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Reading S.O.S. Family Edition (Version 2.2)Reviewed by Hilary WilliamsonPublished by Lexia Learning Systems
PC version requires: Mac version requires: Description:
Reading S.O.S. was designed for students age 9 and up and provides a comprehensive early reading program based on the Orton Gillingham method. Reading S.O.S. is phonics-based and addresses the acquisition of decoding skills. Version 2.2 was released in December 1998 for Y2K compatibility and improved reporting for teachers. TheFamily Edition tracks progress of 3 students at a time. There are 4 levels of exercises and students can be assigned to any combination of them. Level 1 addresses beginning reading skills, e.g. short vowels and consonants. For example, in Consonant Blast, the objective is to match missing letters in words before a fuse burns out! Then there is an opportunity to blow up words which match the spoken one. Level 2 covers sight vocabulary and long vowels with silent e in one and two syllable words. One of the more interesting exercises at this level involves combining 2 syllables to make a word, for example 'pic' + 'nic'. Level 3 includes vowel combinations in one and two syllable words. In Sea Hunt, for example, choose between 'ee' and 'ai' to complete words like speech and pail. Level 4 topics include words with silent letters, hard and soft c and g words and decoding of three syllable words. Syllable Puzzler requires combining 3 syllables (out of order) to make a word. Winners Old and New is about filling missing words in sentences which are embedded in very interesting stories about the historical origins of sports. Many of the exercises at all levels are timed and the student is encouraged to try to beat a previous time. With practice and repetition this could lead to faster reading speeds. The exercises are all explained in advance and controls are simple and consistent. Reports are available to show which units have been completed by a student at each level. Features:
Technical Aspects:Installation on a PC with Windows 98 was simple, with clear instructions. It did not involve a Wizard, but required clicking on the CD icon. A short paper User Guide came with the CD, covering both Windows and Macintosh operation.It is essential to hear the instructions in the program clearly, in order to be able to do the exercises, as many involve matching of text to spoken input. Good headphones would be helpful in noisy environments. Although it was generally obvious and simple to complete the exercises, the interface to modify student levels was a little confusing. It was not clear that more than one level could be assigned and the Done key was hard to see. Also Exit took you back to the exercises and not out of the program. Report and Conclusions:This version does not involve a major change from the previous release, but the price has dropped! Reading S.O.S. still provides excellent and comprehensive phonics drills for students (9 to adult) who are experiencing difficulty with reading. Its approach puts less emphasis on entertaining the student and more on consistent and simple style, although it does have some cute graphics! Because of this, younger kids might do better with frequent short sessions, rather than occasional long ones.There has been a recent trend in phonics software to keep the student engaged with reward sequences built into programs, in line with home educational software offerings. Teachers are generally less enthusiastic than parents about the edutainment approach, and I've sometimes wondered if the kids are distracted from the learning process by all the bells and whistles. Bells and whistles or not, Reading S.O.S. covers a lot of ground, with a simple interface using positive reinforcement. In particular, many children (my son included) rise to the challenge of trying to beat their own scores and feel very good about succeeding! |  |
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Reading S.O.S. Family Edition
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*Updated on June 1, 2009
