This Online Learning Tool is More Than Mere Child’s Play {Crew Review}
We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this review or post, but all opinions are our own.
Living in the digital age is difficult; kids are savvy tech users and won’t use a poorly made app for very long. I appreciate Reading Eggs ability to capture my daughter’s interest in a way no other online learning app has. She is jumping into elementary reading and playing after her “school” is done. I am not going to tell her that she is still doing her school work if you won’t.
I admit, I am just like you. I have seen Reading Eggs for years. Even with the four week free trial offer, I never bit. Are you asking why? Have you ever loaded an iPad or Kindle with a bunch of learning apps, thinking you’re doing a champion job of parenting, only to find your kids only wants to launch birds with a slingshot! I’ve changed the setting on the Kindle to force learning games before play time, but still the kids would be in the game component of the learning app and not spending time in the teaching portion. That is fine with a free app, but could an app I paid for be that much better?
When I saw the offer to review Reading Eggs, I saw a chance to answer my question.
Learning with Play
Children Love to Play
Research says they don’t get enough of it. We do all of our school the traditional way; books, paper and pencil. Reading Eggs gave our day a touch of play. My daughter looked forward to working with the program as soon as she finished her book work and read aloud time. She willing “played” for another hour of school. That was an extension of learning time I was not going to get by reading longer.
Little ones only have so long of an attention span
I have heard it is roughly the same as their age. The lesson times in the program are built with that fact in mind. Series of smaller mini games translate to big learning. Winning each phase builds confidence at the same times as read reading skills. Kids can jump out of a reading game and into a math game without losing their progress. Everything is simple to navigate. This is a huge factor for me. I never have to log them back into their page of choose the appropriate level. The just open the app and begin.
Mindful Use of Electronics: Online Learning
Often the only time I allow the kids to use their electronics for learning during school time is when I am working with other students. A few programs didn’t make the cut because I kept having to come over to the computer to help my younger child find their place again. Reading Eggs actually works very well from a phone screen. This makes it the most school friendly app I have used all year. With limited computers, I like the fact that we can free up a screen for another student to do math or science while the little one uses my phone nearby.
Know What They Are Working On
My girl is working on sight words and the game is helping her build onto her library of words. For every lesson I can pull up the scope and sequence; words, letters, and concepts that are covered. I know what she is learning. I can print worksheets as well. This is great as a tool to reinforce what she has learned and for us to work on her writing the letters she is learning. Being able to work parallel to the app has helped me to maintain the enthusiasm she feels about reading, from screen to paper.
Stretch Your Child Beyond Your Expectations
Kids are very often capable of so much more than we give them credit for. Reading Eggs gives my kids a place to practice elementary reading and explore how far they can go without having to follow a textbook. With our text based curriculum we follow the prescribed pages and learn what is in the lesson. In the online learning app they are pushing their learning beyond the text. With the drag and drop words, my daughter was writing sentences she wouldn’t have been able to on paper. Now she knows she CAN write a long sentence. Practice leads to mastery. In the game she can practice for as long as she likes, but while she does she is mastering some vital reading skills.
Use it for elementary reading practice or try Reading Eggs for your K-2 curriculum.
Reading Eggs just launched their homeschool schedule to support home educators. Now you can use their program as a spine for their school day. If you are looking into homeschooling but aren’t sure if you want to invest in a full scale curriculum, this might be a great way to get your feet wet. From an IPad, Kindle or computer screen you can use this side by side and work as a team for a more guided approach to your child’s learning.
Reading Eggs offers more than I thought and my kids are loving it.
They want to support homeschoolers with their new schedule and have a great package (priced so I would buy it, and I am super practical with my money) if you would like to add physical books, workbooks and stickers! They kind of had me at stickers. They have a mega pack bundle that is a HUGE savings if you finish the four week FREE trial and decide you want to use this for the rest of the school year. Even though I received a copy for this review, I signed up my little guy as a second student because he liked it so much when he did the free trial.
