BUILDING THE WINDOWSÿ VERSION

In the home:

Several home users (some homeschoolers) used the program with their children for several weeks starting in the Spring.

The parents started the students and after a few lessons the student worked on their own with a minimum of supervision.  Some of the students worked five days a week, others averaged two or three times a week.  One couple wanted to work on TLC right after breakfast before they did anything else, even before attending school.

Many of the parents used the blackline story booklets I provided.   Students filled a three-ring binder and read the stories  for fun.  Some read these with their other parent or grandparent.  I can't tell you how many Dads liked being part of the learning process.

Each time the student advanced to the next level in The Word Jungle game the parents gave them a name badge with the animal's name to wear for the rest of the day.  The kids seemed to love this.  The parents used a plastic badge holder and inserted the name of the lion creature for each level.  The parents said their kids wore them like they were "badges of honor".  You might want to adopt this technique. 

The parents reported their students took off in reading on their own. They would pick up books on their own and get lost in them.  Their grades improved significantly over the course of the program and they no longer seemed afraid to read. 

See below for statistical gains in classroom settings for the Windows version

GRADE FIVE  Program in use for two months.  April 11 - June 14, 2001 LA Unified Public School. Pupils were Hispanic, and English was not primary language at home.