If you are looking for a fun, no fuss way, to improve your kids reading skills, then you might want to check out Reading Eggs and their award winning online reading program.

Reading Eggs is used by over 10 million kids worldwide. That is quite an accomplishment for a reading program. They have also achieved numerous awards and can be found in many homes and schools. We were recently asked to review a six month subscription to Reading Eggs which also includes Reading Eggs JR and Reading Eggspress. We were also given a subscription to Math Seeds. You can get your very own 4 Week Free Trial and see if Reading Eggs is a good fit for your family.

Reading Eggs

Online Subscription

Reading Eggs Jr. for Ages 2-4

Reading Eggs Ages for 3-7

Reading Eggspress for Ages 7-13

24/7/365 Access

Reading Eggs Special Features

Reading Eggs is an online reading program available for either a 6 month or 1 year subscription.

Reading Eggs contains 120 animated reading lessons (plus additional lessons in Reading Eggs Jr. and Reading Eggspress). Each lesson involves around 12+ tasks or mini-lessons. Some of the other special features of Reading Eggs includes:

Student Dashboard for independent student navigation (and motivation) of lessons, spelling, games, books read, etc.
Phonics
Phonemic Awareness
Letters
Sight Words
Vocabulary
Grammar
Reading Comprehension
Fluency
Songs
Games
Kids earn spending “eggs” they earned for completing lessons and quizzes that can be used in the arcade, designing their avatar, spend in the store, etc.
Printables: Worksheets, Awards for completing Lesson Maps and Quizzes
Over 2,500 Online Books To Read each with a Comprehension Quiz (of 5 to 10 questions each).
Spelling Quizzes / Driving Tests
Parent Dashboard: track lessons and quizzes completed, scores, and books read.
Parent Emails (also keep you updated of student progress)
Homeschool Guide (Grades K-2)
Additional Supplemental Books Available

How Does It Work?

Reading Eggs helps kids succeed in their reading abilities by focusing on mastering skills and strategies which are essential for reading success. The Reading Eggs developers are an experienced team of teachers, educational writers, animators, and website and app developers. Reading Eggs is beneficial for kids just learning to read as well as kids with strong reading skills. It is also beneficial for kids with learning difficulties, struggling readers, and English As A Second Language (ESL).

There are 3 Levels to Reading Eggs and in all it covers kids from ages 2 to 13. No prior knowledge is needed to start the program at the lowest level, Reading Eggs Jr, however those in Kindergarten (and some Preschoolers too) should be able to begin at the Reading Eggs level.

Reading Eggs will actually teach the kids to read through a series of progressive lessons that takes them from not yet able to read to master a second grade reading level. Students with stronger reading skills will progress quicker than beginners. Reading Eggspress is the next level in the program and covers skills from first through sixth grades. This level offers lots of reading comprehension challenges, books, and more learning games.

There is a comprehensive 35 page User Guide available to help parents learn to use the programs.

The basic motivation for kids is to make progress is earning golden eggs they can store up and spend like cash within the program by doing tasks like lessons, quizzes, books, etc. In the Reading Eggs program there are 12 Maps with 10 lessons on each map to master (120 lessons). At the end of each Lesson Map is a quiz for kids to take before they can move forward to the next Map.

Lessons also contain printable black and white activity worksheets as well as colourful activity pages to complete.

The worksheet printables also include lesson plans for each lesson. There are 120 Lesson Plans to help the parent understand the big picture of what the child is learning and how the online lesson and worksheets go together and additional suggestions to enhance the learning skills.

The links for the downloadable printable worksheets that include lesson plans, and more colorful activity pages for each lesson are found in the “bonus” section of the parent dashboard for additional practice.

After completing about five (5) lessons in Reading Eggs, kids will have earned enough eggs to begin using the Games section. At Games, they can choose a game they want to play. The more eggs they earn, the more they can spend, and the more games they can play. Kids love playing games, and games become a reward for the efforts they make, and it motivates them to want to do more.

Reading Eggs now offers a Homeschool Guide for parents for kids in grades K-2. There is a schedule for each grade and it integrates reading, math, science, and social studies and offers a suggested schedule of lessons, activity pages to complete, spelling, books to read, and learning themes. The Homeschool Guide can also be found in the “bonus” section.

Videos:

Watch this video to learn more about Reading Eggs (Math Seeds is now a separate subscription):

Watch this video to learn more about Reading Eggspress (ages 7-13):

Requirements:

Reading Eggs online programs can be accessed on a Computer with high speed internet service and an operating system of Windows 7 (or higher), or Mac 10 (or higher), iPad, and is available on some Smart Phones (Apple, Android, etc). It is currently not supported on some devices (Dell Venue 7, Kindle Fire Tablets, Pendo Pad, Thompson Tablet, or Tesco Hudl Tablets).

Our Experience:

My kids love using Reading Eggs. Reading Eggs is colorful and engaging. This fun program has helped my kids practice reading, spelling, and grammar skills in a fun interactive way.

For the purpose of this review, I will focus on the Reading Eggs level of the program and share with you some of our experience using this program with my 5 year old son who is new to Reading Eggs, and my 10 year old daughter who has some previous experience.

