Monday, March 4, 2013

My T.R.I.P. Update-Final Post!


We are coming in for a landing!!!
We have come to the end of our reading and writing journey with the Targeted Reading Improvement Program, also known as, T.R.I.P. To read more about why we started this program and  follow our progress through it you can follow the links below.



A little information about the T.R.I.P. program...

From a trusted homeschool curriculum reviewer, Cathy Duffy,

"TRIP grew out of years of clinical work with students with reading problems. The same techniques used in one-on-one clinical lessons can now be done at home with parental guidance at far less cost with this interactive video program. The program is very nicely done with bright, colorful graphics and a clean, easy to use layout..." 

www.cathyduffyreviews.com


TRIP was created by Walter C. Waid and Jordan H. Price, teachers with a combined total of 40 years experience working with special needs, ADD, ADHD, Dyslexic, and special ed students. They received their degrees and teaching credentials from California State University Long Beach and Fullerton California, respectively. 

SPECIAL FEATURES 

TRIP Contains 20 lessons. Each lesson consists of 3 parts. Plus A How to To Instructional Video With Step-By-Step Teaching Instructions.

Below is a sample video of what you will see when you purchase the DVD.






The program is divided up into three parts.

Part 1: WORD LISTS
These contain 160 basic sight and phonetic words for instant recognition. Spelling practice is incorporated as well. You, the parent, administer this program with your child, just as though you were a private tutor. You make a check beside each word as your child reads the words correctly. My son breezed through the 160 words with little difficulty. My daughter is just learning to read so she had quite a bit of trouble reading the words. We will definitely revisit this program with her in another year or two.



Here are three of my kids. My 10 year-old is working through the flashing words at a fast pace. My 5 year-old is waiting patiently for her turn while my 3 year-old looks on.

Part 2: FLASHING PRACTICE. 
This consists of flashing a series of symbols, letters, numbers and words on the screen. Students have a choice of three speeds and write down what they see. This is designed to improve visual imagery for better spelling and reading accuracy. My kids loved this part of the program. My son enjoyed controlling the laptop flashing by pressing the flash button after each shape/line or word or number revealed. We started at the beginner level for my daughter but my son really had a blast working at the faster pace to challenge himself to write the symbols he saw before they disappeared!


Here is my son checking over his word list after completing the flashing words.

Part 3: STORY CARD. 
10 sight words are reinforced with each story card which is read aloud. Students practice writing down the words while following directions and answering simple comprehension questions. For this section of the program I had my son read the story out loud. In doing this, I was able to catch any words he was mispronouncing or transposing. I found he has a  tendency to place words not written there into the context as he tries to read through a sentence. For instance the sentence might say, "There were tears in her eyes." He would actually say, "There are tears in her eyes."


Overall, for the price of the DVD at only $19.99, I think this program is well worth it. The T.R.I.P. website explains that "private reading centers and tutors charge anywhere from $65.00 a lesson and up. Many tutoring centers will not even take special needs readers."  I'm so glad we were able to try this program out. If your child is a slow reader, a struggling reader, has ADD/ADHD, dyslexia, or other reading problems, this would be a great tool for parents to use to help their child become better readers. I think this program can really help a child break bad habits in reading and spelling and even writing as they work through the written flash words, and read through the spelling lists. At the end of 20 lessons, your child will be confident they can read through 160 words and you, the parent, will have an idea of where your child's strengths and weaknesses are in both reading and writing. You will be able to be more confident moving forward whether you homeschool or your child goes to public/private school knowing you have helped your child improve their reading skills!


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I received a free copy of this DVD to review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations. I am part of The CWA Review Crew.