Award-winning "Reading Rainbow" can be watched online. As with some online tutoring websites, online video content offers no interaction to children, so it may not always be as effective as other educational software titles.
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