Disclosure: I received compensation as part of my affiliation with this Ambassadorship via Splash Media Engagement. Any opinions on this post are 100% my own.
A couple of weeks ago, I told you about this fun new downloadable computer program called Ooka Island that we are using to facilitate teaching reading to my 4 year old. (Actually, she’s 5 now, she just had a birthday a few days ago.) She has had very little reading instruction. So far, in our schooling, we’ve begun some formal reading lessons, but she’s not real excited about them yet, so I had decided to put them on the back burner for a time.
When we were given the opportunity to try out the Ooka Island downloadable game, I was excited to have a way to teach her to read, without her really feeling like she’s being made to learn. You know how some kids are….if they think that you’re trying to teach them something, they run in the other direction.
What Do I Think About Ooka Island?
Ooka Island has been awesome! It introduces her to words and sounds, just by playing games. Once you’ve played so many games, you earn a book. The book can be read to you OR you can choose to let your child read it herself if she’s made it to that skill level yet. After the book, your child plays a couple of short games, asking questions all about what was just in the book (reading comprehension, anyone?). I love watching to see if she was actually paying attention and how much she’s picked up. Once she earns the book, she is not given a choice to go on and play a game until she has spent some time playing the book activities, solidifying what she’s just learned in her own little head. Best of all, I love that this reading program, makes learning fun and allows her to work at her own pace. If she wears out, she can put it aside and start again another day. She’s always looking for the opportunity to play Ooka Island!
What Does My Child Think About Ooka Island?
When we asked Avery what she thought about Ooka Island, she said she loves it (and without any hesitation at all!). I asked her what her favorite part was and she said she likes the Cave of Sounds. In the Cave, she is taking a ride on a railroad car, listening for sounds. As soon as she hears the sound, she hits the spacebar. If she’s right, she gets to keep moving. If she’s wrong, she has to wait until she gets it right. Even though the Cave of Sounds is her favorite, she loves nearly all of the games!
About Ooka Island Adventure
Ooka Island is a reading comprehension tool focused on improving children’s reading skills from 4-7 years of age. The design of the program allows children to work at their own pace and directs the program based on where they are in their development. Ooka Island is tech-based, game driven and keeps kids engaged in learning.
Ooka Island is an interactive computer program that you download to your PC or MAC that assists you in teaching your child to read. It is made for children ages 3-7 years old.
Ooka Island contains everything a child needs in one big learn-to-read adventure, including:
– 80 hours of research-based curriculum for preschool to 2nd grade
– An integrated, science-based approach to the five pillars of reading
– Over 500 sequenced lessons with 7,000 discrete learning objectives
– Guided progression through 24 levels in a variety of 3D, virtual world environments
– A built-in e-Reader designed specifically to teach reading with highlighting and narration
– 85 original Ooka Island e-Books, leveled and sequenced from preschool to 2nd grade
– A fun and engaging learning flow cycle that motivates and supports each child’s journey
– Comprehensive online progress reporting for parents and educators
– Access to the Ooka Bookstore featuring all 85 e-Books and guides in print
– Free motivational tools, workbooks and a musical soundtrack app in iTunes
For more information, feel free to take a look at this video below:
Special Offer
If you’d like to try Ooka Island out, you can get it for 30% off of the normal price using this link.
Also, once you’ve signed up, you can get workbooks that provide hands-on activities that foster word identification, sentence construction, sequencing, and story comprehension. Ooka Island workbooks are available for free and are easily downloaded!
Be sure to connect with Ooka Island by following them on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
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