Ramps To Reading takes learners from initial pre-literacy levels to basic word reading and comprehension; they acquire skills in a developmentally appropriate sequence, moving to higher levels only after prerequisite skills are mastered. Scientifically-based methods of cognitive processing instruction and basic skill development are embedded in engaging, interactive programs. Children develop a true mastery of skills that can be applied and transferred to other academic areas.

One of the key features of the activities in Ramps To Reading, which is true of all Quantum Learning Technologies products, is not only are the activities scientifically designed and clinically proven, but they're also a lot of fun! Inspired by video game design techniques, QLT's programs harness the natural power of game play and engage young learners; kids work harder and longer and achieve greater success because they are immersed in activities that are fun, meaningful and highly effective.

Like Skatekids, Ramps To Reading represents a unique value proposition: research shows that even moderate, regular use of Ramps will help pre-kindergarten and early learners get a valuable head start towards becoming higher functioning and more literate students.

Ramps To Reading - Skills

To learn about all the skills Skatekids Online helps develop, click on this quick overview.





Ramps To Reading - Games

Click Here For Complete Game Descriptions (PDF)

The activities in Animal Roundup prompt children to practice inhibiting impulsive responses, which helps improve attention and concentration. These activities presents what is known as a "go/no-go" condition; as various animals appear on the screen, learners must quickly sort and categorize them based on criteria that were introduced at the beginning of the round. Learning how to make decisions quickly and accurately helps youngsters develop valuable, lifelong learning skills such as focus and selectivity, which can then be applied and transferred to other academic areas. Additionally, because they are instructed to use the arrow keys for sorting the animals, this activity also helps children to develop familiarity with the computer keyboard.

The activities in Desert Dash develop sound-to-symbol matching, successive processing, phonemic awareness, and mapping sounds to letters. They also develop the use of speech as a rehearsal strategy, sound blending, and in later levels, the decoding of short words. In these activities, learners are presented with a series of phonemes (sounds) at the beginning of each round; they must then collect these sounds and match them with symbols (letters). However, at the time these sounds are played, the learner sees only a question mark, making the task of collecting the symbols (letters) of these sounds (phonemes) an interesting challenge for young learners.

The activities in Design-a-Door encourage young learners to shift from successive processing strategies to simultaneous processing through visualization skills, associative strategies, spatial relationships, and mentally creating visual analogues. Design-a-Door begins with an interactive tutorial that teaches children how to use and switch among a variety of tools, including those that can drag, flip, paint and resize stickers. The objective of the tutorial is twofold: 1) help the learner gain competency in the dragging and dropping objects; and 2) allow the learner to become familiar and comfortable with all the tools that will be available to them during the activity.

In Rocket Racer, learners practice keyboarding, employ successive processing, and develop the use of speech as a rehearsal strategy. At the beginning of the round, they are presented with a series of symbols (letters). As the letters are introduced, the corresponding sound is played, and the learner has an opportunity to search for the appropriate, matching symbol (letter). Then, they blast off for an exciting trip through space; their mission is to collect those same letters in that same order. This activity develops working memory and employs successive processing. Additionally, phonics, phonemic awareness, and sound-to-symbol mapping are emphasized as well. While carrying out their mission, learners must also avoid distracters such as non-target letters.

The activities in Scuba Dude develop successive processing and working memory. They also help young learners become proficient at using a computer mouse. Learners must control the movements of a virtual scuba diver in order to collect jewels in the specific order that was presented to them at the beginning of the round. They must use successive processing to remember and pick up the correct items in the correct order, paying close attention to differences in color, shape, etc.

Silly Scenes develops simultaneous processing, oral comprehension, reading comprehension, and spatial and proximity relationships. In this activity, learners listen to passages of increasing syntactic complexity and are then asked to recreate, on the computer, the scene they just heard described. The child may read along with the passages if they wish. Early levels begin with simple noun phrases; longer paragraphs are presented in the later levels. As the passages increase in length and complexity, learners are required to employ oral and reading comprehension strategies.

The activities in Tubin' Trouble develop successive processing, the use of speech as a rehearsal strategy, and rehearsal of auditory information. At the beginning of each round, learners hear the names of various objects that they must later collect in a specific, serial order. Once their journey to collect the targeted objects is underway, young learners are developing motor skills by using the mouse to steer their character (who is riding an inner tube) through treacherous waters. Tubin' Trouble also provides audio instructions to help ensure that the youngsters are able complete their tasks.

The activities in Zoo Adventures help develop planning and executive functioning, working memory, attention, simultaneous processing, visual scanning, the ability to use inner speech for guiding and verifying behavior, and the capacity to make adjustments. In this activity, animated zoo animal characters are randomly scattered throughout an outdoor scene. Although the animals can hide behind various objects, the student must take photos of all of the animals. A round is completed under two conditions: either all of the animals have been photographed, or the user has run out of film.