My Virtual Tutor: Reading Pre-K to Kindergarten

by Mentor InterActive

• 8 Interactive Books
• 4 Different Play Modes
• Staged Learning - Through self-correcting practice, the different codes of interacting with the exercises and stories will advance along with player
• 5 Reading Areas - Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Comprehension
• Proprietary software in My Virtual Tutor has been tested and proven effective with over 1200 students

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B002BZ11DC
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches ; 1 pounds
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: September 11, 2009
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,752 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com

By combining the kid-friendly Nintendo DS with a proven reading curriculum developed and tested at the University of Colorado, My Virtual Tutor: Reading makes learning reading skills fun, affordable and portable!  Through interactive books, school age and grade relevant phonics instruction and  fun quiz modes, your child will learn the comprehension, phonics, fluency and vocabulary necessary to become an expert reader, all  while having fun with their Nintendo DS.

Gameplay

My Virtual Tutor: Reading greets your child first with a fun story in Read to Me mode, where the story is read by the tutor, accompanied by fun sounds and animations.  Once the story is read, your child  then accesses the story in Explore mode, which features comprehension questions which assess your child’s understanding of what they read.  After Explore mode, I Can Read mode is unlocked, where your child can read the story, play fun word-based minigames and even record and listen to him/herself reading aloud!  These minigames offer more practice to expand reading comprehension and vocabulary.  After playing I Can Read, your child can unleash their inner artist in paint mode while the story is read to them by the tutor.  Once your child completes all four modes in the first book, an additional book is unlocked in their library to read and explore.  These books were specially created at the University of Colorado to both engage readers and supply practice to gain fluent reading and comprehension.

At any point your child can also play phonics minigames building the skills necessary to become an independent reader.  The phonics games focus building words that start, contain, and end with certain letters and sounds.  These games progress along with your child by evaluating performance on the current concept then moving on once that concept has been mastered.  In addition to phonics practice, our challenge mode will test your child’s skills with survival-style gameplay.

After your child has explored a story and tested their phonics skills, he or she is ready for quiz mode!  Quiz mode tests the skills and concepts your child has learned up until that point in the game.  By answering story comprehension questions, word matching, and coloring (just for fun!) your child can unlock 20 great prizes! [Prize Pictures]
Parents can access Parent Mode at any time to track your child’s progress and identify areas of mastery and areas needing more focus for deeper learning.

Key Features

Enhanced Learning – Reading as a fun activity
My Virtual Tutor: Reading has fun as a top priority.  By experiencing early reading through wonderful, hand-drawn animations and characters, along with fun mini-games, your child will not only learn to read; they’ll learn that reading is fun!

Successful
The game is based on the National Education Association standards for teaching literacy, and  derived from a system developed by researchers at the University of Colorado.  Delivered on the Nintendo DS, learning to read is made fun and portable.

Easy to Play
Nintendo DS uses the touchscreen exclusively; no need for long, wordy menus to begin and play! Your child can interact with the words and pictures in the game, and they can even paint a picture of the story while the virtual tutor reads.  With the portability of a Nintendo DS, your child can learn to read anywhere, anytime!

Adaptive learning
My Virtual Tutor: Reading teaches your child new skills as they master previous ones.  The activities are paced to correlate with their learning.  As your child performs better and faster, the game will dish out extra challenges to keep them excited and engaged.

Self-Correcting Practices
To help develop fluency, your child can read the books out-load using the Nintendo DS microphone.  After your child reads, the tutor will play back the recording and compare it to what she reads for self-correcting practice.

A Fun Reward System
Animated and interactive quizzes are introduced to test your child's retention of the skills and concepts they learned while playing the game.   As your child learns to read by mastering skills and concepts, fun prizes are awarded.  Your child will be eager to accumulate as many prizes as possible.  

Parent Mode
By tracking your child’s progress, the tutor shows you where your child excels, and where more practice is needed.
Up to 3 Users per Game

With up to three possible user profiles, every child in your family can have their very own Virtual Tutor!

Product Description

My Virtual Tutor was created to help children learn and master early reading via the incredibly popular Nintendo DS. Featuring individualized learning exercises, eight interactive books; four play modes and staged learning all aimed at keeping readers motivated and encouraging literacy. Backed by six years of research and development from the University of Colorado and using proprietary Foundations to Literacy software, My Virtual Tutor makes reading fun, affordable and portable.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 45 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, but not for preschool December 27, 2009

By SJC

Fun: 2.0 out of 5 stars   

Preschool is not an appropriate label for this "game". I teach elementary school and have a 4-year-old. Ironically, at the very beginning, the tutor says "Let's learn to read!", and then a menu comes up with four buttons with words on them and not very descriptive pictures. There is no verbal description explaining what the child should do. The first "game" we chose was a "story" that consisted of the word jump paired with multiple prepositions. The words were never spelled or sounded out...even Jump wasn't spelled or sounded out. After the story was over, the tutor took them to another story and said, "Choose how you want the story read." Another menu, with words, not even pictures this time. My son had no clue what was going on. There were also some large repeat and home buttons that were distracting to him. We gave up quickly on this and moved back to Diego. We'll continue to work on our letters, phonics, and reading other ways until a better game for his age comes out. I was really hoping that Jumpstart would put one out for Pre-K - K. We'll keep an eye out!

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Grandson Loved This October 14, 2009

By Debbie J. Wolach

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

I bought My Virtual Tutor (preschool level) for my 5-year-old grandson. He used it on my Nintendo DS, and the Virtual Tutor program was a great success. I am a retired reading teacher, and I was very impressed with how he was progressing. He was completely engaged. No little-boy wiggling. The avatar was very positive in her instruction, and you could see how Kai identified with her. He was so engaged with the avatar that he spoke to her. I recommend this product for children who are learning to read. This was very productive screen time. We even had trouble getting him to come to dinner.

Grandma Debbie

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great reading activities on the DS! October 7, 2009

By GB

Fun: 4.0 out of 5 stars   

My son and I had a wonderful experience yesterday playing with My Virtual Tutor for the Nintendo DS. He found the experience very engaging, entertaining, and interactive. I could see him learning how to sound out words, practicing his listening skills, and experimenting with spelling. He asked me for help when he was stumped and we worked on some problems together. He feels like he's playing a video game and I feel confident he's learning! The lessons were very age appropriate.