Reading Eggs
I have the privilege of being asked to review Reading Eggs
for the last 30 days. I began using this program with my 5 year old and
immediately fell in love with it. My son has been struggling with letter
recognition, tracing his letters and recognizing basic words. He tries very
hard and wants to learn them and make me proud, but was simply failing to do
so. This program has changed his little world and has given him a wonderful
sense of pride. This program is set up
in a way like no other I have seen out on the market so far. It’s based of
mastery of each letter, using a variety of techniques such as phonic
recognition, shape recognition and words that begin with that letter.
LESSONS:
Each lesson is
designed to help the child learn the sound the letter makes, by using animation
to draw your child into the learning process. Then they help build your child’s
confidence up by having them use the mouse to “attack” the letter they are
studying as it moves across the screen. My son loved that part. There was no
way to get it wrong, because at this stage it’s the only letter showing up.
Afterwards, the program takes you to what looks like a scrabble board and you
have to locate all the “b” on the board or whatever letter they are studying.
They do this 2 times then move onto pictures. The program shows a group of
photos above a group of words and your child has to drag the correct word to
the correct photo. As your child hoovers over each word the word is read aloud
to him. This was great considering my son cannot read yet. They repeat this
process 2 times as well using different words and pictures. I loved watching my
son every time he got the word/picture combo right. His face would light up and
he would bundle up his little hand into a fist and does a victory cheer of
“YES”! He was so proud that he understood what was being asked and could get it
right. Once they have mastered these realms the program will move your child
into learning how to trace the letter. They do this by using numbers. Think
connect the dots, except the dots “numbers” are arranged to make the letter
they are studying. I have to say that
this was a little difficult for my son. If I helped him he loved the idea and
after the 2nd time could do it on his own, but he did need help,
since he knows how to count to 20, but does not recognize all the numbers yet
when he sees them wrote down. He did however like seeing the letters form as he
clicked away. The last section is a reading book that your child gets to make
using the pictures from earlier. Once the book is made your child is able to
turn the pages and hear the words on each page. This was a big hit! So that is
a quick breakdown of how the lessons are set up and as your child finishes each
lesson his little duck will move to the next number through the playground till
he reaches the school house. With each lesson building of the previous one,
your kids are guaranteed to succeed.
PLAY Room:
I love the playroom
section and at the end of each lesson I let my son go in and play in one area
for 20 minutes and then he goes to the next lesson. This has really helped to
motivate him to work hard on each lesson. What is in the playroom you might
ask? Well let’s look!
Book Shelf: There are tons of fabulous books your child
can pick and have them read to him. The books are wonderfully illustrated and
really draw your child in. Hickory Dikory Dock I am a Little Teapot, The Ants
Go Marching, etc.
Alphabet Room, Music Room and Craft Room: These
are pretty self-explanatory, and my son loves to spend time in them
Puzzle Room: My son loves the puzzle room.
It’s exactly what you would think, a place to play puzzles and matching games.
He spends most of his time in here.
Me: were
you can customize the way your character looks, make your bedroom and clean up
all your toys by organizing them on a bookshelf.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS:
Age Focus: Reading Eggs offer 4 different age groups as its
primary focus. Ages 3-4; age 5; 6-7, and age 7-12
Price Tag: Reading Eggs offers different subscriptions that are available. The 12 month program: $75 a year The 6 month subscription $49.95. You can even take advantage of our special 50% family
discount, with any full price 6 or 12 month subscription purchase. Finally they offer a monthly reoccurring charge for $9.95
Benefits: I love of learning that cannot be forced. Kids either enjoy what and how they are learning or they don't. This program is so engaging that kids don't even realize they are learning, just having fun. The joy on my sons face with each progression he made and the confidence and pride it instilled in him was the best benefit of this program. Also, I did not have to sit with my son the whole time. I could help my daughter with her lessons as he played and simply guide him gently every once in a while.
Draw Backs: Honestly, the biggest draw back for me is the price tag. I am a single parent with 3 kids and every dollar counts. It's not that the program is not worth the money, it definitely is, but it is something that you need to make sure your budget can afford. Reading Eggs does offers a free one week trial membership , so you can try out the program and see if its the right fit for your family before you purchase the product! This was huge for me. It's hard to invest money in a program when your kids may or may not like it. This way you know before hand!
Some sample screen shots:
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