Reading Books

Reading books is a great adventure. How else could one person enter the land of giants, such as in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, fight a battle with pirates, as in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, or experience a sea voyage from the perspective of a mouse, such as in Richard Peck’s Secrets at Sea? Books have the seemingly miraculous ability take us places that we otherwise would never be able to go.

Reading books can be wonderfully fun, and there is much emphasis placed on children being able to read books as evidence of their literacy. But, it may come as some surprise to find that reading books isn’t something a child gets to enjoy after they learn to read, rather, reading books is essential to kids on the path to literacy. Reading books helps kids develop the reading and literacy skills essential for learning in all areas of schooling and life. However, it is not just by reading any book that kids gain literacy skills, they must read the right book.

But how can any parent or teacher know which is the right book for the children in their care? In order for any instruction to be truly effective and for children to learn the most that they can possibly learn, educators have found that children learn best when lessons are pitched right at a child’s level of ability. If a lesson is matched to a child’s level of ability, chances are the lesson is also pitched perfectly at their level of interest as well.

Reading books is no different. In order for a child to get the most out of reading a book, that book must be matched to their level of ability. Kids often come home from school with home readers, small books bearing a number on them that indicates a child’s reading level. While it may be tempting to urge the child on to the books with the higher numbers, and therefore, the books for harder levels, it is much better for a child to read at their level, regardless of what that level is. It is only by learning how to read fluently at their own level that a child can best learn how to read and progress on to further levels of reading.

The ABC Reading Eggs program is firmly committed to children reading at their level. With ABC Reading Eggs, lessons are tailored to suit any child’s reading level. From children with no literacy skills, to older readers who already know how to read, ABC Reading Eggs has lessons to suit.

Reading books is integral to the ABC Reading Eggs program, even from the very first lesson. The first ABC Reading Eggs lesson is in seven parts. After an introduction to a letter of the alphabet (in the case of the first lesson, it’s the letter m), and activities which focus on letter formation and writing, vocabulary development, and reading with comprehension, children move on to other parts of the first lesson which include seeing the letter in both upper and lowercase forms, and learning vocabulary that will feature in the e-book at the end of the first lesson. Part six then brings all the other parts of the lesson together with an e-book that a child is able to read, because of the activities they have engaged in the first five parts of the lesson.

There are 26 e-books in the first 40 lessons of the ABC Reading Eggs program. Each book appears with a cover and pages, which turn in order to mimic the act of reading a real book, all of which helps kids gain book-handling skills as well. Also, all books are read aloud, which models for the child the fluent reading of a text. Each reading book is carefully matched to the child’s reading level. After reading the book online, the child then receives a reward for completing the lesson, including reading a book!

Another benefit of using the ABC Reading Eggs program is the host of supplementary materials that parents and teachers have access to. Children can read the books online, but also read the physical ABC Reading Eggs books, which are available in the Book Packs.

By offering readers a whole suite of instruction within a rich, enjoyable and rewarding learning environment, ABC Reading Eggs creates a meaning-based approach to reading books. Young readers learn how to read books, which, in turn, sets them off on one of life’s great adventures.

Testimonials

I just want to thank you for such a wonderful program. I discovered ABC Reading Eggs at the beginning of this year and started my daughter on it jut before she commenced Pre-Primary. She loved it so much that she took one of the books in to school to read to her teacher. Her teacher was amazed. Over a very short period my daughter when from having no reading knowledge other than the alphabet and her name to reading at a grade 2 level. Thank you once again!

- Mel

My child LOVES ABC Reading Eggs!…We tried two other popular reading programs and while they were fun, just didn’t translate to my child becoming a reader. He’s a reluctant reader, capable but frustrates easily. With ABC Reading Eggs I have never witnessed an ounce of frustration, just watched my son having fun. And even better—I’ve watched him start to read in such a natural progression that is a beautiful thing to watch. Thank you, ABC Reading Eggs!

- C. Bryant