TOS Review: The Reading Game

Anthony (6), Christian (4), and I have spent the last couple of weeks trying out a new game called The Reading Game.  From the author of Wordly Wise, Kenneth Hodkinson, The Reading Game was designed for children just learning to read or having trouble learning to read.  The Reading Game teaches your child 180 vocabulary words using a fast action memory game and 6 beautifully illustrated storybooks. 




Game Contents:
6 Illustrated Storybooks
6 decks of matching cards (30 cards in each deck)
Teacher and Parents Guide
$24.95 each 
15% off orders of 8 or more


Each of the 6 stories is told using just 30 words that are broken down into 6 sets of 5 words.  The student learns to read each set of words using an easy word matching game.  After the student has mastered the words in each set, you move on to the next set of words.  The student is able to read the book after they have learned all of the words in the set.

For example, the first 5 words in game one book one are can,cat,not, is, and me.  After playing the 2 player memory matching game with these words and showing mastery of the words you move on to the next 5 words (game 2 book one) which are: sad, she, stay, this, with.  You can then test your child's knowledge of these words by using a few practice sentences.  After showing mastery of the words in game 6 book one, the child is ready to read on their own, book one, The Skunk Book, a 32 page illustrated rhyming book.  The process is the same for the rest of the books: Snake, Bear, Penguins, Unicorns, and Zebra.  After completing all 6 books, your child will have learned to read 180 words. 



The Reading Game is supplemental curriculum material that compliments most reading curriculum and meets the criteria of Common Core State Standards for Language Arts and Reading and Foundational Skills for kindergarten and first grade.  A pre and post assessment is available to test sight word recognition before and after playing each of the 6 card games.  The Test Sentence Assessment Worksheets can be used to track a student's progress as you work through the games in each set.

I have been playing The Reading Game with my six year old son Anthony who has developed an interest in learning how to read.  Anthony really liked playing the game and was able to read the first two rounds of words very quickly.  The rest of the words took much longer to master, but after several weeks of playing, Anthony is able to read book one, The Skunk.

Anthony loved playing the game and loved the story.  Any kind of teaching in the form of a game makes it more interesting to children. The game can be played in just minutes a day.   Needing to learn only 30 words to read an entire book did help build his confidence and his desire to go on to the next book.  There were times that he did show some frustration at not being able to remember the words as we were playing and not being able to go to the next set of cards, but with some practice and some patience he did very well learning all of the words.

I wish that the cards were a bit sturdier.  After Anthony, I have at least 3 more children that will be learning to read and would like them to be able to use The Reading Game.  The cards are just like a deck of playing cards and bend and rip easily.  I love the black and white illustrations, but some of them did not come out as clear as the others in the books.

The Reading Game does not teach how to decode or sound out words.  It is teaching memorization of the words needed in order to read the books.  From the website, " By the time students come to the end of the zebra story, 180 words are hard-wired into memory. Phonics can then be incorporated into the game by using the cards to develop links to similar words and sounds."

Overall, we have really enjoyed using The Reading Game and will continue on with the next book today.

To see what other crew members had to say click here.

I received a complimentary copy of The Reading Game for the purpose of writing a fair and honest review.  I received no other compensation.