The Reading Kingdom Blog

Educational activities for kids: How to make a courtyard column

February 7, 2012

Do you have a child, or a classroom full of children excited to explore the fascinating civilization of Ancient Greece? Then you’ll love this Reading Kingdom recommended educational activities for kids.

Explore Ancient Greece! 25 Projects, Activities, Experiments by Carmella Van Vleet is an activity book for young readers ages 6 – 9. The book features 25 hands-on projects, activities, and experiments to help kids learn about ancient Greek homes, food, playtime, clothing, conquests, arts and entertainment, gods, and more.

Click here to download this excellent educational activity for kids: How to make a courtyard column.

Here’s what author Carmella Van Vleet has to say about this activity:

“Cover your workspace with newspaper. Stand the toilet paper roll on top of the cardboard. Carefully draw two matching circles that are slightly bigger than the end of the paper roll. Cut the circles out with the scissors.” (Download the rest of the activity instructions here.)

Are there educational activities for kids that you recommend? Let us know in the comments below.

Looking for reading activities for kids online? The Reading Kingdom online reading program and game is great for teaching kindergarten reading, 1st grade reading, 2nd grade reading, and 3rd grade reading. Sign up today for our 30 day free trial. It’s risk-free!

Carmella Van Vleet

Carmella Van Vleet is a former teacher and the author of Amazing Ben Franklin Inventions You Can Build Yourself, Seven Wonders, several titles in the Explore Your World Series, How to Avoid School Snafus, Writing Club, and Writing Club II. She lives in Lewis Center, Ohio.

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Dyslexia and Learning to Read

February 6, 2012

In an interview between Mary Nix, Home Education Magazine Newsletter Editor and Dr. Marion Blank, founder of the Reading Kingdom. An in-depth conversation took place, with lots of insightful information on learning to read with dyslexia and how the Reading Kingdom could help. Here is part of the interview for you to read and share your thoughts!

Mary: And how might your program help a child who is dyslexic?

Dr. Blank: Dyslexic children have trouble with “naming;” that is, they find it difficult to come up with the words they need to label objects and persons.

All of us experience this to some extent with the annoying “tip of the tongue” phenomenon. That’s the unpleasant experience of wanting to name something but being unable to come up with the word. It seems to be stuck on the “tip of your tongue.”

In spoken language, the naming problems generally do not pose too much of a problem because the children can easily get around most difficulties. For example, if a child wants a marker and can’t come up with the word, he or she can point and say, “Please can I have that?” or say, “Pass me that thing.”

In reading, however, those maneuvers don’t work. You can’t look at a word and decide to call it “thing” or “that.” Further, the sounding out that the children are encouraged to do only exacerbate the problems. Essentially each sound you have to come up with is like a separate name. In sounding out a three-letter word like cat, for example, a child has to come up with kuh-aa-tuh. Now one word has three “names” that have to be blended together. Parents and teachers are familiar with the phenomenon and the anguish it causes the children. But all the programs they have been given fail to overcome the problem.

One technique that does help is over-learning, This term refers to the idea of learning an association so well that it is easy to recall. Reading Kingdom has been uniquely designed to capitalize on this. All the teaching of words involve numerous repetitions of the same word-a key to over-learning. At the same time, the material is designed to provide enough variety so that the child’s interest and attention are maintained. This is just one of the components built into the system to ease the learning of children with dyslexia.

If you teach dyslexic children or if your child has dyslexia, be sure to add the Reading Kingdom learning software for kids into your curriculum. Learn more about our reading strategies for struggling readers. Then try the first 30 days risk free to see the budding reader your child can become!

Kristen Butler

Kristen is part of the marketing team at the Reading Kingdom and a regular contributor to the Reading Kingdom Blog. She has a background in journalism and is a new mom who looks forward to sharing the love of literacy with her daughter! Her favorite books as a child were the Collections of Peter Rabbit and Friends.

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Children think they’re playing when using this learning software for kids!

February 3, 2012

Hattie Ramos Bruner over at The Blog. Oh No! was excited to see her son log into the Reading Kingdom online learning software for kids. Here’s what she had to say about her son’s experience with what is rapidly becoming known by parents as the Reading Kingdom “Learning game for kids”!

“Reading Kingdom was one of the BEST trials I ever did. And the funny thing. I didn’t do anything other than sign my son up for it. He has done all the work. He adores the sessions through Reading Kingdom. Every night since his sign up he asks “When do my sessions start?” Here my unruly 7 year old who usually I fight tooth and nail to get to do his regular homework WANTS to hop online and start the newest session of Reading Kingdom.

I recommend this to any parent whose children needs a extra boost in their studies. By the second night, he was comfortable with the program and the keyboard and actually argued with me that he wanted to go to start the next one instead of calling it a night. He doesn’t even realize he is learning, he thinks it’s a interactive game. Of course, I’m not going to tell him any different. The program speaks for itself when I say, sign your child up. They will WANT to do it. Plus the progress reports get sent to your email to let you know where your child stands and what program they recommend for your child. Thank-you MomFuse & Reading Kingdom. This is one program I will be purchasing when this trial when it’s over.”

