Kids’ Reading Activities – A Reading Eggs Review

I try to stay on top of the latest learning resources for kids, so when I heard about Reading Eggs, I had to check it out.

Reading Eggs is an online, Android and iPad program that will encourage your child to learn to read and to enjoy reading. It is an award-winning set of lessons for children from 3 to 13 that was developed by professionals in the educational field and is used in over 10,000 schools worldwide.

It’s used by many homeschooling families and by parents who want to supplement school curricula. I’ll tell you what I learned and then you can check it out for yourself.

My Thoughts

My personal experience is limited to the online sample lesson, and my initial impressions are that the animated creatures and songs are engaging, the settings are colorful and imaginative and the interaction with letters and their sounds is fun. I have to admit that I have my doubts about a sea captain who says, “Aye, that be it!” each time the child selects the correct letter, “b.”

I know that if I’d used this program with my son when he was learning to read, he would have repeated that every hour on the hour. I’m a stickler for correct grammar, but I don’t want to deter you. My son was a reluctant reader, and if it wasn’t for Captain Underpants, I don’t know what I would have done to get him going.

Reading Eggs may be just what you need. There’s one other aspect of Reading Eggs that may be a concern. The English is British, so if you’re not in the UK, it may not work for you.

Progressive Instruction

In a virtual setting of friendly critters and folk, Reading Eggs will teach essential reading skills through a process of repetition, reinforcement and reward. Lessons are geared toward absolute beginners, emerging readers and early readers. Beginning with Stepping Stones, children will become familiar with phonemic awareness and phonics, sight words, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension.

In Storylands they’ll meet the characters that inhabit Clinker Castle. Kids will have avatars and houses and rewards of golden eggs. When they have mastered Reading Eggs, there is Reading Eggspress for new challenges.

Track Progress

You can keep track of your child’s accomplishments with the Reading Eggs Dashboard. Lessons completed, books read and quiz scores are readily available, as well as an overview of your child’s approximate reading age.

Cost

After the initial trial period you may subscribe to Reading Eggs. For six months it’s $49.95 and for one year, $59.00.

Additional Instructional Materials

Reading Eggs Book Packs, Activity Books, CD-ROMS and Flashcards are available at additional cost to supplement online learning.

Reading Egg Reviews

There is an abundance of Reading Eggs reviews on the Internet. Many are from users who received a free trial in exchange for their feedback and are generally very positive. The following is a random sampling of comments.

“The important thing to remember is that Reading Eggs is a supplemental. It is not intended to act as the be all and end all of reading success and so if you use it alongside other resources, you are sure to be giving children an eclectic experience.”

Posted by teacher John Dabell on http://www.teachprimary.com/tried_and_tested/view/reading-eggs.

“Let me say first of all, that the program is very interactive and appealing; my kids absolutely love this program. Most of my problems come when it’s time to put it away. I think they’d play on it all day long if I let them.”

From a mother named Tracy who received a free trial in exchange for a review posted on http://growingngrace.com/2012/03/08/reading-eggs-review/.

She also said,

“A high-level of motor skills required. This has been both a positive and a negative for us. I love that my kids are learning these skills, as our world is so extremely technology-centered. However, it did seem that some of the lessons were not appropriately matched to their skills. For instance, there were some activities that were actually difficult for me to complete at the speed they demanded, and I’m fairly coordinated/computer-savvy.”

A review by dmforman, parent of a 4 ½ year-old, was mostly positive on http://www.secularhomeschool.com/content/795-abc-reading-eggs-reviews/. The only negatives he cited were:

“Skills are not explicitly taught. Skills are sometimes very difficult for a young child to complete. From the British English point of view, not American English.”

Vanessa S., a teacher at Harrison Middle School, Pittsburgh, PA posted that “Reading Eggs challenges high flying readers and catches up struggling readers” on https://www.graphite.org/website/reading-eggs-teacher-review/4017841. She gave the program a 5-star review.

Free Reading Eggs Trial

Decide if Reading Eggs is right for your family by signing up for a Free 2 Week Trial. You’ll be asked for your email address. There’s no credit card required. Monitor your kids’ use and see what you think.

Find more reading activities on rememberstuff.me’s optimized activity search.