Marie131 Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 I'm thinking of it for my Ker. We did the free trial and he enjoyed it, but I was just wondering if it's worth the money for a subscription. It would be nice for him to have something educational to do independently while I am working w/ his older brother. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 I didn't find it very impressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syllieann Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 We did the free trial and ds liked it. I decided to purchase click 'n read through hsbc because it was a much better value-$30 for life. DS lost interest after about 2 months. My mom asked him if he wanted her to sign up for reading eggs at her house and he was pretty neutral about it. I think if you're just looking to keep him busy rather than teach systematic phonics, I would find a bunch of good sites and save the links in a folder for him so he could choose and have variety. It would also be free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 We didn't like it. DS enjoyed it for a bit the first time he did it, but quickly got bored. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 It's been worth it here, as my son needed the repetition and fun way of learning to read (in addition to a phonics program we're doing). Reading is a struggle for him. My 3 year old also enjoys it (moreso than the 5 year old). I wouldn't pay full price for it, but you can often get a half price subscription if you google. There are also codes to extend your free trial. Get one of the 4 week codes. You can use two codes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth83 Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 My daughter has absolutely loved it and it has been worth every penny. She is 4 and reading at a 2nd grade level. We have a phonics program, but it has greatly increased her reading fluency. She rarely sounds out words. She is a clone of me, though, and I grew up loving educational computer games. After 9 months, she still asks for it all the time. Obviously it fits her, but all kids are different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 How is it different from starfall.com? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissKNG Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 I didn't find it very impressive. :iagree: Plus the massive repetition drove my big girl bonkers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirstenhill Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 How is it different from starfall.com? It has a lot, lot more interactive games. Starfall always seemed to me to mostly be "watching" stuff. I doubt I would ever pay full price, but over the years I have gotten in on various "deals" and found it to be worthwhile at a lower price. I found the addition within the past year or so of the spelling games and the reading comprehension section for older kids to make it a bit more worthwhile. But there are definitely times when I had to "help" because the mousing was too difficult (the child knew the words but couldn't quite click in the right the right place at the right time fast enough). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuirkyKapers Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 My kids didn't like it. I was surprised because they usually like all things computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aoife Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 But there are definitely times when I had to "help" because the mousing was too difficult (the child knew the words but couldn't quite click in the right the right place at the right time fast enough). my kids play it on the kindle fire so that took care of the mousing problems here. that said my 5.5year old LOVES it! In fact he's snuggled on the couch playing it on the kindle fire now :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidbits of Learning Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 It has been worth it for us. I did get in on the really cheap homeschool buyers co-op deal last year. My ds5 will probably have completed it from start to finish by the time our subscription runs out at the end of August. We did print out all the activity sheets though and I had him mute the books at the end of the levels to read through together aloud. This helped him to really learn to read the story and work on fluency. It has really helped him though and he likes it. The only thing we use alongside it is The Reading Lesson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeeBeaks Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 My DD loved it, but didn't learn very much. It was high on the fun for her but not high on the learning anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess4879 Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 My 8 year old and my 6 year old absolutely love it...but honestly, I don't know if we use it enough to justify the cost and I really dislike the price and that it's per child! :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepyl Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 My 4 year old learned how to beat the levels without learning anything :glare: we did the free trial but did not buy it. There are.plenty of free sites to keep your young one busy while you work with other kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnificat Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 My 4 year old learned how to beat the levels without learning anything :glare: we did the free trial but did not buy it. There are.plenty of free sites to keep your young one busy while you work with other kids. Ha Ha! Same here! But - I didn't realize it until the trial was over and I purchased a year at half price. The first few maps are very easy and straightforward for a child who knows all letter sounds. Once they get into the higher level maps and have the "quiz" at the end - that's where you see how much they may NOT really know :). The narrator says a sentence and the child has to select the correct answer from four choices of sentences - it is cute to see my son select the first one he sees with one word from the narrated sentence! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureMoms Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 Ha Ha! Same here! But - I didn't realize it until the trial was over and I purchased a year at half price. The first few maps are very easy and straightforward for a child who knows all letter sounds. Once they get into the higher level maps and have the "quiz" at the end - that's where you see how much they may NOT really know :). The narrator says a sentence and the child has to select the correct answer from four choices of sentences - it is cute to see my son select the first one he sees with one word from the narrated sentence! Yes, my DD does this too. Her reading is nowhere near as advanced as her reading eggs level would suggest. I do think she's learning some, though. Right now reading eggs claims she's reading sentences with blends and punctuation. In reality she's reading lots of CVC words and using those and guessing to figure out the sentence stuff. She flunked the heck out of her last quiz. However, it's an extra practice for her and she does like it. I will never consider it our primary phonics instruction though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMamaBird Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 We used a free subscription for a while and it was nice. I wouldn't pay for it though. Starfall.com is just as good and free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomandlorih Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 My 3.5 year old likes it.. I don't think it's worth it to purchase(we are still on the free trial).. I don't like how they use different fonts for the letters they are trying to find and it seems to introduce sight reading much to fast(I teach phonics first). It also is VERY repetitious and you can "cheat".. I seriously doubt my 3.5 year old knows all the letters he has "passed".. but the games are the same for each letter and he knows how to work it:D That being said.. it does keep him busy:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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