chpiper Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 My 3 1/2 year old lives computer games and has been doing really well with letter recognition and number recognition...any input comparing these two programs? Or recommendations for other inexpensive or free programs? He does starfall already (just the free stuff)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking-Iris Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 I had a trial period of Reading Eggs with my ds when he was younger. We hated it. It was just annoying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 We've done: ABC Mouse, Reading Eggs, moreStarfall, ClicknRead... My oldest (7) loves Reading Eggs, but I found my youngest (then 4) was really struggling to use it after a few levels. It progresses pretty quickly and it's easy to progress without really understanding the content. Since I mainly use computer time as independent "learning-play" while I school the other, I stopped using it for my youngest -- but I'll probably pick it up again for her in a year or so. I puchased ABC Mouse just this past week -- and immediately cancelled it. The site took so long to load each page (we have high speed internet) and shut down my server a couple of times... Also, there was just SO MUCH STUFF that it was visually overwhelming. My kids couldn't figure out what they were supposed to be doing, how to get to it. I'm sure there's a learning curve, but the activities I saw for my DD's first few lessons on The Learning Path were busy work ("coloring" in a paint program, drawing a letter with a drawing tool, listening to a sound). I realize it's for a younger audience (my 5 yr old was using the Kindergarten "path") but we found it a little dull. There are other fun games and play stuff, but I wasn't impressed... We love the paid content on moreStarfall. Really, I think it's hard to beat it. I'm also using ClicknRead with my 5 yr old now. She likes it, but my oldest hated it. :p www.abcya.com is free and my kids like it, also, but the site is harder to navigate. Took my youngest a few tries to understand what to do and how. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabinfl Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 My kids LOVE Reading Eggs (and now Reading Eggspress) and started well into the "maps" at 4 1/2 & 5 1/2 (with one very reluctant reader). I believe the beginning maps focus on individual letter sounds; if so I would highly recommend it! The only downside is that it is possible fir a student to guess their way through most of the activites. I have to sit and watch/listen for too many "bonk" sounds, or at least one of mine will just click away until he stumbles onto the right answer (he gets back on track after I make him start over again :) ). My crew were also highly motivated by both the "egg hatching" animations and the award printuts at the end of each map -- we hung those on the fridge. This, Dreambox (math), and previously Starfall are the only learning games that mine will consistently play on their own, sometimes before I'm even up in the morning... doesn't get much better than that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking-Iris Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 My kids LOVE Reading Eggs (and now Reading Eggspress) and started well into the "maps" at 4 1/2 & 5 1/2 (with one very reluctant reader). I believe the beginning maps focus on individual letter sounds; if so I would highly recommend it! The only downside is that it is possible fir a student to guess their way through most of the activites. I have to sit and watch/listen for too many "bonk" sounds, or at least one of mine will just click away until he stumbles onto the right answer (he gets back on track after I make him start over again :) ). My crew were also highly motivated by both the "egg hatching" animations and the award printuts at the end of each map -- we hung those on the fridge. This, Dreambox (math), and previously Starfall are the only learning games that mine will consistently play on their own, sometimes before I'm even up in the morning... doesn't get much better than that! This. This is exactly why I don't like reading computer programs. There's a book by Jane Healy called Endangered Minds that talk about how detrimental to learning this "point and click until I discover what the computer wants me to do" type of behavior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabinfl Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 This. This is exactly why I don't like reading computer programs. There's a book by Jane Healy called Endangered Minds that talk about how detrimental to learning this "point and click until I discover what the computer wants me to do" type of behavior.If I had them sitting at computers all day while I watched my soaps, I'd agree. If we didn't do any other phonics or reading programs, I'd agree. However, used in moderation & with supervision, It's a great tool. I have three kids at the same level (more or less), so if I can sit them at computers and be able to monitor all three at once from a central location, it's a big win. If I can keep my reluctant reader interested in the activity, that's another big win. The audio and immediate feedback are helpful too, so they don't go through a whole worksheet before they find out that they've got the wrong sound in their head for a particular phoneme. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarreymere Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 My son loved ABC Mouse and we had a subscription to it for a couple years. He liked Reading Eggs when he was five, but not as much as ABC Mouse. We never had any problems with it crashing or taking a long time to load. The pictures are beautiful and one of the reasons why he loved it so much. You might be interested in using Easy Peasy homeschool ( http://allinonehomeschool.com/ ) as a supplement or Progressive Phonics ( progressivephonics.com/ ), both are free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajfries Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 We've had ABC Mouse for probably a year now. My kids love it. I have a love/hate relationship with it. But I can't quite put my finger what I dislike. IMO, the Learning Path is nearly useless. I agree with the other's who said it was mostly busy work. I would recommend just going & picking activities by subject. Some things don't get used much, for example, DS wasn't into the songs but DD loves them. I do like that I can "assign" activities to them. It's an overwhelming site, but my kids just