Review: My Virtual Tutor Reading for the Nintendo DS

A few months ago, we received a complimentary copy of My Virtual Tutor: Reading for the Nintendo DS to review. Since TJ is 4 years old and in his second year of preschool, I thought this would be an excellent learning tool for him. In preschool, they are practicing writing their own names and recognizing sight words.

My son continues to astonish me with his reading ability, which seems to be getting more and more impressive every day.

My Virtual Tutor: Reading

Like I said, TJ is in preschool, but we ended up receiving the First to Second Grade reading game. I was a bit wary of how this would play out when TJ tried to use it, but I figured we’d give it a try.

My Virtual Tutor: Reading comes with six interactive books, four different play modes, parent mode, and more. The different play modes were what finally sold me on the idea of having TJ play the games, since the options included Read to Me, I Can Read, Paint, and Interactive Quizzes.

TJ started out using the Read to Me mode to read through the various stories. He’s quite adept at using the DS touch screen and following the directions given to him by the software. TJ has tried to play the game on all but quiz mode, but he can’t successfully complete the part where he’s supposed to read aloud to the game. He was actually reading the words quite well, but as it turns out, the microphone in my husband’s DS is broken. Not the fault of the software, but unfortunate for TJ to miss out on it.

And seriously? This boy is actually reading. After one Read to Me in a story, he can pick out most of the words when going back through the other play modes. He does fairly well on the minigames, except when he decides to intentionally make the wrong guesses. We know it’s intentional when he picks the right answer only after choosing ALL of the wrong answers first, and he has a big grin on his face. Sigh; school is going to be a challenge with him!

So TJ is learning reading and phonics lessons that are meant for first and second graders, and he’s doing a passable job with the games. I think this is a credit to both his intelligence and the way the software is set up. The adaptive learning built into My Virtual Tutor: Reading means that the software knows when TJ is doing well enough to move on to another skill. Of course, purposefully choosing wrong answers messes with this, but he doesn’t do it all the time.

My Virtual Tutor: Reading may not be for every child, but I think it’s a great idea for parents whose kids are already interested in reading and love playing games on the Nintendo DS. I think the novelty of playing the game on Daddy’s Nintendo DS adds an extra dimension to TJ enjoyment, as well.

Obligatory disclosure statement: We received our copy of My Virtual Tutor: Reading free for the purpose of this review. The images used within are clickable affiliate links that will allow you to purchase the game from Amazon.

Christina Gleason (976 Posts)

That’s me: Christina Gleason. I’m a writer, editor, and disability advocate. I'm a multiply disabled autistic lady doing my best in this world built for abled people. I’m a geek for grammar, fantasy, and casual gaming. I hate vegetables. I cannot reliably speak, so I’ll happily conduct business over email or messaging instead.