Select members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew received a 12-month subscription to the MaxScholar Reading Intervention Programs in exchange for their unbiased, impartial review.
I began home schooling in January of 1992. My qualifications were that I know how to read, write, and do math. I had been teaching my daughter things her entire life, but now that she was 5 years old and we were calling it Kindergarten, I was NOT feeling qualified.
In 1992 there was not a lot available to a home schooling mom, either to borrow or to buy! I headed to my local library and checked out a stack of books to help me learn how to teach my daughter to read.
The book that I ultimately settled on and the method I then used for twenty-plus years for teaching phonics and spelling was the Orton-Gillingham approach to phonics. Before beginning, I had to read, read, and re-read a book teaching me what to do. I made flash cards to use, and day after day my daughter and I sat together for hours working on the phonics in a black and white, boring method... that worked!
I still recommend the same phonics method, but now I can give moms a much easier method that is more fun for their kids! Now I can direct moms to take a look at MaxScholar! MaxScholar uses a combination of the Orton-Gillingham method and the Linda Mood Bell method. They teach the teachers what to do and help the students to develop their reading skills, writing skills and study strategies.
The beauty of this phonics method is you can start at any age. So a struggling 4th grader can jump into the remedial program and, with incredible speed, make amazing progress. In a very short time they begin testing at an age-appropriate level, and stick with it a little longer and they are advanced beyond their peers!
Your student will learn the sounds the letter makes. Your child learns how to write the letter, practices pronouncing the sound, and is given words that start with the phoneme sound. Then your student will learn how to blend phonemes. Your child learns to identify words that start with that sound, and soon learns to read short 3- and 4-letter words.
Correction and adjustments occur with immediate feedback. The student progresses at his/her own rate, and the parent/teacher has access to reports that keep mom aware of where the student is in the program.
The
website has a wide variety of activities to enhance your student's learning experience:
- The MaxPhonics section introduces the phonemes by sound, word, and how to print;
- The MaxReading section gets the student reading using an incremental approach;
- MaxWords builds vocabulary through a wide variety of means including Greek and Latin roots;
- MaxMusic gives the student the opportunity to select a song by an artist and read the words, sing the words, and play games.
- MaxVocabulary goes into a dictionary mode to increase the student's reading and vocabulary in an interesting way;
- MaxPlaces gives the student the opportunity to learn history and culture of various places around the world;
- and MaxBios allows the student to practice developing reading skills by reading about famous men and women in entertainment, music, sports and more.
If this program sounds like it could help you but you are still unsure, go to their website. They offer a free 15-day trial. Their phone number is posted so you can call and ask them questions. Go take a look!
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