Thoughts about online curriculum/games such as..

[Peaceful Isle]

..reading eggs, abc mouse, time4learning, etc..

 

Anyone use any of these and like them for their 5 year old? 

 

Are there any other online programs that you have enjoyed? 

 

 

[desertflower]

I have abcmouse.  My almost 6 yo and 3 1/2 yo like it.  It allows them to do something independently while I can do other stuff like teach my ds. It's worth $5/month for my family. 

 

ETA:  I really use it to develop their navigating skills and to develop tenacity (saving her tickets to buy something). 

[AggieMama]

We started off we ABC Mouse. It was ok, but pretty repetitive when it came to activities. My girls love Reading Eggs/Mathseeds. I find it a lot more academic then ABC Mouse. I also like ixl and Prodigy Game.

[LindaOz]

I use Getting Ready 1 and 2 at www.allinonehomeschool.com with my little ones.

 

They love it.

Edited June 30, 2016 by LindaOz

[ReadingMama1214]

Teach Your Monster To Read is amazing. It really reinforces phonics principles. The $5 paid app is fantastic

[Desert Strawberry]

 

 

 

Teach Your Monster to Read, Starfall, and Khan Academy Early Math.

Edited August 30, 2016 by Desert Strawberry

[Jackie]

Some of them were total fails here. Reading Eggs moved too slow and didn't hold attention, ABC Mouse was too busy and cluttered for DD to figure out what she was supposed to be doing.

 

The Starfall app was a favorite for a while. She loves Dragonbox Numbers even though she was past their target demographic by the time it was released. TinyBop's Human Body app was an obsession for a while. BrainPop and The Happy Scientist have both been well worth their subscriptions, but kids do need to be able to read enough to choose their video titles.

[Epicurean]

I don't like Reading Eggs or ABC Mouse for the same reason Jackie shared--too cluttered (and expensive). The best apps in that all-encompassing category that I've found are Reading Raven (still a bit cluttered for my tastes), and Bugs and Buttons. Bugs and Buttons wins out for being more visually striking and less repetitive, but it's also more play and less instruction.

 

My absolute favorite apps are the Endless series:

 

Endless Numbers (includes virtual manipulatives)

Endless Alphabet (includes phonetic sounds)

Endless Words

Endless Wordplay

Endless Spanish (I don't have personal experience with this one but it looks very similar in quality to the others)

 

Their apps are extremely responsive (no frustrating lag or spontaneous crashes), cute, and entertaining. If the makers of Beast Academy designed a preschool / kindergarten app, it'd probably look a lot like these.

 

I also really like the PopOut! digital pop-up books (they have a couple of Beatrix Potter ones, The Night Before Christmas, etc.). The stories highlight each word as a narrator tells the story, and you have the option to turn narration off and have the child read it themselves. There's optional classical music gently playing in the background, and the little touchscreen features are super cute and feel authentic to the stories.

 

LetterSchool is the best app I've found for practicing making letters (there's a free trial version if you want to check it out).

 

 

 

Edited July 1, 2016 by Epicurean

[ElizabethB]

Many of the online phonics programs encourage guessing or have too many sight words. I like Read, Write, Type, it does not and is fun. Both my children could use it on their own at age four.

 

http://www.talkingfingers.com/read-write-type/

Edited July 1, 2016 by ElizabethB

[Guest]

I echo the suggestions of Teach Your Monster to Read and Starfall. My kids will sit at the computer as long as I let them. They're great programs. Starfall is worth the $30 or whatever for the full access.

[Epicurean]

Oh, and be sure to research whether a certain app needs wifi to work before purchasing. That might be an issue if you travel a lot or you live somewhere without good wifi. One of the reasons we don't use Starfall or ABC Mouse is because they both require wifi.

[rwilk]

We have used Prodigy and Teach Your Monster to Read.  DD likes both ok, but she's streaky in how often she wants to do them.  So I probably wouldn't pay for a program, but those two have been fun to use.

