Parent Reviews of Easyread
Our most recent reviews:
Teacher noticed improvement in his reading…
I met with Nicky’s teacher this morning and she told me that Nicky read to her yesterday and she noticed improvement in his reading. He read to her from a first grade text that had many words on the page and he ready fluidly and only stumbled on the word “surprise”, but then got it correctly through the rest of the test. He had to read several pages until the word came up again and he was fine. She said in the past his reading sounded very robotic, but this time it was smooth. – Janice
Accelerator, Age 6-9, USA/Canada, Parent
Improved reading already…
Sam is doing well with the eye-tracking exercises you sent him. Optometrist confirmed that eye-tracking is an issue but he enjoys your exercises so wants to work on that before he gets glasses in 8 weeks time. He is working hard at it each day. We have only been on the course 20 days but already I have been really happy with Sam’s improved reading, and he is doing great at the new Funky Monkey game 🙂
– L
Still really keen…
I am pleased to say that Hannah is still really keen on doing her Easyread lessons everyday.
Hannah will look at the images to decode as well as trying to read the letters, but as soon as she starts trying to guess a word (not very often, but old habits ..) I immediately prompt her to decode, and she will do so successfully. We only had one word about 3 days ago – peanut, where she really struggled with the decoding, but we got there.
Hannah asked me to pass on her thanks for the gifts. I look forward to speaking to you next week.
– S
We are extremely proud of him…
We’ve seen huge progress with Joshua’s reading, which continues to amaze us and for which we are extremely proud of him and grateful to all at Easyread. Many thanks.
– K
It is helping me to help my daughter…
Lucy has been doing Easyread for 3 months now and I have seen changes not only in her reading ability but also in her enthusiasm for reading. She will now pick up a book and is happy to try and read it.
Lucy was a classic case for guessing words rather than decoding them. She can still struggle sometimes to remember to decode but she is already much better than she was.
Overall we have been really happy with the scheme so far. It is easy to manage and takes up very little time, whilst also helping me to help my daughter to become a better reader. We are currently on lesson 60 and look forward to progressing through the course.
– R
I can see the difference already…
I would just like to give you a little update on Oliver’s progress.
Oliver sent the codeword for eye-tracking prize today. We have done the exercise everyday and I can see the difference already in Oliver’s tracking but we will continue with the exercises as much as possible to make better progress.
Thank you for your help and support.
– M
I am certain that Easyread has helped with this achievement…
Nathan has developed well with Easyread. We are impressed that he can decode the words well with little help and he even tells me what they are when I try it! He decoded the whole page with no help at all yesterday, which was fantastic. He loves the story and some of the words used are great for his age.
For the first time he was able to read a whole chapter of a book to me, it was 10 pages and around 80 words to a page. In 10 minutes he only got stuck on three words. His fluency was better as well. He was so happy with this, as were we.
I am certain that the work he has done on Easyread has helped with this achievement. We are looking forward to seeing more progress over the next few weeks.
– C (6 weeks into the course)
Case Study: Primary teacher mum, wild guessing, frustration
Easyread was as much of an education for primary school teacher Christine as it was for her daughter…
The Problem
Phonics was a walk in the park for Catherine at age 5. She was in the top half of her class and had an all-round superb first year at school. However, after the summer holidays it was as if the slate had been wiped clean; all of a sudden reading became a real struggle.
At the start of Primary Two[1], while many of Catherine’s friends moved ahead, Catherine was kept back with her reading. This meant repeating all of the books she had been working on in the previous year, which left Catherine feeling upset and demoralized.
She knew all her single sounds and vowel digraphs off by heart. In principle it was all there! The real difficulty came when Catherine was asked to read words she had learned (easily) two months before. Her mother Christine, herself a primary school teacher[2], couldn’t help but notice that her daughter’s confidence was quickly disappearing. She refused to blend or sound out and instead relied on wild guessing and picture cues to read words. As time went by things got much worse. It reached the point where Catherine was going to great lengths to avoid reading in any context.
Christine and her husband Anthony had always been voracious readers, and so their home was overflowing with books. They really wanted to help their daughter become a happy and confident reader not just for work or school, but also for the sheer pleasure of it.
