Comprehension is central to reading.
After all, what is the point of decoding the words on a page if you don’t understand that they are saying? Yet, many programs place all their emphasis on decoding and give short shrift to comprehension under the misguided assumption that children will just pick it up. Sadly, many do not.
Reading Kingdom has been carefully crafted to foster reading comprehension and does so in a way that integrates it fully with the mastery of decoding and spelling. It does so through a number of features that appear either minimally or not at all in traditional reading programs.
For example, from the very outset, the word and sentence combinations that the children deal with are based on meaningful, linked ideas rather than on sound connections (e.g., “Here are some kids;” “Kids can sit;” and “These kids are sitting.” VS “the fat cat;” “Dan has a fan;” etc.)
As these examples illustrate, children consistently see and learn to read, write and comprehend well structured sentences. This is a vital (and often seriously neglected) component underlying reading comprehension.
Reading Kingdom also gives prominence to the “little words” (function words) that rarely receive the attention they merit. (These words also make up 50%-60% of every page of text!) For example, consider the difference in meaning generated by the word TO in the following sentences:
The girl walked the dog.
The girl walked TO the dog.
Within a few weeks of starting the program, the children master, with comprehension, words such as the, some, more, here, but, not, etc. The little words (and part words) are also essential to mastery of time (as in was, -ed, have, had, etc.) and mastery of time relations is, in turn, critical to comprehension.
The central place given to the “small words” enables us to offer the children the sophisticated sentence structures that are critical to comprehension. Within a few months, they see, read and write sentences such as “The girl did not want to go to the park because it did not have a pool where she could swim.”
In addition, the graphics and animations are designed to not simply be attractive but to foster the children’s reading comprehension skills. This includes depicting not simply nouns, but verbs, adjectives and “the little words” such as “the, these,” etc.
Once children master the basic sentence structures, the books present longer texts which the children learn to summarize.
These features are just a few of the many components that have been built into Reading Kingdom to foster reading comprehension.
If you want your children to boost their reading comprehension skills, sign up for a free 30 day trial of the program designed to foster reading comprehension with the six skills needed to learn to read and write. Discover the magic at Reading Kingdom and launch the literacy success of your children today!
