I originally discovered PRIDE Reading when I was asked to write a review about the program. Whenever I write a review, I always use the material I'm reviewing for long enough to get to know how it works. After I finish the review, I usually set the resource aside perhaps because we have something else that's already working well for us, or perhaps because it's an extracurricular that we can't fit into our regular routine.
But when I finished reviewing PRIDE Reading, not only did I continue using the level we'd been sent for review, I purchased two more levels out-of-pocket for other children in our homeschool!
Finally, a Truly Manageable Orton-Gillingham Program!
My mother homeschooled me for kindergarten and used an Orton-Gillingham-based reading program. When I became a homeschool mom, I tried using that program as well, but there were so many steps and procedures. It was sometimes confusing, and often way too much for a beginning reader to do in one sitting.
Later, I tried a couple of other reading programs that were more scripted and organized, but there was still so much to do each day and the lessons were very lengthy. I felt like I had to choose between covering all the different topics addressed or keeping my child from melting down!
When we tried PRIDE Reading, I was blown away to find one program that covered all the bases, but in a simple, succinct, and very sustainable way!
Thorough (but efficient!) Teacher Training Program
As soon as I purchased a level of PRIDE Reading, I got access to the PRIDE Reading Program Training. It covers all of the basic aspects of the program and the main activities and exercises you'll be using as you teach your child with PRIDE Reading.
The training only took about an hour to complete, but once I finished, I felt fully prepared to jump in once our materials arrived. The training includes video lessons showing a teacher and a student using the materials so I felt confident that I understood what a lesson and the specific pieces should look like.
The training included many videos showing a teacher and student completing activities together, making it easy to see and understand the flow of a lesson.
Digital Teacher Guides
Although print copies of the teacher guide for each level are available, the digital guides are much less expensive. You'll get access immediately upon purchase and can look over them as well while your student materials are being shipped.
During reading time, I pull up the next lesson on my phone and follow it as I teach my child that day's content.
Beginning Reader to Fluent Reader
PRIDE Reading offers a Beginning Letters and Sounds level for students who are ready to learn their letters and sounds but are not yet reading. After students have mastered basic sounds and begun blending them to read words, PRIDE offers five levels of reading instruction in the Yellow, Orange, Red, Purple, and Blue programs.
This program has been fantastic for my beginning readers and I've been delighted with the multi-sensory, multi-modality approach.
Every lesson includes four parts in the teacher's guide:
- Lesson Overview
- Introduction
- Practice
- Reinforcement
The teacher's guide includes a Lesson Overview for each lesson that reviews the new topic or content for that lesson, including (if applicable) an audio clip of the phonetic sound the student will be learning.
Also included in each Lesson Overview is a link to games for that level of the PRIDE Reading program that students can play online to get extra practice and review the concept they are learning!
Multi-Sensory, Multi-Modality Language Instruction
Each of the parts of a PRIDE Reading lesson approach the sound or phonetic concept from multiple angles, helping students to approaches internalize concepts through all of their five senses using multiple different learning styles.
"Sky writing" allows children to use large-motor motions to trace letters in the air and practice forming and pronouncing them. "Palm tracing" gives students an opportunity to practice a letter shape or word on their hands before putting pen to paper to write the letter or word. Tactile letter tiles offer the opportunity to spell without the need to form letters on paper.
As early as the first lesson in Beginning Letters and Sounds, students start the habit of dictation. At the outset, they write letters based on the sounds dictated to them. As they build encoding (turning sounds into written letters) skills, they also start taking word and then sentence dictation. Practicing both encoding and decoding (turning written letters into sounds) is an essential combination for grasping phonetic concepts.
Every day begins with letter sound card review. The pack of letter sounds cards included with any bundle of PRIDE materials is used throughout the program so you only have to purchase one. It covers beginning sounds through more complex blends and spelling patterns. Students Beginning Letters and Sounds start with just one card in the first lesson - the letter "b" - and then build the cards they practice as they learn more letters.
Even before they are sounding out letters on a page and blending them to make words, students in the Beginning Letters and Sounds program are practicing the skill of blending by repeating sounds read to them and blending them, or by repeating words and changing one sound at the beginning or end to form a new word.
Pre-readers prepare for word-on-paper spelling by listening for a particular letter sound at the beginning or end of a word, or identifying the sound they hear at the beginning or end of a word. Both before and after learning to read words students practice clapping syllables and identifying the smaller words inside compound words.
And, the biggest kid-pleasers are the games included with each lesson in the Yellow Level and beyond. These are simple games patterned after familiar favorites like Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, or Connect 4. The instructions are easy and the words used to progress and win the game are tailored to the phonetic skills in that lesson.
More Essential Skills Included
In addition to teaching reading and spelling through this multi-modality approach, PRIDE Reading covers so many other skills. Starting in the Yellow level, students read sentences and stories. The teacher's guide includes comprehension questions to assess student's understanding of what they are reading, and even their ability to sequence events and predict outcomes.
Also beginning in the Yellow level, students encounter basic grammar topics in each lesson such as capitalization and punctuation, learning to identify nouns and verbs, checking for subject-verb agreement, distinguishing between common and proper nouns, and more. Daily "Red Words" help students to become familiar and fluent with the most common words in the English language - especially those that don't follow the expected phonetic rules.
Watch My Full Review
Want to hear more of my thoughts about PRIDE Reading? I've got a video review (also featuring the cuties above!) so you can learn more about why this program has been a great fit for us!
Try PRIDE Reading for Yourself!
Wondering if PRIDE might be a good fit for your family? (Spoiler alert: I think you'll LOVE it!) But here's how you can find out more:
- Learn about The Science of Reading.
- Find out more about Orton-Gillingham.
- See a Structured Literacy lesson.
- Check out the Scope and Sequence.
- Take a placement assessment.
- Play some games! (Beginning Letters and Sounds, Yellow, Orange, Red, Purple, or Blue Level)
- Purchase your PRIDE Reading Kit and get started on the Training Program today!