Stepping Stones Together Review and 50% Off Offer

I believe that giving your child an early start to reading is important.  The ability to read opens  a plethora of new opportunities for them.  Stepping Stones Together is an online parent/child reading resource created by Erica Burton, PH.D.that helps teach children to read.  The Stepping Stones Together reading program is personalized for each child that joins.   There are numerous online reading activities as well as some that can be printed off.  Parents are able to help their children choose themes of interest and the appropriate level of difficulty.  The program claims that I can teach my child to read in 90 days.  The reading program consists of:

• A choice of 30 high interest themed stories from our beginning reading library, which is comprised of 3 difficulty levels.
• Over 100 reading comprehension questions designed to build your child’s reading comprehension skills, along with thinking, reading fluency, speaking and writing abilities. (early reading benefits)

• A daily writing program linked to your child’s daily reading to extend your child’s reading and writing abilities.
• Extension games that encourage your child to use their newly acquired reading skills as well as explore the benefits and joys connected with being a reader.
• A personalized behavior incentive chart for each series of stories to motivate your child to record their daily progress.
• A personalized certificate acknowledging their achievement after completing a leveled series every 10 days. Each reading series is comprised of 5 stories at a given level read twice. E-alerts to keep you on target with the program, which are directly linked to your personalized profile.
• Access to Blogs and Newsletters to provide you with current reading research tidbits and best practice tips to parents of new readers.

The above book is my 4 year old daughter’s favorite.  She loves reading, but she loves it more when it involves a princess.   I love that this program allows us to print the book, as well as using them online.  My daughter would rather have the book in her hand and since the pages are black and white, she also enjoys coloring the pages.  I also love the repetition of the high frequency words within each book.  The repetition allows my daughter to get comfortable with a group of words so that it is less intimidating to learn one new word on each page.  Stepping Stones Together  has developed a program with beginning reading activities through first grade reading activities.  Among their activities are flash cards that correspond with their books.  We have not used their flashcards yet, but my older daughter and I used flashcards all the time while she was learning to read.  They were very beneficial. 

 Of course, not all children love reading about princesses.  This is why Stepping Stones Together provides various themes to attract the interest of all children.   Once you and your child choose your first theme and starting level, take the time to look through the pages together.  Many parents are surprised that illustrations play such an important role in beginning reading.  By discussing the illustrations together, you are helping your child to learn how to analyze, imagine, and predict.  After flipping through the pictures, the child can read the book independently or with assistance.  Stepping Stones Together provides comprehension questions to be completed after the child has read the book independently. 

If you are interested in giving your child a jump on reading, “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." 

Does this sound like a great program that you and your child would like to join?  Well Stepping Stones Together is offering the lucky readers of Between the Lines 50% off a year membership.  That's a $15 savings!  Simply visit Stepping Stones Together and use the code "I want the deal" when purchasing your membership.  Happy Reading! 

Disclosure: I was given access into the Stepping Stones Together website to facilitate my review.  No other compensation was given.  I was not required to give a positive review.