Texas

Karen Brown, ESL and Reading Teacher, Highland Park Elementary, Amarillo, Texas
"Your programs are awesome. We are using them with our ESL students. They love the programs and we are seeing significant gains in their reading skills."

Valenda Brown, Grade Two Teacher, Patton Elementary School, Austin, Texas
"The Essential Skills programs correlate directly to the state standards and prepare our students for the benchmark tests. We are using these programs daily throughout our primary classes. Our students love the software and they are really benefiting."

Gloria Payne, Title One Services, Richter Elementary, Dayton, Texas
"I love your software. We use Super Phonics in our morning tutorial program. It is excellent for our third graders who are behind in their reading skills. These programs really keep their attention. They build the basic skills crucial to the requirements of the TAKS testing."

Jill Steen, Resource Teacher, Alvord Elementary, Alvord, Texas
"We use Essential Skills Software as supplement to the main curriculum. These programs have been very beneficial to our students. They are great skill building programs."

Beverly Box, Resource and Special Ed., Carrizo Springs Elementary, Carrizo Springs, Texas
"We use Essential Skills daily in our Special Ed. and resource programs. It reinforces SDAA and helps with IEP objectives. The students really enjoy the software and of course that makes it very effective."

Connie Smith, Title One Teacher, Sims Elementary, Bridge City, Texas
"We are using the Sight Words and Reading Comprehension programs daily. They are great for helping the kids develop automatically. The Essential Skills programs correlate well with state standards. This software gives the kids the basic skills to prepare them for the state wide TAKS test at 3rd grade level."

Marla Gaines, Computer Teacher, Cumby Elementary, Cumby, Texas
"My computer classes use Essential Skills Software on a regular basis in the lab. These programs are excellent skill builders and the reports are very helpful in analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the students."

Billie Jourden, Computer Technician, Sparta Elementary, Belton, Texas
"We are using the Grammar program for tutoring for the low kids in Grammar skills. The second grade classes use the same program to develop punctuation skills. The kindergarten and first grade use the Sight Words program. This software offers very good basic skill development. I often recommend this software to other schools in our district."

Carol Mauch, Grade Two Teacher, East Cliff Elementary, Portland, Texas
"We are using Essential Skills. It is wonderful. We use these programs for tutorials and remediation. The programs are very user friendly and the children always know where they left off. The students love these programs and can't wait to use them."

Linda Cushman, John C. Webb Elementary, Navasota, Texas
"I am currently using your programs and have found them to be very effective. The multi-level aspect of the program is truly wonderful for my needs. I use the custom spelling program all of the time for review of the story words that I introduce. So few programs let you put in your own words so easily!"

Ms Diane Wann, Resource Teacher, Allen Elementary, Houston, Texas
"I have used programs from Essential Skills with my students for several years. I like the way these programs teach the skills in a progressive, sequential, step by step way. They are easy for the children to use and they seem confident and motivated when using the programs. These programs are great for building and reinforcing vocabulary and reading comprehension skills."

Kelly Rathburn, Computer Lab Assistant, O.M. Roberts Elementary, Lake Jackson, Texas
"I teach in the computer lab and Essential Skills programs are my favorites. I use them with our K through 3rd grade students on a daily basis. I love the variety for the kids and the way it keeps them motivated. The programs include an excellent range of skills, offering more than is required by the curriculum. They allow the children to work at their own level and pace and provide more basic skills practice than the children would typically get."

Debbie Allen, Computer Lab Assistant, Belmar Elementary, Amarillo, Texas
"We have used Essential Skills every day for the past couple of years. The children enjoy using the programs and they get excited about working on them. They are aligned with our curriculum and offer excellent value. The children are motivated by the programs and they enjoy the independent and individualized learning experience that the programs provide. Everyone really likes this software."

Jacque Baker, Reading Resource Teacher, Austin Elementary, Weatherford, Texas
"I use the Sight Words and Phonemic Awareness software daily with my students. I like the skills that they teach and the programs are a good supplement to reinforce my classroom curriculum. They are very interactive and the students are motivated by the fast pace and variety of interesting activities. The programs allow the students to learn independently at their own level and pace. The marking and reporting system is easy to use. I highly recommend this software!"

Carrie Rollins, Grade One Teacher, La Mesa Elementary, Plainview, Texas
"We use Sight Words every day with our K-2 students. It is easy for the children to use and allows them to work independently at their own instructional level. It covers all of the important sight word skills and is highly effective at teaching these words to children. Essential Skills Sight Words is the main program that we use for teaching sight word recognition at our school."

Sunny Henry, Computer Lab Teacher, A P Beutel Elementary, Brazosport, Texas
"I use Super Phonics with the Kindergarteners, Phonemic Awareness with the grade ones and Grammar with the grade two students. The programs allow the advanced kids to move along quicker and the slower kids to work at their own pace, so that no one is being held back. The programs individualize the instruction for each student. The children are definitely learning the skills they need to be successful readers from using these programs."

