Make Learning to Read Fun! My Virtual Tutor Pre-K to Kindergarten and Kindergarten to 1st Grade for the Nintendo DS Review

Learning to read is one of the most exciting times in a child's life. Finally they feel like they are clued in on this great mystery that is everywhere around them. I remember that special moment when I finally figured it out for myself, I was so excited, like I had just become a member of a special club. I was just as excited when I saw my oldest son have the same moment, one day it all just clicked. It was amazing, and I was so proud.

Being the mom of all boys, it has become apparent that what drives my boys the most is video games. They love them. My husband is always offering up the super fun games to them that he likes to play too, so its tough for me when I introduce the educational games. Its tough for my game choices to compete with Dad's. Luckily for me there are some great educational games out there now that are just as fun as the action adventure games that they love so much.

One of my favorites are the My Virtual Tutor Reading games. When I was offered to review not only one of the games but two, I was thrilled. My oldest boys are close in age but far enough apart that their reading skills are on different levels. Benji, my five year old, is just starting to recognize letters and words so he was given the My Virtual Tutor: Reading Pre-K to Kindergarten level game. Oscar, my 6.5 year old who is in first grade, was given the My Virtual Tutor: Reading Kindergarten to 1st Grade game. They were both thrilled to try their new reading games. Below is some video footage of each of them actually playing their games for the first time. You can tell that both boys had a lot of fun.


















About My Virtual Tutor Reading

My Virtual Tutor starts off the game play with reading fun interactive story to your child. When finished with the story your child can then play in explore mode, which assesses your child's comprehension of what they just read through a series of fun questions. Once Explore mode is complete the I Can Read mode is now unlocked. In the I Can Read Mode your child can read the story, play fun word-based minigames and even record and listen to him/herself reading aloud. That part was really fun for both of my boys. They loved hearing their voices repeated back to them, this feature really helped to keep them engaged in the game. Once the I Can Read mode is complete your child can play with the paint mode and let their creative side shine while being read the story by the virtual tutor. When the book is complete it will unlock yet another book for the child to read and play.


Key Features (taken from Amazon.com)

Enhanced Learning – Reading as a fun activity
My Virtual Tutor: Reading has fun as a top priority. By experiencing early reading through wonderful, hand-drawn animations and characters, along with fun mini-games, your child will not only learn to read; they’ll learn that reading is fun!

Successful
The game is based on the National Education Association standards for teaching literacy, and derived from a system developed by researchers at the University of Colorado. Delivered on the Nintendo DS, learning to read is made fun and portable.

Easy to Play
Nintendo DS uses the touchscreen exclusively; no need for long, wordy menus to begin and play! Your child can interact with the words and pictures in the game, and they can even paint a picture of the story while the virtual tutor reads. With the portability of a Nintendo DS, your child can learn to read anywhere, anytime!

Adaptive learning
My Virtual Tutor: Reading teaches your child new skills as they master previous ones. The activities are paced to correlate with their learning. As your child performs better and faster, the game will dish out extra challenges to keep them excited and engaged.

Self-Correcting Practices
To help develop fluency, your child can read the books out-load using the Nintendo DS microphone. After your child reads, the tutor will play back the recording and compare it to what she reads for self-correcting practice.

A Fun Reward System
Animated and interactive quizzes are introduced to test your child's retention of the skills and concepts they learned while playing the game. As your child learns to read by mastering skills and concepts, fun prizes are awarded. Your child will be eager to accumulate as many prizes as possible.

Parent Mode
By tracking your child’s progress, the tutor shows you where your child excels, and where more practice is needed.
Up to 3 Users per Game


Needless to say I will definitely be implementing use of the My Virtual Tutor games for both boys during the Summer months. I remember just how hard it was to get back into the swing of things in the Fall after the long break. I want both of them to feel ready and prepared when it comes to reading, listening and learning. One of my favorite game features for Oscar is the tracing of the letters because he needs a ton of help when it comes to handwriting. For Benji I like the phonics aspect because he has been in speech therapy for the last couple of years to help him learn how to pronounce certain words and sounds. Having a game that he enjoys give will be fun way to help improve his speech. Being able to hear himself back when he speaks may help him realize how different he sounds from the tutor.


Buy It!





Just-in-time for summer, you can now save $5.00 when you purchase the My Virtual Tutor Reading Titles on Amazon.com!

To redeem your $5.00 off promotional code, log onto http://www.amazon.com/s/?search-alias=videogames&hidden-keywords=B002BZ11DM|B002BZ11DC|B002BZ11F0 and simply enter the claim code MYVTUTOR during checkout. This offer expires at 11:59 p.m. PST on May 31, 2010.











*I share my 100% honest thoughts and opinions in all posts. For this product review I was only compensated in product for the sole purpose of writing an honest review. Please refer to my disclosure policy or email me if you have any questions.*