The Reading Game, 2nd Enhanced Edition

The curriculum requires direct instruction from a tutor or parent to guide students through the Memory games and word recognition activities.

Review states 'A tutor (or parent) needs to work with the student' and describes structured activities where adults help children learn words through guided Memory games

The Memory game format provides retrieval practice for sight word recognition, and previously learned words are reviewed in subsequent reader sets.

Students play Memory games until words are mastered, and 'all previously learned words' are reviewed as children progress through the six reader sets

The curriculum includes six complete readers that students read after mastering the associated sight words through games and flashcards.

Each reader set contains a 32-page reader (titled Skunk, Snake, Bear, Penguins, Unicorn, and Zebra) that students read after learning the words through Memory games

The curriculum does not systematically build domain knowledge, focusing solely on sight word recognition without content-rich texts or background knowledge development.

The program teaches 180 high-frequency words through Memory games and simple readers, with no indication of systematic knowledge-building across domains

The curriculum explicitly avoids phonics instruction, teaching reading entirely through sight word memorization.

Review states 'The Reading Game teaches beginning reading strictly through sight words' and 'Children are not expected to have learned phonics or other reading skills'

The curriculum includes minimal writing instruction, only introducing basic sentence structure concepts through captioned picture cards.

Review mentions that captioned picture flashcards 'serve as an introduction to sentence structure with a capital at the beginning and a period, question mark, or exclamation point at the end'

The readers appear to use simple texts appropriate for beginning readers, though complexity is limited by the sight-word-only approach.

The six readers progress from simple sentences to more complex ones using the 180 taught sight words, with illustrations supporting comprehension

The curriculum provides basic guidance through rules and guides, plus optional assessment materials, but lacks comprehensive teacher training on reading instruction.

Includes an 'eight-page The Reading Game Rules and Guide' and free downloadable pretests, posttests, and class recording sheets

The program introduces 180 words systematically, including Dolch high-frequency words, but lacks deep vocabulary instruction beyond word recognition.

Each set teaches 30 new words from Dolch lists, progressing from simple words like 'cat' and 'play' to more complex ones like 'alphabet' and 'dolphin'