Institute of Reading DevelopmentReviews of readingprograms.org

I have put three of my children through the six week summer reading program ranging in grades from kindergarten through fourth grade. The classes are held at local colleges. All three of my children have benefited immensely from the program. My first struggled with reading, but he enjoyed his teachers and the class materials so much that he found he was learning to read "painlessly." He is now 13 and a solid reader for his age level. My second was able to read well, but she was unmotivated. After the program, she was picking up books by herself. Now she is 10 and is an avid reader reading well above her grade level. Most recently, my third went through the summer program. I appreciated the fact that rather than keeping him in the entering first grader program, they promoted him to the entering second grader program because the first grade work was too easy for him. I was also interested to see that despite his vastly different personality (gregarious, outgoing, energetic), he was interested and challenged enough to sit still through the learning modules and participate. Now he is picking up books to read on his own and brings harder books to me for me to read to him. The program is completed online (which was extremely convenient), 5 lessons per week (so one per night), with one in-person weekend class with an instructor. In kindergarten, you are encouraged to stay with the child. In first grade, you are encouraged to stay for the first part of class. In second grade and beyond you leave your child with the instructor, but parents can stay if they want. You are given 5-6 new books for your child to read and they keep them, so it is a nice start to a library. My kids have enjoyed the books and like to re-read them. I have to admit that every year I flinch at the cost a bit and I have seldom enrolled more than one child at a time (but they do give family discounts). However, every year I am glad that I enrolled them when I see their abilities and interest in reading blossom. All of my children are confident readers and that has been a huge factor in their school success.

Fabulous reading programs for children! This is our second year doing it and we are completely satisfied. The teacher was wonderful and the material excellent. Highly recommend.

Excellent!! Ms. Hunt was so nice & Olivia was disappointed when she didn’t have to go anymore. The books were awesome!! She loves to read now! Thank you!!

The Institute of Reading Development is a great resource. Their classes and materials are high quality, the instruction is research-based and effective, and everyone on staff is devoted to fostering a love of reading.

Really great program for a child going into kindergarten. Can't wait for next summer's class.

I thought the program was good. The teachers came prepared and had good lessons. I thought the “homework” was relevant and helped my child. I was not a fan of their policy that siblings could not be present. That required us to hire a baby sitter for our infant to allow our child to attend the class on multiple occasions. Also, parents must be in class and engaged the entire class (which is probably why there is a no sibling rule) and I would have preferred a pre-k type setting where kids are learning without their parents. Overall, I would recommend the program and will likely enroll our child next summer.

Helped my granddaughter gain confidence. I learned how to work with her to improve her reading skills. I will continue to use the methods taught to parents as she goes through first grade.

I took away a lot of great information on how to work with my child when it comes to reading and helping foster that love of reading. It was misleading that parents are only present for the first half. This was not true. The parents are present the whole time and most of the instructions are targeted at the parents not the kids. The pace of moving from activity to activity is quick which doesn't allow kids a lot of time to get in a groove. Right as they get the hang of the activity we were moving on. This was not only frustrating for my daughter, but me too.I think a more targeted activity approach (2-3 per class) would be more conducive to the child retaining and grasping what they are doing. It moved quick for a 6 year old. The online activities were great and she really excelled through those classes. All in all I did see some progress and feel like I now have the skills to continue this, but I think if the instructions were targeted more to my kid she would have made more progress.