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Making time for online learning in our homeschool has saved my sanity more than once. Read on to find out the 5 real benefits – plus grab a free 4 week trial of our hands-down favorite reading and math program!
I received this product free of charge and compensation for my time to share a fair and honest review.
We are entering our third year of homeschooling. I’m not going to lie, homeschooling is hard. My homeschool approach is “do what works.” But sometimes it’s hard to know what’s going to work and what will be an epic failure.
There are days when my son flat out refuses to work. I mean crying, yelling, foot-stomping… My kindergarten aged daughter can be resistant too, but instead of getting angry she gets super silly and starts with baby talk. Ugh.
I try to choose activities and projects that *I think* they’ll love. I use a child-led approach to come up with ideas that will be engaging, but it doesn’t always work out that way. There are days that I’m so excited to try something new and I’m just met with blank stares. It can be frustrating.
So when I find a program that works – for them and for me, I want to shout it from the rooftops.
One constant that has worked to keep my kids engaged and enthusiastic is using apps and online learning as part of our daily routine. And the program that has worked the longest (and the best) is Reading Eggs and Mathseeds.
My 7 and 5 year olds have been using Reading Eggs and Mathseeds for about a year and a half, nearly daily, and by choice! It’s comforting to know that even on tough days they’re learning.
I’ve found that dedicated time for online learning is a real benefit to our homeschool. Having a supplemental program that my kids love:
- Provides motivation to learn
- Fills in learning gaps
- Encourages my children to be independent
- Gives me insight to my kids’ reading and math levels
- Picks up the slack when I need it
This is not a review for Reading Eggs, but you can check out my full review here: Make Learning FUN with Online Reading Games!
In a hurry? Try all of the Reading Eggs programs FREE for 4 weeks: SIGN ME UP!
Learning Games for Motivation
When a child is reluctant or struggling with reading, making it fun is one of the best ways to motivate continued practice. An online game, complete with sights, sounds and graphics, makes reading and math seem fun – not like work at all.
They are able to participate without feeling stress or concern over their ability. It removes the struggle and allows your child to just simple learn.
Making a subject that is difficult for a child fun and engaging serves two purposes. It decreases resistance, but more importantly, it increases a child’s willingness to learn. Both are necessary to make progress. The best part? They make progress without even really feeling like they are “doing school” at all.
Online Learning to Fill in the Gaps
Supplementing language arts and math instruction with online reading games also helps me, the mom/teacher, as well. A solid online learning program serves as a check and a balance, and ensures that I haven’t missed anything in my own teaching.
Reading Eggs and Mathseeds delivers engaging practice that my kids wouldn’t otherwise wouldn’t be getting. Adding this second layer to our curriculum rounds out our learning and gives my children another way to experience the concepts.
This different perspective creates a more robust learning experience. It also confirms that my children have retained what they have previously learned from me in more traditional ways.
Encourage Independence with Online Learning
Keeping it real here – this is a significant benefit of an educational online games. Allowing my child this kind of screen time is fantastic! It gives me time to do what I need to do, and I never feel guilty because my little ones are actively learning.
This is also a great way to facilitate one on one learning with my other child, while one is completely engaged in learning online. The child I am working with gets my undivided attention while his sis is happily learning to read. It’s a win for everyone.
Insight to Your Child’s Academic Levels
Because my son is much more relaxed and engaged when using online games, I get a better sense of his true ability. There is no resistance, so I know he is performing at his best. Moreover, the online platform allows me to easily see progress in his ability as my child “moves up” through the game.
The same goes for my daughter. When she doesn’t feel like reading with me, she pretends to not know letter names and sounds – even though I know she remembers! But when she hops online, she does her very best. She is rewarded for moving through the game in a way that I just can’t provide sitting side-by-side.
Measuring academic progress through online learning games like Reading Eggs and Mathseeds is not only a lot more fun than the typical, snooze-worthy standardized test, it is much more effective as well.
Your kids will see their own progress within the game. They know when they are successful and it encourages them to keep trying. Online learning games can help bolster confidence in even the most reluctant learners.
Your Go-To Substitute Teacher
Yeah I said it. We had an up and down year including a 1,200 mile cross-country move! There have been times I have used screens as a babysitter. Putting them on a program that is helping them learn to read, count, add, subtract… Well, that feels a lot better than plopping them down in front of Minions for the 75,000th time.
I was comfortable taking extra time off from our homeschool routine because I knew my kids would continue to learn. Reading Eggs and Mathseeds really helped pick up the slack when I just couldn’t sit down to homeschool.
I leaned a little harder on online learning because I didn’t have time to plan and execute a full homeschool day! There were many days when I didn’t even have the chance to sit down and read with my kids, but I knew they were still reading and being read to on their own.
Online reading games are an ideal way to keep a child on track when our family is experiencing difficulties, because it maintains a bit of normalcy to our days. We can keep the “routine” of school while being able to focus on other, more pressing issues.
Side note: The flexibility that online learning provides is perhaps one of its greatest assets. My children can learn anywhere, at any time. (And, because it’s fun for them, they actually want to.) I was thankful for Reading Eggs more than once during our 2 day, 26 hour drive!
Try Reading Eggs and Mathseeds
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Even with my highest recommendations, I honestly don’t know if Reading Eggs and Mathseeds will work for you. My kids love it, and so do I. But the only way you will know is to try it.
I’m super excited that Reading Eggs is offering an extended 4 week trial of their entire package of programs again! An entire month to figure out if this program is the right one for you.
In your 4 week trial, all of your children will have access to the entire Reading Eggs package: Reading Eggs Junior, Reading Eggs, Reading Eggspsress and Mathseeds. Reading and math from ages 2 to 14.
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Ashley helps parents who want to homeschool find the resources they need to successfully teach their children. Ashley is a former teacher, current homeschooler, published author, and designer behind Circle Time with Miss Fox printables as well as the creator of this website, The Homeschool Resource Room.
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