For the last few weeks, we have had an enjoyable time using the MaxScholar Reading Intervention Program by MaxScholar. We were given a one-year subscription for both of our boys to the MaxGuru Pack.
MaxScholar is an online reading and language-based program that uses thoroughly researched methods to help students improve their reading and language skills. It was specifically created to help students that have dyslexia, learning diablitlies, ADHD, processing problems and those who are struggling to read. Being online, it can be accessed through a laptop or computer as well as a tablet for use when out and about.
The MaxGuru Pack includes:
- All MaxPhonics – teaches phonics; for children ages 5-7
- All MaxReading – teaches effective reading comprehension skills
- All MaxWords – teaches how to build words – prefixes, suffixes, Greek and Latin roots, syllabification and spelling rules.
- All MaxMusic – Uses Music and games to help kids work on memory, recognition and auditory skills.
- All MaxPlaces – Explore the world while working on reading comprehension.
- All MaxBios – Introduces children to famous people while teaching them chronological ordering skills.
- All MaxVocab – This is MaxScholar’s dictionary offering thousands of definitions and some interactive games.
As part of this program, I also have access to a parent account – MaxReports. This allowed me to see the last time our boys were logged in and where they were spending their time.
During our time using the program, I have received many helpful emails form MaxScholar about new updates, changes and video tutorials on how to use the program which have been great.
How did we go?
When first logging in, both of our boys completed the pre-assessment test which allowed them to be placed in the correct level based on their results.
Both of our boys started with MaxReading. In MaxReading, students are required to read a short story made up of few paragraphs. In this passage are vocabulary words that are highlighted. If you click on these, a small ‘dictionary’ box pops up, allowing the children to see the meaning of the word. Once they have read the passage, the children the highlight the topic, main idea and important details. This is then followed by them typing a topic, ideas and detailing the outline of the story they have just read. This is then followed by writing exercises and multiple choice questions.
Our boys favourite course was MaxWords. In this course, children are taught important ways to build their vocabulary and improve their spelling through learning prefixes, suffixes, Greek and Latin roots, syllabification (CLOVER) and spelling words.
We did have a little go at the MaxPhonics, but it was just way too easy for our boys. It would be perfect for young child though.
MaxVocab is a great resource for expanding their vocabulary. It lists all the words from the passages they were reading in the MaxReading part of the program.
When you first go into MaxPlaces, you are brought to a world map. On this map, you can click on a place you wish to read about. The student reads through the passage, using the highlighters, just like they do in MaxReading. Once completing this, they move onto some multiple choice questions that you need to get over 60% on.
In MaxMusic, students read song lyrics of artists. Then they can choose from 3 activities on the left. The first is identify, where they identify all the verbs in the passage, the next is fillers. This is where the student clicks on an orange box to choose the correct word. The orange boxes are labelled with different parts of speech like noun, adjective etc. The last activity on the left is piano. Here the student can play the tune on the piano. This activity only seems to work on Google Chrome and Firefox, we tried on the boys laptop in Safari, and it didn’t work.
MaxBios. This is very similar to the MaxPlaces. Students read the passage, use the highlighters and then move onto multiple choice questions.
We were not overly impressed with the MaxMusic and MaxBios due to some of the people / lyrics they chose ( hip-hop artist bios and drug references), but that is just our opinion and it may be the same for other Christian homeschooling parents. Many Christian families would have different views on who is seen as important and influential, we just didn’t fully agree with all the ones they chose. It would have been nice for them to add more of the classical composers and amazing inventors in these areas. This just meant our boys just didn’t complete much of this programs.
In saying all of that, we have found the rest of MaxScholar to be an enjoyable program for our boys and is helping them improve their reading skills. As their skills are improving and they start mastering topics, they are opening up new levels (there are twelve in total) which means, over the whole 12 months of the subscription, our boys reading skills will have improved dramatically.
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