First of all they tried extra reading, which lead to more tears before bedtime. Next they looked into other reading genres as well as reading games online, but none of this seemed to hit the mark. Then they focused on trying to get Catherine to memorize a bigger sight vocabulary, given that her memory was excellent. However the same routine continued; she would read a word and then two sentences or a page later, it was gone.
Her lack of progress and frustration with reading were undeniable, and yet it just didn’t fit with her overall picture as a learner.
Christine had extensive professional experience of children who struggled with reading on account of learning difficulties, and it was clear that her daughter just did not fit that profile. In Maths, Writing, Science and all other curricular areas, Catherine continued to do well. But behind closed doors reading homework had become utter torture, often ending with mother and daughter in tears. Catherine’s visual, verbal and analytical skills meant that anything that was basic and ‘babyish’ was demotivating and patronizing.
Choosing a Solution
Finally, in an effort to find out if there was anything else out there that would be appropriate for her bright daughter, Christine had a look online. It was then that she came across Easyread. Catherine had a go at the trial lesson. With the Guided Phonetic Reading approach offered by the characters, she really quickly got the difference between b and d. Christine was impressed by the efficient and fun nature of the lesson. Further research revealed that the Easyread understanding of other issues such as eye-tracking, and guessing, was evidence-based with proper educational credentials. One thing was clear: this was not just another internet miracle cure which looked good with little substance.
A week later Catherine started the course. The choice of games and the easy-going style of each 15 minute lesson meant that Catherine could choose and manage her reading for the first time in her life. Each day brought a fresh, achievable challenge, and the prizes that were sent gave her a continuous incentive – the mini radio in particular was a real winner!
Meanwhile, Mum and Dad liked the sense of fun that the program had injected into their daughter’s reading. As far as Catherine was concerned, David who narrated each lesson was talking directly to her! This really helped motivate her to keep going.
The Result
From a pedagogical perspective, Christine saw that the Guided Phonetic Reading approach was essentially a better version of the synthetic phonics teaching with which she was familiar. Sounding out words using visual aids, for example, really played to Catherine’s learning strengths. It reminded her in many ways of Code-Cracker – a less hi-tech and much more basic program used in many schools. (‘If only we had this instead!’ she has said).
Meanwhile, at school Catherine moved up into the reading group that her friends were in after just 6 weeks on Easyread. Within 3 months, she had progressed from level 4 to level 8 reading books, an astonishing achievement.
In just 5 months Catherine has regained all and more of the reading confidence that had vanished so quickly in just 4 weeks back at school. She is taking fiction chapter books to bed and Christine often hears her reading short extracts aloud to herself before she goes to sleep. Catherine reads all the signs on the bus, all the advertising posters and can even be heard sounding out words under her breath when she thinks her parents are not listening. And give her the book of ‘The First 100 instant words’ and she can easily decode every single one! In essence, she is actively choosing to read.
Catherine and Christine have 100 lessons under their belt and another 100 to go, and they are loving every minute! It seems at this point, that anything is possible…
—–
Laura O’Sullivan is a Program Coach for the Easyread System, an online phonics course designed to provide support for spelling and reading problems for children with highly visual learning styles, dyslexia and auditory processing disorder. You can find out more about how Easyread can help a child to read at www.easyreadsystem.com
I love everything about the system…
We are only two lessons in and already I love everything about the system and your helpful service! Thank you.
– D
Definitely making progress…
James seems to be getting on fine with the Easyread program. He is definitely making progress with sounding words out and his confidence is starting to increase.
– J
He CAN do it!…
We are really pleased with Oliver’s progress so far. He is still pretty slow at decoding but he CAN do it whereas a few weeks ago it seemed he didn’t know which letter of the word to begin with! He is happy to come to the computer each night. He’s also loved hearing the rhyme emerge as he re-reads the story and the way the sentence becomes fluent. He knows he has to re-read until the rhyme ‘falls into place’. We can’t wait to see his speed increase a bit as this would give him a real confidence boost at school…we will plough on!
– S
We now understand 1000 times better…
I got to know about the term ‘sight reading’ through your program and ever since have understood Baani and her reading problems 1000 times better. Thanks from the core of our hearts. She is doing good with reading her lessons. Yet to see the real interest in reading though. Hope and pray it happens soon. God bless you and all your wonderful team!!!!
