Children's Software Review of:
Reader Rabbit’s
Complete Learn to Read System 
From the November, 1999 issue of PC Alamode Magazine 

But first, a little background information. My experience with children’s software began when my daughter, Zoë was just an infant. She displayed an obvious interest and delight at the sights and sounds of some of the software and games I used on my computer. It seemed obvious that this medium might help her learn and develop. As she grew into a toddler, I had already begun to sit her on my lap, while we "read stories" on the computer. This was, I learned later, referred to as "lapware." Before I knew it, Zoë wanted to explore and use the mouse by herself. Keep in mind, that she was barely 2 ½ years old at this point. Gradually, she became more skilled and manipulated these programs with ease. Built into most of these early programs were attention-grabbing aspects, such as fun events, silly sounds, actions or reactions from the characters in the stories. Zoë’s reactions were reinforcing for me, as a father to continue trying to help her develop her interest in learning and improving her skills. She amazed me at how quickly she grasped concepts and ideas set out in these programs. 

Now reading is a very complex task. It requires a certain level of readiness. I believe that early exposure given to a child increases the likelihood that the child will acquire the prerequisites needed to become a proficient reader. What does Reader Rabbit’s Learn to Read System offer, you may ask. It begins with the basics of learning letters by sight and learning letter sounds, goes on to sounding out words and then recognizing sight words and continues on to recognizing and reading words and then moves to the more complex reading of words in sentences. Eventually the child will be reading books with comprehension. Phonemic awareness, letter names and sounds, blends of letters into words and relationships of words into word families all lead to helping the child recognize words by sight and finally to reading with understanding. 

The program may be accessed either by going through the "Road to Reading" or the child may "Pick and Play." Colorful and fun characters help maintain the child’s attention and effort. Matt the Mouse and Reader Rabbit set out on the path with 4 performing hamsters that serve to keep the child working by entertaining and frequently reinforcing him. The Road sets the child on a mission to collect letters to solve a puzzle. Along the way, there are many instances for practicing sight word recognition, sounds of letters and combining letters into words and even reading stories.  Each area requires the child to do several activities and then read a storybook before they can "collect" a letter and advance to the next stop along the way. Each new challenge builds on previous ones and is intended to increase the child’s reading skills. "Pick and Play" mode lets the child choose which activities to do, at what difficulty level and where to go in the program. Select from any of the activities, practice skills, read storybooks and/or listen to songs as the child chooses. 

Whichever mode is chosen, there are tasks which both of my children Zoë, age 6 and Jackson, age 4 seem to enjoy. The Great Race consists of hamsters on tightropes, with the kids advancing the hamsters in the race by clicking on the one holding the word that matches a spoken word. Bubble Blend lets the kids blow bubbles to blend letters (and corresponding sounds) into words. Letters and Sounds appeal to the younger ages and consists of a different screen for each alphabet letter. Once there, the child may click on items found in the picture (that begin with the corresponding letter) and when they select correctly, they are rewarded with an animation from that object. For example, in M land, there is a Moose that does the Mambo and in A land, there are acrobatic apples that perform. Sight words are provided for practice at each of the 5 levels. There are 20 different sight words such as "I", "that", or "who" at each of the levels. This task is accomplished in the Costume Creator. Kids are initially asked to click on the words and say them out loud and are then instructed to choose all of the "matching" words from a set of nine. When correct matches are made, clothing is provided to a mystery hamster to dress him. Sorting is another skill that children can develop further by using this program. Sorter Magic asks the child to place words in the magic box if they have certain sounds or to place them in the garbage can if they do not. 

There are seven songs to choose from on this program. The songs are catchy and my both of my children really enjoy them. The songs also convey a positive message and approach to reading. Interactive Books (26 of them) are also provided and like many of the games and activities in this program, they are divided into one of five levels of difficulty. When progressing through the aforementioned "Road to Reading", a book is read for each letter of the alphabet that is completed along the way. But, the real hook in this portion of the game for Zoë and Jackson is the audio record and playback feature. For some reason, recording and hearing their own voices reading or saying the words is fascinating for young children. In my opinion, this also helps them pay closer attention to sounds and correct enunciation of words and letters. Another key feature that maintains the child’s attention and interest is that 6 of the storybooks have bonus pages that the child can pick elements from the story and personalize them. For example, the child can add decorations, paint or colors to casts in one story or they can decorate cookies at the end of another story. 

There are also additional items that allow for practice and study outside the program. Your child will benefit from the time you spend with him or her on these activities. Included are flash cards for the alphabet and sight words, a workbook that the child can color and the handy Parent’s handbook that serves as a manual for helping you teach your child to read. Finally, there are the storybooks which parallel the stories included in the program. 

For those of us parents out there, the program really does emphasize learning and skill development. "Progress Reports" are built into the hamsters Great Race, and each time the race is replayed, the progress of the child is updated. When certain words are problematic for a child, they are marked until the child is able to master them. We have other Reader Rabbit titles at home, and their handy Program Options Pad is found in this product as well. There is a balloon icon at the top right-hand corner of the screen, which allows you to access this feature. Parent control is very useful in that you can control among other things, whether background music plays and whether or not books are automatically read. There are other more advanced parent-control features that I have not explored as of this writing. As a psychologist, I am keenly aware of the need for positive reinforcement in building and developing skills of any kind. This is especially true with children. Printable certificates are reinforcing, not only because they herald the child’s achievement, but they also contain a word list of words that have been learned so far. Thus, even after they have completed the story, they can continue practicing these words. All children learn at different speeds and have different abilities, but programs like these can help children (and their parents) maximize the child’s abilities and overcome weaker areas with practice and repetition. 

Minimum requirements are a Windows 3.1, 95/98 operating system with a 486/66 MHZ or greater speed processor, 8 MB of RAM, a 2X CD-ROM drive (4X recommended), 20 MB of hard drive space, an SVGA 256 color monitor, a mouse and a Windows compatible sound card. Optional items: microphone and printer. Installation was simple and straightforward. 

This product is available from 

The Learning Company, Inc.
One Athenaeum Street
Cambridge, MA 02142.