Though it is a “no-fuss” learning program (meaning the kids are not frustrated and resisting to use it), instead it is just the opposite and my kids do fuss if I they don’t get to use it. The kids are very motivated to get on the computer and practice their reading skills each day.

I have my own dashboard when logged in as the parent. I can see my kids progress in each program we are subscribed to. I also receive an email after my kids complete quizzes describing their reading progress and what skills and concepts they learned.

A special feature that I like is the option to choose starting my kids off at a specific lesson (there are about 120 different lessons), or letting them start at default mode which is at the beginning lesson on Map 1, or I can have the kids take the placement test. The placement test includes 60 questions. The test stops when the kids miss 3 questions and places them at the level where the missed questions corresponds to their skills. A parent can choose for the kids to continue where the placement test says they should be, or have them “Redo Placement Test”, or you can just adjust the lesson they are on within any level without retaking the test.

My kids also have their own dashboard when logged in as the student.

Even the youngest of kids are able to learn how to navigate their dashboard after a few times of using it because of the colorful pictures.

From the kids dashboard they can navigate around Reading Eggs. They can read stories, do spelling, quizzes, games, shop, etc. To get to their Lesson Map, they choose the “My Program” link and it takes them to their books and lesson options. Then they can choose the Lesson link and it brings them to their Lesson Map.

Here is my 5 year old son pointing to his avatar when it was on lesson 9 on Map 1.

Another fun feature for Kids is to design their own avatar for their dashboard. There are unlimited options in the design.

When they have unlocked more of the program based on their lessons, more options show up on their “Program” page. In this picture below, you can see how my daughter’s page differs from her younger brother’s page. She had master 106 lessons and was ready to start lesson 107.

After they choose “Lesson”, it takes them to the Lessons Map and hers opens up to lesson 107 on Map 11.

Another favorite feature for my kids is the driving test. Each of my kids are different, but my daughter especially enjoys doing these.

Math Seeds

We were also given a complimentary subscription to Math Seeds and I wanted to briefly mention it here. It is an online math program that operates in a similar way to Reading Eggs.

Math Seeds was created by the same team that created Reading Eggs and shares the same dashboard with Reading Eggs if you have subscribed to both programs. However, you have the option to only subscribe to Math Seeds or only to Reading Eggs if you wish.

In Math Seeds, my kids collected golden acorns to spend instead of eggs. Math Seeds involves 180 lessons with numbers and math skills for kids ages 3 to 9 years old. They have recently expanded the program to cover some skills at the third grade level (including times tables fractions, angles, subtraction with regrouping, etc).

Math Seeds Video

Here you can see the parent dashboard that shows one of my kids Math Seeds progress. We haven’t spent a lot of time in Math Seeds yet as we mainly focused on Reading Eggs during this review.

Final Thoughts

Pros:

Access 24/7/365 (use it anytime on your schedule)
Kids love it.
Kids can complete online lessons independently or you can expand learning with parents and additional lesson printables and suggested reading that reinforce the learning.
Proven reading improvement.
Affordable ($49 for 6 months and $59 for 1 year).
Keeps parents/teachers informed of progress (emails and dashboard reports).
Parents can tweak program by moving child ahead or back in lessons, and can have child repeat placement test if desired.
Printables
Homeschool Guide

Cons:

Non-Christian Worldview. May or may not be a good fit for everyone.

This “con” won’t pertain to everyone, but some religious objections may arise to the non-Christian worldview and undertones of some lessons and book options within the program. Some families choose to homeschool rather than send their kids to public school for religious reasons. This program is used in state sponsored public schools in the USA, and other countries and corresponds to common core education and also has many non-Christian themes that some families do not wish their kids to participate in.

Thankfully, parents can tweak the lessons if they see themes they might object to by skipping a specific lesson and moving the child up to the next lesson, or choosing not to read a specific book. Another way to use the program is avoid using the books that you object too, but still have the kids take the lessons and read other books, and then use what was in the lesson as a teaching point of discussion about your faith with your kids, and this is the way we handled it. You have some flexibility to make these adjustments through the parent dashboard.

Overall, kids of all ages like the Reading Eggs programs. With all of it’s colorful interactive games and ability to earn spendable eggs and awards for achievements, it is easy understand why it is so successful in teaching and motivating kids to read.

If you would like to try before you buy, be sure to try out the free lesson on their website, or sign up to get your 4 Week Free Trial subscription.

Social Media

Keep up with all the lasted news, product updates, free offers, and special sales at the social media links for Reading Eggs:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/readingeggsUSCA/
• Instagram (handle): readingeggs
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/readingeggs @readingeggs
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/readingeggs/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ABCReadingEggs

Homeschool Review Crew

Be sure to check out what others on the Homeschool Review Crew had to say about using Reading Eggs in their home.

Please share.

Got kids who need to “up” their excitement about reading? Are your boys unmotivated to read? Do you need a wholesome online learning program where kids have fun learning with educational games? Then you might want to check out the amazing online resource by Star Toaster called Orphs Of The Woodlands.

