Rime2Read, a cumulative 20 book set of e-books is described as a color-coded, highly effective approach to beginning reading. The books are available only at www.rimetoread.com and can be purchased and accessed exclusively on-line. Customers can choose to purchase the vowel set of books for $9.99 or the entire 20 book set for $44.99. The ability to print the books once with your home computer is available with each purchase while the ability to access the books on-line is unlimited once payment is received.
The registration process was easy taking only 1-2 minutes. I particularly liked that I could instantly use all the books once I received my confirmation email arriving in my inbox nearly instantly along with a helpful little reminder of my user name and password. I found this little bit of customer service a nice perk since I normally have to remember to send myself an email of the user name and passwords for each of my on-line accounts in an effort to keep track of them all.
Rime2Read provides a brief description of their program on the homepage of their bright, colorful website. They are quick to point out that Rime is not mis-spelled. A rime by definition is a word that sounds and looks like the other word. (ie. at, Pat, cat, sat) A rhyme is a word which sounds like another word, but is not necessarily spelled similarly. (ie. care, hair, where)
The rimes, (word families) each have a color coded book dedicated to them. The simple black and white illustrations within the books reminded me of an animation artist's doodling. The clean simple lines on a white background are accented by a single color to visually draw your attention to all words related to the rime. For example, in book #1, Pat, the rime is "at". Pat wears a light blue jumper and any rimes for Pat will have the initial consonant in black with "at" in light blue. In addition, a simple click of the mouse over the rime word will give the student an audio pronunciation of the word, thus reinforcing with sound the visual connection being made to all of the rime words. I think the color coded visual approach to the rimes is great for our generation of visually oriented kids who thrive on movies, animated television and computer games. This curriculum of books is designed to reach them in a familiar and comfortable way they are used to utilizing while learning.
The pages of the e-book they actually curl up when turned giving the reader the visual effect of traditional paper books. The first page of each rime book is filled with information for the teacher including reminders to master each book before moving on, teaching tips, and suggestions to help with mastering sight words. There should be no question that this product is designed to be user friendly for both teacher and student.
On the last page of each book you will find a page of sight words used in the book and a page with a grid of all of the rime words learned to date. My 7 year old loved the challenge of reading through all of the words on these last two pages, especially after we progressed in the program. Because the program is cumulative, review of rimes and sight words continues throughout. For example, in book #5, Ben, the previously learned rimes of at, an and ad are incorporated within the text of the story. This is a great way to test comprehension of previously mastered rimes.
Rime2Read is a wonderful addition to any beginning readers' curriculum. Besides the 20 volume set the company currently offers daily tips to aid in reading education and a quarterly newsletter. Plans are underway for adding another 20 book set in the future to cover long vowel sounds as well as more advanced skills. The simplicity of these books, cumulative nature and easy accessibility make them a joy to use in any household.
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