Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
After teaching your child how to read sometimes we wonder how we can continue building on those skills. Thankfully, PRIDE Reading Program has created a homeschool curriculum that uses a multisensory approach to teach or enhance reading, writing, and spelling skills for all levels. I decided to use the PRIDE Orange Program Kit – Level 2 to build on Bam Bam’s reading experience and continue his spelling lessons.
Product Description & Assessment:
PRIDE Reading Program features eight structured literacy programs that cover consonants, diphthongs, spelling, syllables, blends, comprehension and everything in between. This program was built on the Orton-Gillingham methods used to aid dyslexic students during one on one tutoring or small groups. The curriculum begins with letter recognition via the Beginning Consonants program and finishes with their Reading Comprehension program. Each level covers different literacy needs and builds on those skills learned from the previous program. In order to decide which level your child meets to start with, they have a program placement assessment that gives guidance on the perfect kit for your child. Each kit includes the Student Workbook, Sound Cards, Letter Tiles, Whiteboard Activity Kit, and access to the Online Teaching Guide. For multiple children, each will need their own workbook and whiteboard in order to complete this program, especially if they are on different levels.
PRIDE Orange Program Kit – Level 2:
According to the placement, Bam Bam was ready for the PRIDE Orange Program Kit – Level 2. This level is centered around long vowel sounds, words with multiple syllables, and know welded sound words like -ang, -ink, -ung, and -ank.
Online Teaching Guide
The instruction manual for this course can solely be accessed via the Online Teaching Guide. This is a scripted, step-by-step guide showing you how to teach your children and lead them through the activities. In order to access this, you must log on to the website each day that you use this curriculum. As you work through the program, your child must master the three lessons presented each skill. There is an assessment at the end of each reinforcement lesson and the student must score an 80% or higher in order to move forward. As you work through the material online your progress is shown but you can always repeat a lesson if your child needs more practice.
Student Workbook – Second Edition
This spiral-bound book features the same six-page layout for each lesson. An introduction page with a photo shows what the letter sounds are for the day. Next, a word list and sentence examples are provided followed by a story. Writing pages for spelling, sight words, and sentences complete the lesson pages. In the back of the book, you will find the boards for all the games as well as fluency, practice, and progress pages.
Sound Cards
This deck of cards is used throughout the program to introduce and review letters and sounds. These cards are used with each level of the program and come with a storage box.
Letter Tiles
Letter tiles are color-coded for each of the concepts presented in this program. These are used to learn sounds, practice word blending, and create via word building.
Activity Kit
This kit is used daily for the activities and games presented throughout the program. It includes a white dry erase board, red and black dry erase markers, a reading tracker, one die, and a bag to carry all the items.
Our Homeschool Experience:
Prior to teaching this program, it is required that a parent completes the PRIDE Reading Program Training that is provided online. This training includes a variety of reading passages, videos, and several assessments. Each assessment must be passed with a 100% prior to moving on to the next portion of the training. This training can take approximately 2+ hours to complete. Next, the fun is set to begin as you work through the Teacher’s script while helping your child. A letter sound clip is played then you’ll review red words (sight words), followed by word repetition and phonics. The whiteboard and letter tiles were also used during this time. Finally, all the skills are reviewed during the reinforcement lesson. Fluency, comprehension, and sentence dictation are also practiced before the final progress check in the workbook. During the lessons, your child will sky write, tap their arm, and use the whiteboard to practice the words.
We used this program four times a week during the first part of the review period. Towards the end, we used it three times a week but doubled up on the daily lessons. Initially, each lesson took approximately 20 minutes to complete but now, we complete two lessons in the same amount of time. While working through the program as designed, Bam Bam completed a steps as outlined by the online guide. He also passed each review with the required 80% or higher in order to move on.
Initially, I found the lessons to be extremely tedious with too much repetition for the words. I also thought some of the methods were unnecessary for my son, especially when he found them to be confusing. For example, he didn’t enjoy skywriting, arm tapping, or continuously underlining the words. I also felt that the Orange level was not appropriate for him. The assessment is a good tool to check your child’s level of readiness but I should’ve looked over the scope and sequence to verify what was covered. We ended up doubling lessons because he felt the material was too easy. Logging into the website daily to access the Teaching Guide was not my favorite thing to do. I prefer to have a physical book if the material includes a script as in depth as this one is. Finally, my son found the learning process too time-consuming which made him not want to do it. Removing some of the practice techniques and adjusting the review methods allowed us to make this program work for our homeschool.
Aside from those few cons, here are some things we truly enjoyed this curriculum:
- Storage bag and pouch for Activity Kit contents made it easy to access and organize items.
- Sound Cards and Letter Tiles were was a huge plus!!! These were used to aid in spelling and l was able to include them in other homeschool activities.
- This program focuses on step-by-step progression so your child can master the concepts before moving forward.
- Video examples in the Online Teaching Guide training are great for those that are new to teaching or using these methods.
- Orton-Gillingham methods used consistently will help comfort, encourage, and improve struggling readers
Though the PRIDE Reading Program in its entirety wasn’t the perfect fit for Bam Bam, we still recommend it to homes with special needs readers. Since this program was created using Orton-Gillingham techniques, I think it would work perfectly in a home with dyslexic or struggling readers. Once simplified and tweaked, the lesson structure of the PRIDE Orange Program Kit – Level 2 was fun and my son was happy to participate. One of the great things about homeschooling is our ability to take a good program and adjust it to create what best suits our child’s individual needs.
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Happy homeschooling,
Ta’Neisha K.
Marriage, Motherhood, & Homeschool 