Reading Street ~~~~ Pearson Education

Pearson Education gave members of the TOS Homeschool Crew the chance to review several of their products.  Our family was chosen to review their Second Grade Language Arts, student texts, Reading Street 2.1 and 2.2 by Scott Foresman.


***I believe that it is only fair to mention that these books are completely mainstream Public School textbooks.  They are created to be used in conjunction with a certain method of teaching, and usually are accompanied by teachers manuals.***

Each Textbook costs $43.47
A two book set is $86.97
DVD-ROM Version of the texts $86.97
Weekly Tests Student edition $ 7.97
Weekly Test Teacher Manual $41.47
Unit Teacher Manual $38.47 each (12 volumes in set)

 

What I did like:

• Units were well organized.
• Broad Range of Literary Choices.  (Poetry, Folk Tales, Fiction, Non-Fiction)
• Built in Grammar Reinforcement
• Writing and review sections.
• Very colorful pages
• The stories were all very age appropriate.

Hunter did enjoy reading out of these books.  The non-fiction pieces were his particular favorites.  It is likely that we will refer to them again and use them as supplemental reading.  We, however, prefer books that are less textbook-ey. (how is that for a new word?)

Suggestions:

• A more user friendly website.  It is very geared to the purchasing departments of large public school systems.
• Make Teachers guide samples available.  Homeschool parents often need to just see a small model to better understand how the product is intended to be used. 
• Homeschool Friendly pricing. The cost as it stands now, is very prohibitive to the home education population.

While I was not supplied with Teachers Guides.... (and I understand why.... they are very expensive)  The books as they stand alone, are not difficult to use.  We would read a story, and then talk about it.  If it was long we would divide it into 2 days.  We would orally go over the Reader Response questions.  The writing section walks you through building a composition nicely.  These books are an enjoyable way to expose your child to many different types of literature, especially if you take the time to read more books from the featured authors, throughout the school year.

While I don't feel that this type of textbook teaching is the best fit for our family, I know there are many people who homeschool very successfully with them.  If you think this product would be a fit for your family, please visit the Pearson Education website and see some of the many products they have to offer.

Visit the TOS Homeschool Crew Blog to read more reviews about this product and others by Pearson Education.

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as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew I received the two student texts for Reading Street, free of charge,  for the purpose of this review.  No other compensation has been received.  All of the above opinions are my own.

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