CLOSED: Stepping Stones Together Online Reading Program Review & Giveaway

What is Stepping Stones Together?

Stepping Stones Together was created as a valuable parent-child resource for beginning reading skills.  Stepping Stones Together is an online parent/child emergent reading program most appropriate for children between the ages of 3-7 dependent on when they are ready to read. The idea is to empower busy parents with the tools to take an active role in their child’s beginning reading skills, foster a love of reading, and provide a positive bonding experience for even the time challenged parents!

What I like about Stepping Stones Together

The Stepping Stones Together program focuses on popular children themed stories, which utilize 220 high-frequency words and 95 nouns. Reading experts agree that children need to learn these words in order to become successful readers because they are common used words. Each book includes comprehension question on the last page. These questions ask everything from recall of facts, making inferences, summarization, as well as elicit critical thinking skills and discussion of how a story is applicable to their child’s experiences.

Stepping Stones Together Online Reading Program

The program will offer a very affordable ($19.99 for the 60 day program but access for 90 days) way for parents to get their child on their way to reading success. There is also a full year access to the program for $39.99. It offers high interest text (superheroes, sports, transportation, animals, princesses, fairies) repetitive syntax, helps develop print awareness, and utilizes all 220 high frequency words and more that 200 vocabulary words inclusive of the 95 most common nouns in children books.
I was excited about this opportunity of being able to allow my daughter to try the Stepping Stones Together Online Reading Program. Being that my daughter just recently started Kindergarten and I believe this program will help her to become familiar with common vocabulary words.

How to Use the Books

The Stepping Stones Together reading program uses an easy to follow approach, which you and your child can complete in just 15 – 20 minutes a day. Consistency and repetition will provide for beginning reading success.

STEP 1: You and your child will select one of the pre-selected stories at your child’s appropriate level from your personal homepage (this happens every 2 days as your child should read the same book twice before moving onto the next story). Research suggests it is important for children to have ownership of story selection.

STEP 2: You will read the title of the story to your child, asking them to make a prediction about the story and what they might know about a particular topic. (Day 1 and 2)

STEP 3: You and your child take a picture walk through the book, looking at the pictures and making predictions about story events/details. (Day 1)  You and your child read together, or you read the first time, through a simple 8-sentence story with explicitly obvious text illustration correspondence. (Day 1)

STEP 4: Your child independently reads the story. (Day 1 and 2)

1. Have your child place their finger on each word as they read the story.
2. If your child is struggling with a word ask them to tell you the beginning letter sound of that word. Assist them if necessary with the beginning letter sound. For example, the first letter in doll makes the /duh/ sound.
3. Have them use the illustrations for clues with a difficult word.
4. Next, you ask your child the pre-populated reading questions, extending their understanding of the text. (Day 1 and/or 2)

STEP 5: You ask your child to write and/or draw a response to the pre-populated writing prompt, further extending their understanding, recall and use of high frequency words, as well as enabling them to practice their critical thinking skills. (Day 1 and 2) You reward your child’s efforts asking them to color, cross out or put a sticker on their daily incentive chart indicating they completed a particular story.

STEP 6: You can then print out the certificate of completion to showcase in a special location in your house once all the stories in the series are completed. (5 stories read twice)

I’m so glad that I was given the opportunity to review this product and in addition to that one lucky reader could receive a year subscription to Stepping Stones Together Online Reading Program.

HOW TO ENTER
Mandatory Entry:

Optional Entries: You need to complete the mandatory entry in order to enter optional entries. You are NOT obligated to complete the optional entries.

• Follow Stepping Stones Together on Twitter
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• Follow Diary of a Chic Mommy on Twitter
• Follow Diary of a Chic Mommy via Google Friend Connect or Email/RSS
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• Follow me on networked blogs (right sidebar)
• Tweet: I entered to win a year subscription to Stepping Stones Together Reading Program @sstogether (via @achicmommy) http://bit.ly/9nG0Nv

(tweet every day for extra entries and make sure to leave a comment below letting me know you did so)

NOTE: Make sure to comment below for each additional entry

Contest ends Saturday, August 28th at 11:59 EST
The Winner will be picked via Random.org Best of Luck!!!!

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