– K
Thank you to all the Easyread team…
Ewan’s spelling has come on considerably whilst doing Easyread. Thank you to all the Easyread team for all your help encouragement during the course of the lessons.
– G
We have all gained from her new love of reading…
Hannah is progressing pretty well. She is more confident generally with attempting to read and spell than she’s ever been and is surprising us with how well she’s reading things in everyday life. Suddenly signs, magazines, the iPad and recipe books mean something to her! She has begun to want to write letters and emails to friends and family, so we got her her own email account, which she is thrilled with! This week she has baked 3 batches of cupcakes using the recipe book, so we have all gained from her new love of reading!
Thanks for such a great program! So far we are seeing good results and are happy with Hannah’s progress.
– S
Such a huge change…
Catelin did the Spelling assessor yesterday and really stopped to think about how she was going to spell the words rather than just putting down any old letter. When she got to the word ‘brought’ she discussed with me which letters she would need to use to create the correct sound. She tried all the letter combinations, and discarded the letter when she decided it would be the wrong sound.
Such a huge change. Prior to Easyread she would have stuck to the first vowel sound and not experimented with the next one until getting it correct. And she certainly wouldn’t have got the tricky ‘ght’ bit!
– M
Confidence boosted
Hi Sarah, we had a bit of a break over the Christmas holidays, not ideal I know and was a bit worried she’ll forget or lapse back to her old ways, but I must say she immediately continue where we left it before the holidays. I’m glad to read that I shouldn’t expect a big change in normal reading yet, but I must say certain days she reads fluent (!) but other days she still struggles again with simple words, but I also know it’s linked to the time of day.
However those fluent days really boost her confidence and make her realize the importance of her 15min ‘Easyread’ per day. I’m very happy with her progress and even more with the confidence it gives. I also found she tackles her spelling words differently, decoding it in a way!
– A (J, age 7)
An incredible course…
Thanks so much! The course has been an amazing experience for both Clementine and I. She’s got a lot out of it, and it hasn’t just been the ability to read, but also self-confidence and learning that with perseverance, she can do really well.
She is now able to read easy chapter books which we would never have envisaged 12 months ago and I have no doubt she will going forwards with her reading from here on in.
Best wishes and a big thank you again for this incredible course.
– C
I used to hate reading…
Dear David,
I think Easyread is really, really fun and good. There is a game that I really liked where you dodge stuff and try to get the right word. I don;t remember the name. I did not like the part of Easyread where there were no words with the story, but now I know it helped me. I used to hate reading but now I love reading because of you.
Thank you for Easyread.
Accelerator, Age 6-9, USA/Canada, Child
It has amazed her teachers…
The girls reached the end of level 4 today. We are pleased and proud of the way they have both stuck at it and the results they have achieved using this excellent scheme.
The improvement in Sarah’s reading in particular has been remarkable. It has amazed us and her teachers.
– R
I do see a difference…
I am Kendall’s Grandmother. I heard her read in August and again at Christmas, and YES I do see a difference 🙂
She is beginning to like to read and wants to try and read the instructions when we bake muffins together.
– V
Just wanted to give you a final update
Hooray…
Hooray Lachlan has passed his level 7 reading assessor!! He is looking forward to the next mission that ‘M’ has lined up for him…
– Agent 007.5 and his Assistant Agent
Reading a chapter book for the first time…
Just thought I would let you know that Chelsea actually started reading a chapter book without me suggesting she do so. It’s the first time she has picked one up voluntarily to read in her own time.
– J
Gold award!
Hi, I’m so excited because I got my Gold award today. It has really helped with my reading. I have liked doing easyread and I like doing the games as well.
– R (age 10)
We felt this course had a lovely personal touch…
Well, I can’t believe we’ve reached the end of the course. Erin has received the remote-controlled helicopter (thank you!) and is keen to try it out at the weekend.
From the outset, I believed that this programme would be the solution to Erin’s spelling difficulties and was willing to give our full commitment to the course. After about five months I felt she was making good progress as we found she was able to spell the majority of the words on ‘Scribe’ without error and her reading and decoding were generally very good and fluent.
I would like to say that we felt this course had a lovely personal touch to it and all the staff we corresponded with were very encouraging and supportive. We hope all goes well with your future customers.
– G