adore it so we'll be keeping it around. I have looked at Reading Eggs...can you subscribe to that monthly or do you have to do 6-12 months at a time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 Both Reading Eggs and abcmouse offer free trials. I just did both with my three year old. For her, abcmouse just didn't hold her interest at all. Reading Eggs was better, but her mousing skills are such that I had to do any timed levels for her because it would "fail" her after she had laboriously completed the level without mistakes. So we ended up dropping that one, too, but I will definitely reconsider it after she can use a mouse easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theYoungerMrsWarde Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 We paid for MoreStarfall.com and we were really happy with it (only $35/year as opposed to $50/6 months for Reading Eggs.) In the first year we subscribed they kept adding stuff, which was great, and it was (I felt) solid on the phonics. We only checked out Reading Eggs after my youngest wasn't learning anything new from it anymore. Reading Eggs isn't as solid on phonics as I wanted. (Here's a link to my review of one of their lessons: http://sceleratusclassicalacademy.blogspot.com/2013/06/reading-eggs-review-starting-up-and.html) That also has codes for 7 free more weeks on top of the original 2 weeks, so you can try it out before you decided to buy. I've never tried ABC Mouse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shan.non Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 We liked Reading Eggs for my 1st grader to push her over her reading slump. My 3.5 year old uses Clickn Read. I use it on my iPad and she sits in my lap and we do it together. We do one lesson at a time and it is neat to see what she knows that I did not realize. She thinks it is fun to "do school" like her big sister. I got it cheap on the homebuyer co-op and used it with both kids. A great value and it is a lifetime membership. I paid under $40. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajfries Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 Ok. After reading this thread I signed up for the trial on Reading Eggs. DS really liked it. After watching him do RE (even for a short while) I'm going to say that RE is MUCH "meatier". ABC Mouse is more games with a bit of education & RE seems to be Educational with some fun thrown in there ;) ...if that makes sense... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 I dislike abcmouse. Many, many things bother me. There doesn't seem to be progression, as you can just pick and choose whatever little icon you'd like. You can do games, or lessons, or skip what you don't want. Plus, for a pre-reader it's hard to figure out IMO. It also makes my brain do this: :willy_nilly: . We did a free trial of reading eggs and it was much more logical, progressed well, and seemed to be fun too. I have a love/hate relationship with computers and learning at a young age d/t the "guess again syndrome". We are going to be severely limiting screen time soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 We are still in the ReadingEggs extended trial period. I do like that each lesson must be done in order. She can't skip the ones she doesn't like (but really needs), like she can in ABC Mouse. Having stuff in order also means she isn't trying to do "Big Bug / Little Bug" which really works better with kids much better readers. But, in ABCMouse, it appears on the top of one of the pages so she plays it frequently, needing my help. My child was 2 when we started ABC Mouse, so she was fine with the learning path. Coloring is still fascinating. But then she got sick. We spent a Saturday listening to a bunch of the songs. Then the Sunday being read a bunch of books. Both while she cuddled in my arms. Which was really wonderful. But, then the learning path was spoiled because it expected her to repeat the ones we'd already done. Her memory is amazing, and she resented being told she needed to do something she'd already done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reign Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 Have you seen mimio.com? It used to be called headsprout. My middle girl LOVED it. I liked it better than readjng eggs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoseInABook Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 We prefer Reading Eggs. My older kids were really bored with ABCMouse but my 3 year old liked it. MoreStarfall is great too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prissygirls Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 ABC reading eggs is a favorite here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomOfABunch Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 I just started a trial of ooka island for ds-4 who was resistent to learning basic phonics (i didn't push it, i just kept looking for ways to interest him). After a week of this program, he has started asking what letter different things start with and wanting to read more books aloud. I wouldn't use it for a curriculum or anything, but it seems to have a clear progression of skills and requires mastery before moving to the next skill, which makes it great in my eyes for independent computer "playtime." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SereneHome Posted August 18, 2013 Share Posted August 18, 2013 This. This is exactly why I don't like reading computer programs. There's a book by Jane Healy called Endangered Minds that talk about how detrimental to learning this "point and click until I discover what the computer wants me to do" type of behavior. That's exactly why I sit down with my 5yr old when he is doing ETC on line. I really liked ETC but he was bores silly with the book, so I got on line version. He loves it, but preclude him from guessing and just clicking on things, I sit with him I am letting my 3 yr old do the free portion of Starfall. I am way too cheap to pay for anything for a 3 yr old. :) and I also sit with him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 I think the free portion of Starfall is by far the best part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyofsixreboot Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 My 6 yo k'er likes abc mouse best. May not be the most educational but if she won't do the others there's no point to them. I tried both things out free first. My now 9 yo liked Starfall but this one found it dull. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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