[AggieMama]

My girls like Reading Eggs, Mathseeds, Prodigy, ixl, and Khan Academy, I didn't like AbcMouse because it seemed too repetitive in the at and not a lot of variety in games an approaches to learning.

[Guest]

Oh, and be sure to research whether a certain app needs wifi to work before purchasing. That might be an issue if you travel a lot or you live somewhere without good wifi. One of the reasons we don't use Starfall or ABC Mouse is because they both require wifi.

Just so you know a lot of the basic Starfall at least, will work without wifi once the app is loaded on the device. At least the colors and alphabet stuff. Our kids use it all the time on their iPad at restaurants with no wifi.

[Rachel]

My daughter has used Reading Eggs. Do a free trial and don't pay full price. I think it is an ok program if you are starting with a beginner. It moves too slowly once a child is reading ok though.

 

Teach Your Monster to Read is free and works similarly.

[Eagle]

This thread was expensive!

 

I bought Letter School (both cursive and French), the Bugs and Buttons app bundle, Teach Your Monster to Read, and a subscription to Endless Learning Academy. I bought Reading Raven a couple of weeks ago after seeing it in Epicurean's siggy.

 

Thanks everyone for the suggestions! Little ds is loving the apps.

[monicac82]

My newly 4 year old has done ABCMouse, Reading Eggs, Time4Learning, MathSeeds, K5Learning, Teach Your Monster to Read, and a few others. She likes most overall, but she has issues with games that mark her wrong or especially put a timer up. She panics and can't think. I wish they would do versions that didn't have those types of games for sensitive kids like her.

[monicac82]

Just so you know a lot of the basic Starfall at least, will work without wifi once the app is loaded on the device. At least the colors and alphabet stuff. Our kids use it all the time on their iPad at restaurants with no wifi.

My 4 year old just plays some of the games like build a valentine. I am not that impressed by starfall once a child knows their colors, numbers, and letters/letter sounds. I paid for it and am not impressed. I thought there would be a lot more activities and things to do on it.

[monicac82]

My girls like Reading Eggs, Mathseeds, Prodigy, ixl, and Khan Academy, I didn't like AbcMouse because it seemed too repetitive in the at and not a lot of variety in games an approaches to learning.

 I looked at Khan Academy and it didn't seem that great for anyone under Jr. High, if not HS. 

[monicac82]

My 2 and 4 year olds learn a lot from youtube videos. My son (2) is obsessed with those corny truck videos and he's been resistant to reading, coloring, blocks, etc. He's just started describing things by color. There's a kid youtube toy reviewer (Ryan's Toy Reviews) who does science experiments. Also, there is the channel ActOutGames, which is great especially for showing girls that science and math are great subjects for us as well! 

[monicac82]

My 2 and 4 year olds learn a lot from youtube videos. My son (2) is obsessed with those corny truck videos and he's been resistant to reading, coloring, blocks, etc. He's just started describing things by color. There's a kid youtube toy reviewer (Ryan's Toy Reviews) who does science experiments. Also, there is the channel ActOutGames, which is great especially for showing girls that science and math are great subjects for us as well! 

 Oh, and I should add that my 4 year old has been teaching herself how to play Minecraft with youtube videos she finds.

[Homeschoolmom3]

My son loves reading eggs and math seeds and he is now 5 1/2 but started messing around with it at 3 1/2 yrs. old.  He still enjoys it even though he has moved onto Reading Eggs Express (which is quite a challenge for a 5 yr. old!) 

 

ABC Mouse I liked but it just was way to easy and moved too slow even after bumping him up a couple grade levels.

 

 

My other kids loved Starfall but we only did the freebie side.

 

 

 

[fralala]

We just got some of the Duck Duck Moose apps now that they're free...and my 3 and 6 year olds agree that these are super fun.

 

I like the Duck Duck Moose reading and Moose Math best.

