Samson’s Classroom (Review)

Samson’s Classroom makes learning to read fun for kids. A series of games leads them through three stages covering Sight Words, Spelling, and Reading Comprehension. Samson, a lovable dog, appeals to the target age range of grades K-5, as do the games. On the website, you’ll also find lesson plans and worksheets.

Sight Words with Samson helps young readers master 224 most common words in the English language. The reading section takes the child through 28 word lists with five steps per list. They start by hearing and seeing how a word is spelled and used in a sentence. Then the next four steps help them practice what they’ve learned. The kids work their way up from a white belt to a black belt.

Spelling with Samson drills the child on over 5,000 words through a series of games. You can either use the lists already set up or create your own spelling lists. The games make learning effortless for the kids.

Reading with Samson teaches the children to read for comprehension, and analyze what they’ve read to draw conclusions and answer questions based on that material. There are four levels with several passages in each level. As you master the questions, you collect available swings for Hammer Time – a fun challenge pictured in the thumbnail. I have to admit, the spider perched on top laughed at my misses quite a bit.

How we use it:
With my youngest two, we print out the worksheets and after each word list, they work on their worksheets. I let them work at their own pace, and at the end of each level (7 lists), they get to play bingo.

My youngest (six) is slower paced but learning quite a bit, and beginning to love reading. At first, she’d get a little frustrated when she got things wrong, but I reminded her that learning is where mistakes are supposed to happen. I also pointed out that each time she redid a game, she learned more words. Now she enjoys the challenge, and is growing in confidence.

My son (nine) is doing wonderful. He’s moving at a decent pace, and his reading skills are improving quite a bit. He loves the program, and is looking forward to conquering the Sight Words, so he can move on to Spelling.

My middle two (both teens) thought it looked fun, so I set up an account for each of them. They are flying through it, and showing their younger siblings how it’s done.

Pros:
~ Parents can log in to their own account to see an overview of each child’s progress, and how they’re doing.
~ The games are engaging, but also really teach the kids as they go.
~ The extra resources (lessons plans and worksheets) are a wonderful smorgasbord of helps to choose from.
~ The pricing is very reasonable for what you get in this program.
~ The creators of Samson’s Classroom work at making their product better. In fact, we’ve already seen some wonderful updates.
~ The people at Samson’s Classroom are very helpful and friendly.

Cons:
The spelling games are a bit tricky. I’ve heard of younger students having a little trouble with the spider especially. However, they found ways around it. So far, one of my teens is the only one to reach spelling, and it didn’t take long for her to get the hang of it. The younger ones have watched her, plus they are used to video games, so I imagine they won’t have much trouble either. A little practice, and I expect they will be pros in no time.

You can watch a video of Samson’s Classroom or try out the demo before purchasing. There are several pricing options including $30 per year for home use (1 user) or $50 per year for family (4 users).

Samson’s Classroom is a wonderful resource for young readers.

Disclosure: I received this free online program to review. All information was correct to the best of my knowledge at the time this review was written. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations. You can read my full disclosure policy here.