Do you think that BrainPop is worth the money?

[mazakaal]

I've signed up for the free trial, and my 9yo and 7yo are enjoying the videos and quizzes. I'm considering subscribing, but I don't want to if they're going to lose interest and stop using it in a few weeks.

 

So what has your experience been? Poll following.

[extendedforecast]

I have the iPhone app. I enjoy watching the videos. :001_smile: They're hit or miss with the kids, though. Still, I would like to subscribe.

[Margo out of lurking]

We have the free version, but no one's even been interested enough to give it a try. I voted Other.

[amo_mea_filiis.]

We have it through the cyber school. Mine love it and there's always a brain pop video to match a lesson. I don't know how much it costs, so I can't comment on that.

[2cents]

We had a subscription a loooong time ago. I got fed up with not seeing the supporting material for many of the videos and the kids quickly lost interest too. Maybe it is much better now.

[MamaCoop04]

When we did cyber school we had it and dd loved it! Once we started homeschooling traditionally, I looked into getting it but thought the cost was not worth it. We use Bill Nye a lot, and you can find many episodes free online or at the library.

[Doodle]

I have a subscription through G3. We used to only use the free ones, but I love having access to all the movies. I pick out several each week that directly correspond to what we are learning and we watch them together. For example, this week's science lessons were about moon phases and eclipses. There is a movie for each. Grammar introduced adjectives. There is a movie. History is the Greeks. There are several movies: Athens, Homer, Olympics, Greek Gods. After we watch the movies I have specifically chosen, Doodle often sits and watches a few more of his choosing.

[bbkaren]

We have a G3 forum membership too. The membership is cheaper than brainpop membership and includes not only brainpop, but discovery channel streaming...and do I understand correctly that Rosetta Stone is only $99 through them??

[Liza Lee]

I voted other. My 15 & 17yos are now at a small private school that uses it. They love it and come home talking about it pretty often.

[veggiegal]

I think a lot depends on how you plan to use Brainpop. Here, it's used very much as a 'strewing' device--my boys watch the 1 free movie (ipad app) each day, and usually do the quiz together (older helping younger). But right now our schedule is full enough that I doubt we would use Brain Pop for more than that. If it were going to be used regularly--and planned for by you--I would say it would be worth the money. The movies and quizzes are very well done.

[Pink Fairy]

I have a subscription through G3. We used to only use the free ones, but I love having access to all the movies. I pick out several each week that directly correspond to what we are learning and we watch them together. For example, this week's science lessons were about moon phases and eclipses. There is a movie for each. Grammar introduced adjectives. There is a movie. History is the Greeks. There are several movies: Athens, Homer, Olympics, Greek Gods. After we watch the movies I have specifically chosen, Doodle often sits and watches a few more of his choosing.

 

We have a G3 forum membership too. The membership is cheaper than brainpop membership and includes not only brainpop, but discovery channel streaming...and do I understand correctly that Rosetta Stone is only $99 through them??

 

What is G3?

 

We had Brainpop last year, and the kids really enjoyed it. I'm in budget mode for homeschool, otherwise I would have renewed my subscription.

[Spryte]

We love it here. We have the subscription through G3 also - much less expensive that way, and I was so happy to find that deal.

 

Sometimes I schedule videos to go with our lessons, other times (most of the time) the kiddo will just spend time going through the site choosing videos that interest him.

 

On a related note: we also have a subscription to the Happy Scientist - got it through HSBC for $5 - and it has been a big hit as well. BrainPop is better, but Happy Scientist has its own place, too.

[Parrothead]

We had it. I was interested, but I forgot to utilize it. I think I remembered to let dd watch it once.

 

If I were more organized it might have been worth it.

[bbkaren]

What is G3?

 

We had Brainpop last year, and the kids really enjoyed it. I'm in budget mode for homeschool, otherwise I would have renewed my subscription.

 

Here's a link to course descriptions. Forums only is at the bottom:

 

http://www.onlineg3.com/mod/page/view.php?id=3222

 

http://www.onlineg3.com/mod/page/view.php?id=3226

[Janie Grace]

Here's a link to course descriptions. Forums only is at the bottom:

 

http://www.onlineg3.com/mod/page/view.php?id=3222

 

http://www.onlineg3.com/mod/page/view.php?id=3226

 

Cool! Is that supposed to be access for only one student, or the family?

[Farrar]

G3, G3!

 

I know people who have it through umbrella groups as well. So I think it's worth it for some families and worth it if you can get a deal.

[bbkaren]

Cool! Is that supposed to be access for only one student, or the family?

 

Hmm...not a clue. Sorry--

[mazakaal]

Thanks for all the feedback.

 

I'm trying to decide between getting the British version, which I can sign up for monthly, so it's not a huge initial investment, and the US version with G3. I would love to have the access to Discovery Streaming. When I looked into it a couple of years ago, I couldn't get access because we're in England. I read in another post that the DS is available internationally now, though with limited videos, so it is very tempting.

[sbgrace]

Never mind...I had a question but found the answer on the G3 site. Thanks for mentioning that--I'd never heard of G3 before.

Edited September 22, 2011 by sbgrace

[Satori]

I've purchased the full subscription for a few years, and I finally got the G3 subscription talked about on here. Love it! BrainPop is very worth it for us, but it's nice to be able to save so much money now.