Noemi Espinoza, Resource Inclusion Teacher, Antonio M. Ochoa Elementary, Donna, Texas
"I use Essential Skills with bilingual children and Special Ed. students on a daily basis. I have definitely seen an improvement in their reading and phonetic skills. The programs provide individualized and independent learning and guide the students through each level."

Andrea Colbert, Resource teacher, Mayes Elementary, Denison, Texas
"I use your software all the time to supplement my program. Your software offers great practice and reinforcement for specific skills. They are very user friendly and my LD children have no difficulty working independently. They love the reward system and the feedback they get after each lesson. I see their test results improve weekly and really like the tracking and reporting features of the Essential Skills programs. It is easy to produce progress reports that can be shared with parents and teachers."

Marianela Ramos, Special Education Teacher, United South High School, Laredo, Texas
"The programs from Essential Skills provide comprehensive practice and reinforcement of basic, essential math and reading skills. I am using these programs daily with students of all ability levels from Grade One up to high school. Even my most reluctant learners like these programs because they are able to work independently at their own level and meet with success each step of the way. I am able to split my class in two groups and have half the class work in a focused and independent way on Essential Skills while I provide instruction for a smaller group."

Sharon Wilbanks, Computer Teacher, Harmony Elementary, San Antonio, Texas
"We use the Essential Skills programs twice each week with our grade one, two and three students. We really enjoy these programs. The phonics and reading programs are very comprehensive in all areas. They provide excellent supplementary reinforcement and practice for our classroom curriculum. All children regardless of ability level are able to work independently at their own level."

Dana Chamberlain, Grade One Team Leader, Joe Ward Elementary, San Antonio, Texas
"The Essential Skills programs are used with all of our students and are also one of our main interventions. They are widely used at all grade levels with perhaps 300-400 children weekly. They are being successfully used in the after school program with children who have attention problems. These programs keep the kids focused. Even at the end of the day when they are tired they are still very engaged with the programs. Our children have been making steady progress in their reading test scores and we attribute some of this progress to Super Phonics, Sight Words and Reading Comprehension from Essential Skills. These programs are very versatile for all students regardless of ability. They are even used for enrichment with some of our Kindergarten and grade one children."

Susan Delaney, Resource Teacher, Sidney Lanier Elementary, Dallas, Texas
"These programs are very effective for RTI tier 2 and 3 students providing lots of extra practice and repetition in the basic skills. All of my students love these programs and work independently at their own level and pace. Essential Skills is like having another teacher in the room to provide individualized instruction. The reports are easy to access and you can see at a glance how students are progressing through the skills."

Nancy Olson, Technology Facilitator, Deer Creek Elem., Crowley, Texas
"Both our teachers and students like the programs from Essential Skills. The children love that the graphics, colors and backgrounds are always changing and there are lots of different types of reinforcement. The teachers like the depth of the content and that the skills reflect what is being taught in the classroom. The programs represent very good value for the money. Also, the tech department people are available, supportive and helpful."

Sharon Thomas, Reading Specialist, Commonwealth Elem., Sugar Land, Texas
"We like the flash drive/memory stick version of the Essential Skills programs because they are portable and the entire program is stored and run from them. These programs offer most of the skills my students need in Language Arts. The students love using the programs and never complain about their time with Essential Skills. This is a reasonably priced learning tool that is making a difference for my students."

Kathleen Moore, Special Ed. Teacher, Pine Forest Elementary, Vidor, Texas
"We love your software and have used it daily for many years in Sp. Ed. and in the regular classroom. It is appropriate for children at all levels. Every child, regardless of ability can be successful and work independently. I have never had a child get bored with these programs. One boy used to miss three days per week and since he started on Essential Skills he shows up early every day to work on the computer. The children are actually learning the skills they need."

Brenda Tubbs, Computer Lab Assistant, Northwest Elem., Brownwood, Texas
"The Essential Skills programs thoroughly cover all the basic skills in each subject area at each grade level. The kids enjoy these programs and when they enjoy doing a program with basic academic skills they are going to learn from it. We would highly recommend this software."

Denise Salmon, Curriculum Technologist, Crestview Elementary, Wolfforth, Texas
"We use Essential Skills programs daily. The children really enjoy their time on Essential Skills and are quickly mastering their math facts with the Mad Minute math. These programs are engaging and easy to use. Also, there is great tech support backing up this dependable software."

Elenor Maldonado, Computer Lab Teacher, Alarcon Elementary, San Elizario, Texas
"We use Essential Skills every day. Our first and second graders love it. Our students can practice the skills that they need regardless of their ability level. These programs give immediate feedback, great reinforcement and track student progress. I would rate this software a ten out of ten and look forward to purchasing more."

Debbie Qualls, Title One Reading Coord., Spring Hill Primary School, Longview, Texas
"We use Essential Skills daily in the reading lab with our students. These programs are very user friendly and easy to use. The activities are designed for all the learning modalities and they reinforce the skills being taught in the classroom. On a scale from 1-10 I would rate this software a 10."