We had the opportunity to review the Reading Intervention Programs from MaxScholar.
Do you have a new reader, a struggling reader or one who has Dyslexia or other learning disabilities? MaxScholar Reading Intervention Programs may be the answer to those dilemmas. Even better than that is if you are an adult (ESL learner) with some of those same issues, MaxScholar may also be the answer for you.
The ability to read is a basic skill everyone needs to know, but one that everyone does not always acquire easily. Most children are introduced to reading at an early age through picture books and other read-a-louds. It seems almost natural, and it is for many, for children to move through the stages of early reading, more confident reading and then to independent reading. For children who do not progress in that manner, many fall behind and some become adults who never really acquire good reading skills.
MaxScholar gears its Reading Intervention Programs to pre-kindergarten through adults with a basis of the Orton-Gillingham Approach. The programs are “systematic, explicit and multi-sensory,” while also being flexible in its teaching to the needs of the learning child or adult.
I love this picture of the little girl. That gives you an idea of a reaction you may receive from your child using the Reading Intervention Programs. There are a number of programs from which the child may choose. The main programs are MaxPhonics, MaxReading and MaxWords.
The MaxPhonics also has a Pre-K Phonics component for children, ages three to five, which introduces letters, their sounds and how they blend to become words as well as how they are written. It is a great precursor for a younger child who is not ready for kindergarten, but may soon begin. By the time they complete this program, they will be ready to continue their learning in kindergarten.
The MaxWords program allows children to get to the “root of words” with a focus on the Greek and Latin interpretation. Knowing the root meaning helps children determine the word use. They also learn about prefixes, suffixes, how words break down in syllables and more.
The MaxReading program is what really caught my interest in MaxScholar. By no fault of his own, Canyon is a struggling reader. MaxScholar touts itself as being a reading intervention program. Intervention can be a good thing! That is what we need.
The picture above shows the parent dashboard where you have a lot of control. The programs are set up with a pretest to help you determine where your child should begin. You may adjust which level they should test and also whether or not they should test before beginning the program. You may even choose which programs your child is able to use and/or whether or not they may play the reward games at the end.
This is an example of the pretest in the grade four level.
Working through the MaxReading program introduces students to a number of skills that all come together for a well structured reading program. Along with general reading practice, students read bodies of text to determine and highlight things like the topic, idea and they get to create more content detail.
Students are also introduced to a variety of challenging vocabulary words. This picture from the MaxVocab program shows how they may select one of the highlighted words and choose to view the definition, how the word is used in a sentence or a synonym. Students also learn about antonyms.
Something I really like about the program is that there is a reader for Canyon when he may need assistance reading the passages. As each sentence is read, it is highlighted, so he can keep in pace as he is reading through the passage. The sentence being read is highlighted in blue, which you can see above.
Another thing I like is that the passages include interesting content about pertinent things rather than just random stories. Some other examples of passages include taking us around the world in MaxPlaces where students learn about the Great Wall of China and San Francisco. MaxBios introduces them to notable people like Star Athletes (ex: Stephen Curry), Fascinating Men (ex: Simon Bolivar – we have a connection here and I was surprised to see him listed) and Hip-Hop Artists (ex: Wyclef Jean). I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of people who are featured in the MaxBios program. MaxMusic has songs from artists, the Beatles to Lil Wayne to Taylor Swift. There are many contemporary references in all programs that will interest students. There is definitely value in multisensory learning and MaxScholar does a good job with it.
We were given access to MaxScholar for one year, so I look forward to using the other programs more with Canyon. We got off to a bumpy start with MaxScholar, but I can see the value in the programs. MaxReading, MaxPhonics and MaxWords all compliment each other well and work to improve your the student’s reading skills. MaxMusic, MaxVocab, MaxPlaces and MaxBios continue the learning and offer more educational fun. All of that will definitely appeal to a challenged reader and will make building the skill in them easier.
We are currently using another reading program. I really like how Reading Intervention Programs are presented to the student, so much so that I am going to have Canyon continue working through the lessons. The depth that MaxScholar goes into the structure of the programs gives parents, like me, hope for getting a child up to speed in their reading. Regardless of where your child is on the reading spectrum (beginning reader to “oh no, will they ever learn how to read?”). If you are at a point where you have exhausted all of your tools and resources and your child continues to have difficulty learning to read, MaxScholar is definitely a program you should allow your child to try. I almost want to say, using MaxScholar is like a last ditch effort, but one that will bring your child out on top.
If you are wondering if MaxScholar may be a good fit for your child, check out the free trial and test the program.
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