[Vanna]

We had it for a yr (I think the sub price was $100-150). Kids enjoyed it for the yr, but towards the end they lost interest.

 

Brainpop auto-renewed my sub. When I noticed the charge on my c/c I contacted them to discontinue the service and they refunded the charged amount with no fuss. :)

 

They offer a few free vids and we watch those. Since the time of our subscription, a plethora of other free educational sites have cropped up so I don't feel we *need* Brainpop now like we did then.

[Perogi]

I think a lot depends on how you plan to use Brainpop. Here, it's used very much as a 'strewing' device--my boys watch the 1 free movie (ipad app) each day, and usually do the quiz together (older helping younger). But right now our schedule is full enough that I doubt we would use Brain Pop for more than that. If it were going to be used regularly--and planned for by you--I would say it would be worth the money. The movies and quizzes are very well done.

 

I got the app on my IPod as a way to check it out and have been sort of underwhelmed. I was surprised because it seems to get such positive feedback here. Perhaps my kids are on the young end for it though?

[lailasmum]

We've been doing a brain pop trial. It looks really good. I think we are going to try the UK subscription since its not super expensive. I did have a look at the g3 thing but cant see we gain much from discovery streaming when it so easy to watch documentaries on you tube or 4od.

[foxbridgeacademy]

Nope not worth the $99. But if you go through G3 and get the basic version of Discovery streaming and brain pop for $60, then I think it's worth it.;)

[funschooler5]

I see that that BrainPop has a K-3 level and and 3rd and up level, but does anyone know what age would be "too old" to use this?

[goldberry]

I see that that BrainPop has a K-3 level and and 3rd and up level, but does anyone know what age would be "too old" to use this?

 

My DD has been using it for 5th, 6th and now 7th. This year, she is a "bit" too old. But, she still browses it for fun. I always find something to match to our lessons.

 

Brainpop is great if your kids need multi-media to keep them interested. For my DD, it helps reinforce the concepts in an alternate form.

 

We have loved it and used the heck out of it! We got it for free for awhile, but this year I paid for it and for my DD it is money well spent.

[funschooler5]

My DD has been using it for 5th, 6th and now 7th. This year, she is a "bit" too old. But, she still browses it for fun. I always find something to match to our lessons.

 

Brainpop is great if your kids need multi-media to keep them interested. For my DD, it helps reinforce the concepts in an alternate form.

 

We have loved it and used the heck out of it! We got it for free for awhile, but this year I paid for it and for my DD it is money well spent.

 

Thanks for the info! My kids love doing stuff on the computer and watching videos so we may give this a shot.

[iamrachelle]

I voted "other" because we just used the free version where you can only access a few of the videos. We forget that it's there as a resource so I'm not sure that I would ever purchase a subscription. On the occasion that my dc have seen them, they really enjoyed it, and loved taking the quizzes afterwards.

[Guest Barb B]

Am I missing something? Our brain pop app was cheap? Is there a different version - cause the one we have we get one free movie per day - but there are other free ones available every day too. I don't remember - but it was free or maybe . 99 cents?

Barb

[Perogi]

Am I missing something? Our brain pop app was cheap? Is there a different version - cause the one we have we get one free movie per day - but there are other free ones available every day too. I don't remember - but it was free or maybe . 99 cents?

Barb

 

The app is cheap and has a daily free movie and I think other free movies. But there is also a website that requires a paid subscription and has a database of many, many, many videos.

[catz]

LOVE it. We have the G3 subscription, after watching the free app on the ipad all summer. My kids literally use it almost every day and I can't believe how much my 7 year old has gotten from it already. WELL worth it. She spent her violin lesson today explaining to her teacher how magnets work because the teacher dared to use the word "magnet" in the middle of the lesson (as in keep your feet in one spot on the floor like a magnet! :-D )

Edited September 22, 2011 by kck

[Perogi]

LOVE it. We have the G3 subscription, after watching the free app on the ipad all summer. My kids literally use it almost every day and I can't believe how much my 7 year old has gotten from it already. WELL worth it. She spent her violin lesson today explaining to her teacher how magnets work because the teacher dared to use the word "magnet" in the middle of the lesson (as in keep your feet in one spot on the floor like a magnet! :-D )

 

Interesting to hear that your 7yo likes it so much...perhaps the free movies on the Ipod this past week haven't been a good indication of whether we would like the real deal. They do consider it a pretty awesome privilege to watch anything on the computer so it might make everything a little more exciting - not to mention a good incentive to sit still and finish the lesson if there is a movie to watch at the end!

[Tap]

Other, heard of it, never used it.

[CarrieF]

I voted other because while I was interested in it about a year ago, the price kept me from subscribing. We had the free trial, but because it wasn't used very much I knew that I had made the right decision! My sons were 8 and 6 at the time, if that helps you at all. :001_smile:

[catz]

Interesting to hear that your 7yo likes it so much...perhaps the free movies on the Ipod this past week haven't been a good indication of whether we would like the real deal. They do consider it a pretty awesome privilege to watch anything on the computer so it might make everything a little more exciting - not to mention a good incentive to sit still and finish the lesson if there is a movie to watch at the end!

 

I actually think 7 might be a little young for some of their regular videos, but my younger is definitely a kid who needs to do everything the older is doing.

[Cindy in C-ville]

We had it, liked it, but once they started charging for it, we didn't subscribe.