Learn Phonics, Spelling & Typing The Fun Way With Read, Write & Type - Review
Learning to read is one of our major milestones in life. For some children, reading comes easily and for other children, it can be a struggle to learn. I’ve been homeschooling for many years and over that time I’ve learned so much. This is partly from trial and error and also from talking to many other homeschooling mothers with children older than mine.
Disclosure: I received a free copy of this product for review, all opinions are 100% my own.
I’ve come to realize that not all children are ready to learn to read when they are 4 or 5 years old like my oldest did. Many children are not ready to learn to read until they are 6 or 7. If they are right-brain learners often they are not ready to learn to read until they are between the ages of 8 to 10.
If you haven’t studied learning styles in depth this can cause so much stress to a parent and if you're a homeschool parent you might be tempted to believe what some say that they would learn better in a public school.
But just hang on a minute, I’m a firm believer that we learn something when our brains have matured enough to understand it. I also believe that HOW we are taught something has a huge impact on how well we learn it. I also know that my friends who are public school teachers have the same struggle in their classrooms!
So what would happen if a right-brain learner or a struggling reader tried a reading program that fits their learning style? You would find joyful success! This is is what happened in my home after trying Read, Write & Type from Talking Fingers Inc.
Right Brain Reading Lessons With Read, Write & Type
Read, Write & Type Phonic Lessons
Read, Write & Type is a multisensory reading program. Children use their eyes, ears, mouths, and fingers during their reading lessons. Getting your whole body moving helps your brain to remember the lessons.
As children learn a new phonic sound they also learn the letter that uses that sound and how to type that letter at the same time.
Read, Write & Type was created for children ages 6 to 9 and is also wonderful for children of any age who are struggling readers or who are English as second language learners. This isn’t just a reading program either it’s an integrated approach to help children learn phonics, reading, spelling, writing, vocabulary, punctuation, and typing.
Phonic sounds Read, Write & Type
It’s made up of 40 lessons that take approximately 15 minutes each to work through. Read, Write & Type uses an adventure story to get children interested in the lessons.
When the program first starts children are introduced to two Helping Hands named Lefty and Rightway. They show you 2 cute little houses that look just like 2 halves of the keyboard. Each letter has its own name and character as a storyteller.
Just before they are going to share some stories with you along comes the mischievous computer virus named Vexor. Vexor hates stories and steals the letters to stop the storytellers from writing down the stories. All is lost unless the children can beat Vexor through the 40 levels to win back the storytellers!
Online Reading Games
How We Have Used Read, Write & Type
Online Reading Lessons
I have been using Read, Write & Type for my 7-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter and they are both loving it. I’ve tried many different reading programs with both of them and so far I’m seeing the best results with Read, Write & Type.
When we first started the program my son was hooked the second knotty old Vexor came on the screen and sucked up the letters. He was determined he would save the storytellers from wherever Vexor had hidden them!
The program uses colorful characters, sounds, and interactive lessons that really help him keep his attention. I have them both do 1 lesson a day as part of our morning computer work.
They both enjoy the program enough that they often do more than 1 lesson a day. Hey, anytime a child wants to do more lessons that tells me something is working!
What I Think Of Read, Write & Type
Read Write Type Lesson
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this program at first. I’ve tried many, many online reading programs before, and some I’ve enjoyed there were always things I wasn’t quite happy with. So far I haven’t found anything that wasn’t a good fit for our family with Read, Write & Type.
I love that this reading program uses a simple story of Vexor stealing all the storytelling letters because he hates to hear stories and hides them. My children are having so much fun working their way through reading lessons just so they can save the letter and hear a new story!
Unlike some programs we’ve tried, there is no busy work or senseless games. Every lesson teaches something important but it’s done in such a way that it is fun. Lessons are not always easy some they’ve been really challenged with but the format motivated them to keep going.
e-mail practice Read, Write & Type
Children can practice typing emails! This is just part of the lesson and they are not really sent anywhere.
One of the things that attracted me to try Read, Write & Type was that it is designed to help children who have difficulty reading and writing. All of the instructions are given in clearly recorded speech. These auditory instructions are played with on-screen graphical illustrations. Having both options really helps a child understand what is being asked of them.
The program's response to an error is never judgmental or negative in any way. Instead, children can repeat the instructions as many times as needed. Feedback is always positive and will show the lesson again to the children saying and showing the correct letter to type and how to type it.
Some of my children have dysgraphia struggles. If you don’t know what this is, it’s basically a struggle with handwriting. It’s common in dyslexics and learning to type is so much easier than handwriting if you have dysgraphia because typing uses a very different motor visual skill set than handwriting does.
That is one reason that Read, Write & Type teaches children how to type while they learn to read.
The process of seeing a sound, saying a sound, and typing that sound helps the brain to use more “parts” to remember the lesson. In our family, we don’t stop handwriting but practice it as a separate skill from reading. I’ve found as my children get older and keep practicing handwriting does become easier for them, however, typing is their first choice.
Just tonight while we were having supper my son wanted to share some of what he’s learned in his lessons. He excitedly told me that all names and sentences start with capital letters and sentences end with a period. I really didn’t think I’d find a program that would get a busy, active little boy excited about grammar! (smile) For our family Read, Write & Type has been a wonderful blessing.
If you would like to see if Read, Write & Type is a good fit for your family you can try the first 8 lessons for FREE!