If you’re looking for learning software for kids that will make them think they are playing a game, sign up for Reading Kingdom! Our award-winning, patented online learning software for kids is a useful resource for parents, teachers and homeschoolers up to a third-grade level. We’re so sure that your children will love using the Reading Kingdom that we’re giving you the first 30 days free to prove it!

Kristen Butler

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Book for kids to read: Fantasic Mr. Fox

February 2, 2012

Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl is a great book for kids to read. Melissa Gaynor explains why:

“What You Need to Know:
• Fantastic Mr. Fox is a unique, quirky story of serious conflicts with grave results that will inspire great discussions.

• The animals talk and work together as a team under the leadership of Mr. Fox.

• Be aware of the strong language – about killing, guns and shooting and even Mr. Fox calling his son a “twerp” – and
the sometimes violent message.

• The meaning of the story may be confusing – what is usually “right” is wrong.

• Younger children may enjoy hearing the book read aloud as long as it is explained and they don’t scare easily.

Summary:
This book covers a lot of territory – good vs. evil, right versus wrong, robbing from the rich to feed the poor, gun control. Mr. Fox is definitely fantastic. At least that is what his wife and kids think when he brings them a delicious meal every night. On the other hand, the three farmers that he is stealing from in order to provide these meals are not too happy with him. To make things more complicated, the three farmers are the meanest, most horrible people you could ever imagine. They figure out that the fox is the culprit and are determined to do something about it. “I’d like to rip his guts out” and “He must be killed” are just some of their suggestions. “

Have your children read Fantastic Mr. Fox? What did they think of the book?

To further your child’s reading skills, check out the reading programs for kids. The Reading Kingdom is a fun, easy-to-use online program that teaches children 4-10 years old how to read and write to a third grade level. You can sign up for a 30 day free trial, risk free!

Sweet on Books

Melissa Gaynor and Melissa Young live in a small town outside of New York City and have five children between their two families. Their children and a shared passion for children’s books brought them together as friends and business partners. Voracious readers with dreams of opening a children’s bookstore, they parlayed their passions into creating Sweet on Books and establishing themselves as two of the leading children’s book reviewers on the web.

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An Interview with the Reading Kingdom Owl!

February 1, 2012

If you’re familiar with Reading Kingdom, you’ve probably seen our Mascot Owl flying around the website. What you may not have known is that the Owl’s name is Lingo. Recently, the team here at Reading Kingdom took a flight with Lingo to ask a few questions about Lingo’s life and what it’s like to be the Reading Kingdom Owl.

RK: Hi Lingo, we’re glad to have caught up with you!

Lingo: Yes, It’s great to see you too!

RK: Tell us a bit about yourself and how you ended up perching at the Reading Kingdom.

Lingo: I love to fly around the forest at night, perching from tree to tree with my friends. My favorite activities are being a night owl and reading great children’s books. One night while flying around as a young owl, I saw a magical land called the Reading Kingdom. I flew in, fell in love and have been here ever since!

RK: We love children’s books too! Do you have a favorite book?

Lingo: One of my favorites is The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne.

RK: What is your favorite part of your job as the Reading Kingdom Owl?

Lingo: It’s easy for me to love my job at Reading Kingdom. Nothing brings a smile to my face quicker than watching children learn how to read and write well and having fun in the process. There is a lot of room for improvement in children’s literacy. Roughly two out of five children are having real trouble learning to read – that’s way too many kids for our founder, Dr. Marion Blank to let fall to the way side. I love perching on her shoulder while she tells me about the six skills Reading Kingdom is using to propel children’s literacy success!

RK: What can you tell us about your family tree?

Lingo: Well, my lineage has come from a long line of family friendly Owls! Our flock has spread their “t-owl-ent” in many positive ways, but I am the first owl in the family to have a love for literacy!

RK: Do owls listen to music as well as read?

Lingo: We sure do! My favorite band is “Hootie and the Blowfish”!

RK: Since becoming the mascot for Reading Kingdom you’ve become quite a celebrity! We always see you flying around, bringing smiles to our office and in the Reading Kingdom community. What’s it like to be part of Reading Kingdom?

Lingo: Hoo, me? I’m having such a hoot at Reading Kingdom that I didn’t even think about it! I’m humbled to be a part of Reading Kingdom and couldn’t think of a better place to be than watching children learn every day. When I’m not flying around the Reading Kingdom sharing my wisdom, I love chatting to parents, teachers and homeschoolers about children’s books and learning how to read at the Pre-school, Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade levels. You can always find me tweeting (which I think they should call hooting) about Children’s books and literacy on Twitter and one of my other favorite spots, Facebeak.

RK: There’s a rumor flying around that you have a special gift for everyone who reads this! Is it true?

Lingo: It sure is! I want to show everyone out there that reading can be both educational AND fun! Watch the magic at Reading Kingdom, with educational activities for children as well as lesson plans and fun books for kids to read. If Reading Kingdom sounds like as much fun for your kids as it is for me, here’s a FREE month of the only children’s learning program that uses all six skills to bring your children literacy success – Sign up now I’ll see you soon!

Colby Devitt

Colby is the editor of this blog and heads the marketing for the Reading Kingdom, whose flagship product is a fun, easy-to-use online reading game that teaches children 4-10 years old how to read and write to a third grade level. She spends a great deal of time reading, writing and promoting reading & writing.

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