 

Maybe it's the novelty, but they prefer them to others we've tried. I really liked Reading Eggs when I did it with my child who tested into a high level, but when I started it from the beginning with a non-reader, I quickly grew disenchanted with its method.

 

We all like the Happy Scientist, too.

[shawthorne44]

For us, the online software is all about the hair.   Now, she does Math Seeds while I comb her hair.   In the past, she's done Starfall, ABC Mouse and Reading Eggs.  The software distracts her enough for me to detangle her fine blonde hair without complaints.  We got a bargain through one of the big online homeschool curriculum co-ops, and it was worth every penny.  Learning about adding with a 10-frame is a bonus.  I do make a rule that she has to do one lesson while I comb her hair.   The playtype stuff bores me to tears, and makes me cranky.  

[ReadingMama1214]

For us, the online software is all about the hair. Now, she does Math Seeds while I comb her hair. In the past, she's done Starfall, ABC Mouse and Reading Eggs. The software distracts her enough for me to detangle her fine blonde hair without complaints. We got a bargain through one of the big online homeschool curriculum co-ops, and it was worth every penny. Learning about adding with a 10-frame is a bonus. I do make a rule that she has to do one lesson while I comb her hair. The playtype stuff bores me to tears, and makes me cranky.

Does a Mathseeds subscription make the iPad app different? We have the free iPad app and Dd loves it, but I'm not sure I want the subscription

[shawthorne44]

Does a Mathseeds subscription make the iPad app different? We have the free iPad app and Dd loves it, but I'm not sure I want the subscription

 

We refuse to give DD an iPad or any sort of tablet, so I can't say.   

I got an email this morning on free 4 weeks of access to anyone I forward the email to.   If you pm me yours, I could forward it to you.  

[ReadingMama1214]

We refuse to give DD an iPad or any sort of tablet, so I can't say.

I got an email this morning on free 4 weeks of access to anyone I forward the email to. If you pm me yours, I could forward it to you.

Great I'll pm you. We tried the computer, but Dd didn't really understand the trackpad and her hand seems too tiny for most computer mice that i can find.

[shawthorne44]

Great I'll pm you. We tried the computer, but Dd didn't really understand the trackpad and her hand seems too tiny for most computer mice that i can find.

 

We bought DD her own mouse.   It is very small and just has one button.   We have three mice on our desktop.  I use a Logitech trackball that is good for hands with arthritis which I started to get at 16.   DH hates trackballs, so he uses a regular mouse.  Then we have DD's.    

[ReadingMama1214]

We bought DD her own mouse. It is very small and just has one button. We have three mice on our desktop. I use a Logitech trackball that is good for hands with arthritis which I started to get at 16. DH hates trackballs, so he uses a regular mouse. Then we have DD's.

do you have a link for the one you got Dd? I'd love to get one for my computer.

[shawthorne44]

https://www.amazon.com/Chester-Creek-Technologies-One-button-Optical/dp/B001P4Q45U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473270076&sr=8-1&keywords=kid+mouse

 

That was the one we got.  
It was important for me that it only have one buttton.   When DD had tried to use DH's mouse she was always clicking on the right button when she wanted the left button.  Of course she is left-handed.   DD started to use this when very very young, and she has never been more than 20% on the percentile charts.   So that mouse is small enough for any child.  

[IslandMama10]

 I looked at Khan Academy and it didn't seem that great for anyone under Jr. High, if not HS. 

 

There are activities for younger grades in math. Find the "Math" section and go to "Early Math". My first grader has used it.

[Homeschoolmom3]

My son loved Starfall, Reading Eggs when younger 3-4 yr. old range.  He still likes Reading Eggs now he is 5, but uses it mostly for Math Seeds.  Depends where on the spectrum your child is in learning to read etc.  My son learned to read really well early (2nd grade level by 4) so once he completed the Reading Eggs program he wasn't a huge fan of Reading Eggs Express.  He still does it but doesn't as much (more like school to him....:-P)  If it seems like school he isn't crazy about it.

 

ABC Mouse okay, but not worth the money I thought.