California Success Stories

I use the spelling programs from Essential Skills every day. The students are really motivated by the variety of high interest activities, and the programs keep the kids engaged for long periods of time. As a bonus I can enter my own spelling lists for individual students and classes. Also, the reporting and tracking system is excellent! My students and I love this software!

Suanne Miller, Resource Specialist
Hooker Oak Elementary, Chico, California

These programs are perfectly aligned with the Open Court program and everything that I am teaching in the classroom. They provide good review with immediate feedback thereby promoting self-esteem. The phonics programs are good for reinforcing skills with weaker students. They receive positive reinforcement for their effort which promotes accelerated learning. The programs allow students to work independently at their own pace while motivating them every step of the way. The wide variety of activities in each program ensures that students never get bored.

Francesca Schomberg, Grade One Teacher
Martin Luther King School, Sacramento, California

The Reading Comprehension programs are being used in our ELD lab every day. There is lots of practical, easy to use content and the programs have a good reporting system to track student progress. 18 of the 20 students have made gains since the December District Wide Assessment. Much of these gains can be directly attributed to the time spent on the Essential Skills programs each week. It is challenging yet fun for the ELD students. The students never complain and really seem to enjoy their time learning. They are also having a much easier time on the California English Language Development Test. They are quickly developing word recognition, decoding and vocabulary skills and are now proficient in completing activities, understanding instructions coping with the district and state testing requirements.

Daniel Toscano, Resource Teacher
Pueblo School, Pomona, California

We are very pleased with the programs we have ordered from Essential Skills. They are being used on a daily basis and we have 400 K to 4 students using the software regularly. The teachers like the variety of activities in each level and they are excited about the fact that the programs address so many different skills. Each program has lots of different types of activities that appeal to all kinds of learners. The teachers feel that these programs are excellent at building and reinforcing basic skills.

Anita McCready, Instructional Computer Aide
Lincoln Elementary, Yuba City, California

Our grade one through six students as well as those in Special Education have daily practice with the programs from Essential Skills. Our kids enjoy the programs because they are actually learning the skills they need and they find that motivating and rewarding. The teachers feel that these are excellent programs to supplement and reinforce their curriculum and that the skills are aligned with the California standards.

Radhika Agarwal, Instructional Lab Tutor
Fremont, California

The programs from Essential Skills provide excellent supplementary curriculum instruction for our students. They are easy for the children to navigate. There are lots of cues so the children never get stuck. Each program has hundreds of activities but each activity is short enough that the students can always feel successful before moving to the next skill. Every child regardless of ability can work independently at their own level. Also, the programs are working great on OSX.

Roger Ashworth, Computer Technology Teacher
Zamorano Fine Arts Academy, San Diego, California

We're real pleased with the results we've achieved with the programs from Essential Skills. They provide engaging and excellent practice for our students to learn the necessary reading comprehension and vocabulary skills for their grade level. The teachers use this software to help prepare their children for state testing. The students enjoy working on them and each program has enough levels to provide a starting point that every child can achieve at.

Vicky Weatherby, Media Specialist
West Point Elem, West Point, California

We have been using Essential Skills programs for four years. The reading comprehension programs are excellent. Each program has a many interesting stories with a huge variety of comprehension and vocabulary activities to appeal to every child. The kids see these activities almost as a game as opposed to actually learning skills. These programs are very useful in preparation for state testing because they provide excellent reinforcement of the skills taught in the classroom. They are self pacing so no child is ever held up by someone else. The children work independently at their own pace and level.

Kathy LaRocco, Grade Three Teacher
Suisun Valley Elementary, Fairfield, California

We have a variety of programs from Essential Skills that we use on a daily basis with our students in grades 4, 5 and 6. I love the focus on the educational aspect of the software. We bought a variety of programs for a variety of needs. It is easy to target the skills to each student so they can work independently at their own level and pace. Even the most challenged children are able to benefit. These are ideal supplementary skills programs for all children and especially for those with special needs.

Kelli Masek, Special Education Teacher
Burton C. Elementary, Chula Vista, California

The programs from Essential Skills are quite intuitive. They address the specific needs of our students. We use them as part of our reading program with our general students and our children for whom English is not their first language. The students work on these programs independently and at their own level and pace. We have had eight years of sustained growth in our AYP/API results and the Reading Comprehension programs from Essential Skills have definitely played a role in that growth.

Randy Helvey, Teacher
Park Avenue Elementary, Yuba City, California