Orphs of the Woodlands

Online Interactive Books with Learning Games
Designed for kids in 4th through 7th grades
2 month subscription, available for $19.99 for up to 3 children in the same household.

Each book is designed to take about 60 days or less to complete. Extensions are also available if your child needs more time to complete the book. The first book is currently available, and more books for the series are in development with the goal to eventually cover an entire year’s worth of curriculum. Be sure to check out the free trial offer of the first 100 pages of the book and see for yourself how fun learning with this program can be.

Character Building
Wholesome character qualities learned and practiced by the character in the story:
Do your best.
Learn something new every day.
Be trustworthy.
Be a good leader (servant leadership).

Academic Lessons
Hundreds of academic lessons are woven into the story. It is like an interactive unit study in hyperdrive. Cross curricular subjects kids get lots of practice in:
Reading
Story telling
Thinking skills
Language Arts (grammar, vocabulary, etc)
History
Cultural social studies
Study of well known people
Math
Science
Arts and Crafts
Life Skills

Special Effects
To make this a really fun learning adventure, lots of special effects are woven through out the story and the activities. Some of these include:
Videos
Flash Cards
Disappearing Ink
Spy Reports / Top Secret Files
Memory Games
Music
Recipes
DIY instructions for crafts
Gold Stars are currency that can be earned and used
Cool sound effects, and more…

Progress Reports
Parents can keep track of their child’s progress and their learning challenges on the Progress Page where updates are posted. Parents are also sent regular emails with fun facts to discuss with their child too.

Video
Check out this video to learn more about Orphs of The Woodlands Interactive Books and Games

How We Used Orphs of the Woodlands:

We received a subscription to the first book available in Orphs Of the Woodlands called The Treasure of HighTower. I had my 10 year old, 12 year old, and 14 year old sons work on it for 30 minutes a day. They loved it! My 14 year old son has finished, and the other two are still working on it.

map

This program follows a fun story theme throughout the whole program and is designed to be completed with in 2 months. Afterwards the kids move on to the next story book in the series. Orphs of the Woodlands stands for orphan animals who live in the forest. You character in the story takes on the job of taking care of them and meeting their needs.

To earn money (gold stars) the character has to do jobs and do them well to get paid. Jobs can be in any curriculum category and come available or open at different times in the story.

The student can keep track of the “open” jobs, and the jobs they have completed and what chapter in the book they correlate with, as well as what academic subject area they cover.

finished

Woven throughout the story are fun facts to learn:

bumblebee

RECIPES

We had a lot of fun making recipes from the story. My oldest son typed Bicker’s grouchy recipes onto a word document to keep in a file so we can keep making them even after the program ends.

For this review, we made Blueberry Crumble Grumble. It comes out like a cake bar and is moist and delicious!

We also made Nuts To You Cookies.

These cookies are so good! They taste like pecan sandies. We didn’t have enough pecans, so we added in various seeds and nuts and they turned out amazing.

We made a few substitutions in the recipes to fit our family’s needs. The crumble called for 2 1/2 cups buttermilk. It is a large amount of milk and I thought it might bother some in the family with lactose intolerance. So we used almond milk in the crumble.

For the cookies we replaced the powdered sugar with evaporated cane juice. Also I only had half the amount of pecans so in addition we added in additional walnuts and pumpkin seeds. I am going to remake them again and see how they turn out with gluten free flour blend too. We will try a blend of almond flour and coconut flour to start. They are a crispy cookie so they lend well to the substitutions we made so far.

What does my 14 year old think about it?
“I like how you get to follow a storyline or storybook. It is a really cool storyline. I like how they incorporate math and science, Latin sentances, cooking, arts and crafts where you learn how you would make something, quotes of wisdom from famous real people in history, etc.

For example: Professor Forp will give one math or science lesson a day if your character cleans his house (he is messy in the story), and will give you an additional lesson in exchange for a Latin sentance. The character has a friend named Radar (he is a friend and is also his boss in the spy network), and he says random Latin sentances all the time. My character learns the sentances and uses them later to exchange for more lessons with the Professor.

One of the characters is a cook. His name is Bicker. He makes a lot of recipes you get to learn. He names the food disgusting names but they are actually delicious. He doesn’t want the others to eat the food so that he can have more to himself.

It is a fun program and I can’t wait for the next book to come available. I finished the first one and I’m kinda sad it is over already.”

What does my 12 year old think about it?

“I think it is really fun way to read. I like the story and the games are fun. Sometimes I get tired of reading, but it motivates me to earn stars so I can take care of the Orphs. The jokes are funny too. ”

What does my 10 year old think about it?

“I love it mom! It is really cool! It teaches you to want to read. You don’t want to quit. You want to keep going and know more of what is going to happen next in the story.”

Social Media:

PINTEREST:
https://www.pinterest.com/startoaster/

FACEBOOK:
https://www.facebook.com/startoaster4kids

TWITTER:
https://twitter.com/StarToaster

Be sure to check out what other families on the Schoolhouse Review Crew had to say about using this product with their kids.