Institute of Reading Development — Local services in Novato

TL;DR: We paid for an in-person course for our 4 and 5 year olds. Institute of Reading Development switched us, unilaterally, to an online-only version midway through the course, and refused to refund when we did not accept that change. We successfully chargebacked the purchase through our credit card.

We signed up our 4 and 5 year old children for an in-person, five-week course through Institute of Reading Development this past summer; it was pricey, but kids are worth it, right? After three weeks of in-person courses, we received e-mail notice that the in-person courses would be replaced by online-only, Zoom-esque courses. With our kids being 4 and 5, we indicated we were not comfortable with e-Learning - we specifically signed up for the in-person course because of this. We intentionally limit screentime, and their attention span for a talking head on a Zoom call would have been suspect. The Institute offered a pittance of a credit, and upon escalation, offered to have us instead restart the course (or any course of our choosing) at another time - but at a much further distance and during the school year, which would have made logistics nigh impossible (and defeating the purpose of getting their reading skills up before the schoolyear). We declined, instead, respectfully, requesting a pro-rated refund for the final two weeks - of which the Institute of Reading Development refused (and then refused our requests to speak with someone else). We instead had to work with our credit card company regarding the charges, which, outside of disputing fraudulent purchases made on our cards, is a first for us. I received the letter today that the dispute was resolved in our favor; I waited for this letter to post the review.

I'll try to be fair: If the course had played out as originally planned, it likely would have been in a 3 to 4 star range. The instructor readily admitted she hadn't ever taught this age group prior; she was only informed that she was teaching the course a few days prior, and hadn't had a chance to review the material - but that she'd brush up on it as the course went on. That said, she seemed nice, and interacted with the kids fairly well. The actual coursework and subsequent homework weren't anything incredibly special, and likely could be replicated by reading a few more books a day with an emphasis on individual words and pattern recognition. That's what we've done since, in addition to our normal everyday reading.

Apparently, looking at these reviews, this is not everyone's experience with the Institute - I genuinely hope it's a one-off, but it doesn't make our experience sit any better with us. It's unfortunate - we were excited about this course, but now we're in the process of evangelizing to other parents against the Institute of Reading Development. We do what we can - we've had our kids' school take down the flyers, and parents of our kids' classmates who had expressed interest have now been informed of our experience and waved off. It's not much, but we'll continue to do our part to ensure shady business practices like this are addressed - or at least given daylight to ward off well-intentioned parents.

I've re-written this more than a few times to ensure I'm being fair. To the Institute's social media team: I look forward to your response, and I am quite willing to recount my story to whomever would like to listen. This review will not changing...

Another year, another great experience with this class! It's one of my son's favorites, which (if you knew him) would be saying a lot. We've now had experience with 3 different teachers through this program, and they have all been wonderful! The classes are helpful (my own observation), fun, and engaging (according to my son). The online component was not as much fun this year (according to my son), but he was still happy to do it each day and it helped reinforce skills and good practices.

This year we had a weird situation where we had to sign up for a make-up class in a totally different state than we live because we had to travel during the weekend of the last class. The people at the IRD were SO helpful and so accommodating, and the teacher at the make-up class also seemed to be wonderful. I don't know how they get so many great teachers, but IRD is 3 for 3 so far in my experience!

Overall, I wholeheartedly recommend this program. I wish they had a placement/evaluation type process before the first day of class (or enrollment) to help get the kids into the correct class for their skills before the first day, but even without it this program is top-notch. (review from 2017 below)

I wish it was longer than 4 weeks.

While the company is based in California, the program is available in many locations throughout the country.

We enrolled our 7 year old in the 2nd grade program in Brooklyn, NY (partnered with Fordham), and it has really improved his reading - and more importantly, his confidence and his eagerness to read!

A month ago he felt stupid all the time because he wasn't at the level his peers were at, and he hated the idea of reading and was convinced he would never be able to do it. While some of the material in the class was beyond his level, that did not diminish the positive effects of the program at all! One month, and his reading is SO much better. He gets so excited when he successfully reads things now, and he does not get nearly as upset when he has trouble with certain books/passages. Honestly, I could not have asked for more. He seems to be genuinely excited about reading (at least, more than he was), and I definitely credit this program for that accomplishment (it felt like an impossible and hopeless wish to us before he started the class).

I never stayed to watch the class, but our son really enjoyed each one. Only once did he feel bad that the other kids were more advanced than he was, but it was a short-lived depression.

The online homework assignments were essential, and he really had fun with the "Wordy" lessons - he was generally excited to complete the work!

I believe they have graduate education students teaching the classes, which is brilliant. They are informed and knowledgeable, and possess the most up to date early childhood education theories, but they haven't worked in the school systems long enough to be jaded, cynical, and rundown. Our son's teacher seemed to be very popular among the kids and he clearly did...

For my daughter, who is already an enthusiastic reader and eager to learn, this program is a great fit to help progress her skills. If I only had her, then I would've rated this program 4 stars (Still lacked communication about progress, evaluation and suggested skill level. Also a suggestion: for the amount of money this program is, the children should be able to keep all 9 books, not just 4).

However, for my son, who is a reluctant reader and at a "basic" level of reading - this program did not deliver as promised. They promise that by the end of the programs readers will: Read multi-syllable words with ease Develop reading fluency Have stronger reading comprehension Build enthusiasm for books and reading Be ready for the first day of 3rd grade! ----The reality is my son doesn't enjoy reading any more than he did the first day, doesn't feel more confident in himself and his abilities, has no enthusiasm for reading, feels frustrated and struggles with longer words. Basically we're still at the same spot we were 5 weeks ago.

I am extremely disappointed and upset with this program. When I enrolled, I spoke with someone about how I have a reluctant reader who does not enjoy reading and is at a basic reading level. I expressed my concern and desire for wanting to find a program that would be engaging to make reading more fun and help build his confidence.

There was no evaluation done by the teacher at the beginning of the first class so that she could better understand what level each of the students was at. There was no exit evaluation done at the end of the 5 reading sessions to see if skills and comprehension were improved. How can this program make promises without performing evaluations and having evidence of change and improvement? How can a program truly help develop the skills of children, if they do not first evaluate the levels that the children are at? If they don't get to know the students individually to see where they may need more help?

The engagement in the class was minimal -- my son felt like he was back in a classroom at school. The online lessons between classes were like pulling teeth to get my son to complete...because again, he doesn't like reading! He didn't improve any skills by completing these. I wasn't expecting a miracle in 5 weeks, but I definitely was hopeful for change based on what this program claimed it could accomplish in that time frame. $340 for this program, I expected better results. That money could've given my son 3 MONTHS in a Kumon Reading Program.

I spent $650 total for both of my children to attend. Very disappointed...