{"id":7623,"date":"2015-10-26T09:54:01","date_gmt":"2015-10-26T13:54:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mayahoodblog.com\/?p=7623"},"modified":"2015-10-19T20:26:20","modified_gmt":"2015-10-20T00:26:20","slug":"make-screen-time-fun-and-educational-with-ooka-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mayahoodblog.com\/make-screen-time-fun-and-educational-with-ooka-island\/","title":{"rendered":"Make screen time fun and educational with Ooka Island"},"content":{"rendered":"

My oldest son Kyle was lucky to be in a great class last year when he started Junior Kindergarten. \u00a0Not only did he have an amazing, attentive, caring and organized teacher, but he was placed in a small class consisting of only fifteen kids. You may want to re-read that last point… ONLY FIFTEEN KIDS! We quickly realized that this presented him with a great opportunity to really grow academically in an environment conducive to learning. \u00a0While we still read to Kyle at night, and spend time doing his assigned school reading assignments together, we didn’t go above and beyond. We didn’t really feel that we had to since he was learning so much at school. \u00a0By the end of the school year he was able to write by sounding out the words (with spelling mistakes of course) and read some sight words. All before turning five!<\/span><\/p>\n

This year, for better or worse, his school situation is a little different. Kyle is now in a class with 30 other kids and while we have full confidence in his teacher, we are just not sure if he will learn as much in his new environment. My husband and I realized that we’ll have to pick up the “slack” ourselves and make sure to spend time with Kyle reading and writing at home, without going overboard of course; he is only in Senior Kindergarten after all.<\/span><\/p>\n

I was thrilled when I was asked to try out Ooka Island<\/a><\/span>; a game based reading\u00a0program that helps teach kids, from preschool to grade two, to learn how to read. There were several things that caught my attention when I first learned about this program.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Kyle<\/p>\n

First, the story of Ooka Island began over 50 years ago when the founder, Dr. Kay MacPhee began researching and learning about teaching speech and language to the deaf after discovering that her own son was profoundly deaf. Over her extensive years of research and experience, she realized that kid’s reading difficulties are linked to an inability to adequately hear and differentiate the sounds of the English language. It’s amazing what a mother’s love and need to help her children can accomplish, and in this case, her devotion and passion has helped thousands of kids.<\/span><\/p>\n

Second, I have to say that Ooka Island is like no other kids program that I’ve tried. Typical reading workbooks are of no interest to my boys. However, the minute I showed them Ooka Island, they were all too eager to try it out. I even had an account created for Ryan, my preschooler, who enjoys “playing” Ooka Island just as much, if not more, than Kyle. I can’t help but laugh to myself when I hear them arguing about who gets to play it first. They’re just having too much fun to realize that they’re learning how to read. \u00a0I’ve never felt better about letting my boys spend time in front of a screen as I do when they’re playing Ooka Island.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Ooka<\/p>\n

Children are encouraged to use the program three times a week for at least 30 minutes in order to become strong and confident readers. I’m excited to share my children’s progress over the next few months as an Ooka Island Brand Ambassador. Feel free to try it out for yourself. Ooka Island is available for download on your iPad or tablet here!<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I received compensation in exchange for writing this review. \u00a0Although this post is sponsored, all stories and opinions are my own.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My oldest son Kyle was lucky to be in a great class last year when he started Junior Kindergarten. \u00a0Not only did he have an amazing, attentive, caring and organized teacher, but he was placed in a small class consisting of only fifteen kids. You may want to re-read that last point… ONLY FIFTEEN KIDS! 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