We started 7 months ago when he had been static at school for a good 3 months with teacher – not the sharpest knife in the drawer – mystified as to the reason. Equally so was I. Within a week of starting Easyread it became incredibly obvious that this system would work. We have certainly had some tough times, mainly in getting him to concentrate, and trying to eliminate external issues that made it harder to do. But we plugged away, although I have to say it was sheer bloodymindedness on my part that kept us going – and I think it was only 3 months in when he started rapidly gaining levels.
I think the key to its success is that it manages to reverse ingrained behaviour without looking like it is doing so. James was a prolific and quite skilled guesser. He had only been in school a year but had obviously (now) effectively stopped learning some time before that, since every second word was guessed when I knew what I was looking for. Easyread managed to stop him doing that and learn to accurately sound out. It also picked up eyetracking issues that neither I nor teacher had ever noticed. Fixing that made a big difference. The duration is key also as I’m certain he couldn’t concentrate beyond 15 mins. The prizes and certificates, not to mention David’s “congrats” messages when moving levels, made him quite proud I think and definitely more confident. Before this I had been saying things like, well, maybe reading’s not your thing, but you are good at maths. Now I can say both. The feedback and support at your end are exactly what is required to tailor the course for each child. (there is a big scandal in NZ right now with another online course called CAMI which costs something like 10k and is rubbish)
All in all I am grateful beyond words as we have started a new school year with him on par with his classmates and able to progress according to his own ability, which is considerable. This obviously held him back last year: but a busy parent can easily be fooled by an enterprising and intelligent child. So thanks again. I am recommending you guys to all!