This worked well for my five year old son who still had another 6 months to go before starting kindergarten. I felt he had the potential to learn reading basics but although I'm a teacher I wasn't sure how to approach this task with my own child. He didn't seem to be picking it up from my "whole language" approach. A homeschooling mom recommended this to me and I bought it immediately. It is a very scripted program (which goes against my grain and my training!) but I gave it a try. I have to say, the method has worked. I am halfway through the book and my son now knows most letter sounds and blends and can sound out words, it makes sense to him. It is far from "magic" however. It requires a sustained committment, and the child has to focus and concentrate at each session, but the lessons are short enough and there is enough repetition for him to experience success, which is motivating. I also don't follow every script exactly and have skipped the "sounds writing" part of the lessons. I'll go back to that part later. My main focus now is on phonetic awareness, and the book works for that.