THE MATCHING GAME THAT TEACHES KIDS TO READ
THE EVOLUTION OF I'M READY FOR READING™
More than 25 years ago, Jacqueline Robinson created I'm Ready for Reading™ to help accelerate her students' reading abilities. With a Masters degree in Reading Education and years of experience teaching beginning readers, she recognized that children struggled to learn how to read using traditional flashcards and workbooks. She wanted to create a system that taught the fundamentals of reading in a fun and exciting way, and encouraged children to want to read.
Most of her students were familiar with the concept of playing the matching game Memory, but had only done so with pictures or images. Jacqueline was amazed that there wasn't a product already on the market like Matchword™ - a memory matching game using word-pairs instead of pictures. So, she decided to create the first one!
Jacqueline transformed the 150 words taught in I'm Ready for Reading into short stories that children loved. She made the ten story booklets small enough for children to hold easily, and wrote each story in a simple way that children could understand. Each booklet used all 15 words learned in the corresponding Matchword game in sentences that were easy to read. Jacqueline designed the story booklets in a specific order, so they would increase in difficulty as children read them. The stories used words children had already learned in previous Matchword games, in order to provide opportunities for review and repetition. By pairing the Matchword games and story booklets together, Jacqueline created a system that made learning to read fun, and rewarding!
Jacqueline utilized I'm Ready for Reading to help her daughter, Katie learn how to read when she was 4 years old. Due to the success she had using the kit as a child, Katie decided to try it with her son when he started nursery school. After completing just the first five games in the kit, Katie's son expressed an interest in reading on his own, and she couldn't believe how well he did. He started to read books at bedtime instead of being read to, called out words he recognized on signs, menus and in newspapers, and even began teaching his younger sister words he knew how to read. After experiencing the success she and her son had with I'm Ready for Reading, Katie decided to re-produce the kit to share with the parents and children of her and her son's generation.
MATCHWORD™
Matchword™ is like playing a game of memory, but with word-pairs instead of pictures. Through play, your child will be able to recognize matching words. You will help him learn to read what each one says. Even if a child does not know what a word says, he is still able to decide if two words match or not. Matchword teaches children to differentiate between words, and also how to recognize and read them. The game concept allows your child to memorize each word easily, while having fun at the same time.
THE STORY BOOKLETS
The story booklets in I’m Ready for Reading™ are designed to be small in size for little hands, so that children feel like they are made just for them. And they are! Our story booklets are written using the words learned in Matchword™, and do not include pictures. This is because most children will use pictures as a way to describe what's happening on a page, instead of actually reading the words. Others may memorize the words on a page after hearing them read aloud several times, just reciting them using the picture as a cue. Neither demonstrates that the child can actually read the words. Therefore, your I'm Ready for Reading kit will ensure that your child truly learns how to read.
HOW WERE THE WORDS IN I’M READY FOR READING™ CHOSEN?
All of the words included in each I'm Ready for Reading™ kit are part of The Dolch Word List, which was created in 1936 by Edward William Dolch, and first published in 1948. It contains 220 “service words” that are essential to achieving reading fluency in the English language. Although the complete Dolch list includes 220 words, I’m Ready for Reading™ includes the 150 simpler words that are more appropriate for early readers.
The words selected for I’m Ready for Reading include 40 Pre-K sight words, and words that fall into family groupings such as, “bee”, “tree” and “see”. These rhyming words teach your child to recognize word patterns and use letter sounds to read new words, making it easier to learn.