Reading Eggs: Our New Favorite Online Reading Program!

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

I've heard great things about Reading Eggs for years, but never took the plunge since we had such early readers. But with Peter still not reading fluently, despite the multiple other reading programs we had tried out, I figured maybe this would be the key to reading success? We got a free one-year trial of Reading Eggs from Blake eLearning Inc, and WOW, it is packed with amazing resources!!



There are resources for reading, phonics, spelling, and math through the Reading Eggs program, but we just focused on reading, for both Peter (5.75) and Edith (3.75).  While there are tons of fun extras kids can access through the dashboard, we generally just worked on a lesson each day and didn't explore much further. But there's a lot to do!! If you have a child who has a lot of down time and you would like an educational way to entertain him or her, I really don't think you can go wrong with this program - kids can write their own stories, practice spelling, or just have fun with the games and puzzles.



I do wish there were a way to limit access to certain "extras" - a couple of times, I set Peter up with his lesson, only to find him fooling around with the "Critters" section and watching them say funny things. Not the worst, but not what I'd like him to be doing considering we try to limit screen time. Plus the other kids could hear it, and often came running to watch, distracted from whatever they should be doing. He never bothered exploring the other areas, though!



I think for older kids, this would work as a primarily self-directed reading program. For Peter and Edith, I needed to be on call for a little more help. Peter rarely had issues, but occasionally needed my manual dexterity for a couple of tasks when the tablet screen was acting up (we had to use it in the browser, though there is a new Android app, but we couldn't download it because we weren't using an Android device), or if he didn't hear the instructions or was confused. Edith (3.75) needed help pretty frequently, and I generally buddied her up with an older child for help, which means she often ended up letting them do everything for her... I'm not sure I really trust the progress the program thinks she's made, but she definitely knows a lot more letters than she started out knowing, and she can sound out some words. She's not really ready for reading, though, and I've just been letting her try it for fun.

Peter, on the other hand, has grown by leaps and bounds! I think he's the best writer I've ever had at this young an age, because he's spent so many years watching the other kids do it, and has been desperate to learn on his own! I printed out some of the worksheets that go along with different lessons, and he was really pleased to be able to do those exercises. I think they gave me a better grasp of what progress he's made, as well. Definitely worth taking advantage of! They also sell separate workbooks through their website, which are not required, but I ended up ordering one because I prefer workbooks to printables.

When Peter started out last month, his "estimated reading age" was 5.5 years. He's made a year's worth of progress in a month! Now he's comfortable reading more books to himself, though he still gets frustrated easily and doesn't always want to try reading new words. But he's got a ton more confidence than before, and is always eager to do work on his Reading Eggs lessons!

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