Next step after Headsprout?

[obiandelismom]

My 7yo really likes Headsprout, but is about to finish it up. Does anyone know of any other computer-based reading instruction that's on the next (I guess late-first, early-second) level? TIA!

[frogguruami]

Have you done the second level? The first level went through lesson 40 and the second through lesson 80. After that DS1 went straight to real books.

[obiandelismom]

Yeah, we're up to lesson 73 right now, but he doesn't feel comfortable jumping into real books yet. He's a little dyslexic, I think, and a perfectionist - bad combination! He still seems to be at the level where he's guessing at words based on the first and last letter, which makes it hard for him to get into a story when reading on his own. I think he likes the computer instruction because it's a game, and there's no one "correcting" him if he makes a mistake.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestion! I wish they had a level 3!

[tuffykenwell]

My 5.5 year old is on lesson 77 and has been for months LOL. I think somewhere along the way during the break he passed the program so now he finds it really frustrating (he does the stuff too fast so the program thinks he isn't reading it and makes him repeat it...)

Anyway what we do a lot of right now (because Rhys also has perfectionist tendancies) is "shared reading". He will pick a book and he will read a page and I will read a page. If he doesn't know the word I don't make him sound it out I just tell him what it is. His reading vocabulary has improved by leaps and bounds doing this and he doesn't get frustrated because the story gets interrupted by having to sound out a word KWIM? Sometimes with the longer stories he gets tired about half way through (like Amelia Bedelia books for example or Frog and Toad) so he will ask me to finish the story or we will put it aside to finish the next day depending on his mood.

I haven't really found a follow up to Headsprout but I also felt like for us it was important to make the leap from reading on the screen to reading "real books" IYKWIM. By taking it slowwwwly and following DS lead we have made huge progress with his reading ability and his confidence (he will now read to us in the car and just spell the words that he comes to that he doesn't know since I can't see them so I can tell him what the word is).

HTH

Steph

[True Blue]

We're only on episode 54 here, but DS is delving into other books. We do the shared reading, him a page then us a page, which he likes. Also, he LOVES the Dick & Jane books. They have introduced him to other sight words, and they are simple enough that he can read the whole thing without feeling overwhelmed. They're good confidence builders.

Other than that...maybe some more starfall stuff? I'm pretty sure they have readers and little animated stories the kids can read along with and stuff. Not the same as headsprout, but he might still enjoy it. I think once they reach the end of Headsprout what is really needed is practice, one way or another. What about computer games that require some reading? I Spy does, off the top of my head.

[tuffykenwell]

I found something online that might fit the bill for you! Raz-kids has an online guided reading level readers. They have a 30 day free trial so it would be worth a shot to see if it would meet your requirements.

Steph

[obiandelismom]

Hey! Looks great - thanks a bunch!!