Reading Kingdom review. This is a great program to check out if you are looking to teach a child to read. It teaches sequencing, writing, sounds, meaning, grammar, and comprehension. The program adapts to the child playing.

There’s an awful lot that goes into learning to read! Beyond basic phonics, children need to develop a vocabulary, comprehend a plot, learn grammar, understand sequencing, and more. Many reading programs teach basic phonics or sight words and leave it at that. Reading Kingdom takes a whole child approach, teaching sequencing, writing, sounds, meaning, grammar, and comprehension. The program adapts to the child, and feels like a game with a wide variety of activities and fun graphics.

New Way to Learn to Read: Reading Kingdom Review

What You'll Find on This Page

I received subscriptions for my kindergartner and my third grader for this review.

Using Reading Kingdom in Kindergarten

My kindergartner was probably about average for kindergarten in reading when we received this program to review. She knew how to write our family names and a handful of sight words, but that was it.

I noticed right away that the Reading Kingdom approach to learning to read is quite unique. Five-year-old Anna was spelling words like “here” quite early on, and exercises included things like finding the right letter order and filling in missing letters. This was useful for Anna, who sometimes struggles to remember the order letters go in in words.

Anna averaged four sessions per week on Reading Kingdom. Within weeks she was completing sentences that involved grammar as well as word recognition. In the image above you can tell she needs to choose between “jump” and “jumps”.

Anna LOVED Reading Kingdom the first three weeks. The newness has now worn off a bit, but she is still pretty happy to give it a go as part of her morning schoolwork. The sessions are short and sweet, which I think helps to maintain her interest in the program.

Using Reading Kingdom in Third Grade

My third grader is a pretty avid reader, and the program felt pretty basic to her. I think it might have been helpful at the beginning of this year or in second grade, but as a strong third grade reader it didn’t seem to have much to offer her. I do think she would have loved it in kindergarten and first grade.

My Thoughts on Reading Kingdom

My five-year-old is definitely showing better reading comprehension after using this program. I did not see a change in my third grader, but I think she was past the target skill level of the program going in. I liked the fact that there were a variety of games in the program. The graphics are basic, but my kids didn’t seem to mind. I was not thrilled that some of the games involved very mild violence (shooting space ships, for example).

The program has kids working with a keyboard, an important 21st century skill. It doesn’t teach explicit keyboarding, but will help children develop an understanding of letter location within the QWERTY keyboard. The keyboard aspect of this program means it is probably better used on a laptop or desktop computer, rather than an iPad.