I review all sorts of things on this blog, but I think that the review I’m about to tell you about is the most important to date. What could be more important than your children leaning to read, and enjoying it to boot!
My son is turning 5 next month and is currently learning to read with the Biff, Chip and Kipper books at school. We also read to him at home with books we own- usually nice rhyming books with a fun story that we read at bedtime, but he doesn’t read these himself, just listens to the story.
I was recently introduced to Reading Eggs- a new system to encourage children to read through educational games so they learn through play. It is a literacy programme aimed at 3 to 7 year olds that tests them to get their current reading level, then starts them off at the games that will take them forward in their learning so they start to identify sounds and blend words together.
My son loves to play computer games, he has a Nintendo DS and can start up his Dad’s iPad in 3 seconds, so I knew a computer games based learning system would be a great way to get him reading whilst disguising the fact that he is learning to him! If he thought that he had to stop his playtime to do some homework with me, he’d put the barriers up and it would be more difficult to get him motivated. As it is, our routine is that we read his school books in the car before going into school each morning, so he gets his practise then. After school is for fun, but with Reading Eggs, I have cunningly turned ‘after school’ time to more learning opps without him even realising it! He is just having fun playing on Reading Eggs and unlocking new levels to progress.
Here is a recent email I was sent by Reading Eggs to keep me informed:
Your child has made good progress in Reading Eggs. (Son) has finished another ten lessons. (Son) has just completed the Zoo 2 Quiz at the end of Map 2.
(Son) passed the quiz, earning a Gold certificate. To see and print out this certificate go to your child’s My Stuff page and click on Certificates. In this set of ten lessons, your child learnt the following words, sounds and skills.
Map Information : Level 1 Map 2 Lessons 11 – 20
Letters and sounds – n, p, h, r, z, ap, an, ee
Words learnt – see, the, tap, cap, map, zap, fan, man, ran, can, bee
Sample of sentences read – A man can bat. Sam can see the pan. Can you see the hat?
Since the school summer holiday started, I have had my son use the Reading Eggs system for fun to continue his learning even without the school routine. It hasn’t been as often, but I love knowing it is there if we are home for an afternoon and he wants to go on the computer. He is very excited about the eggs, so whatever psychology they used when naming the programme and making it appeal to a young reader works! It is fun for him and I love seeing how a few sessions on this system for about 30 minutes at a time is improving his recall, teaching him new word blends and actually making his reading faster than he was before.
There is another side to Reading Eggs. It is aimed at older children (7-13) and is called Reading Eggspress. My 9 year old daughter has been onto this side but as she is a keen reader anyway, loving the Jacqueline Wilson and Horrid Henry books, she just took it in her stride and played on it for a bit but it was a fun game to her. She has other websites that she likes to visit such as Moshi Monsters, and as she is such a motivated reader anyway, I didn’t press her to stay with Reading Eggspress.
My son on the other hand, is presented with Reading Eggs every time I let him use the PC. As I’m so keen that he plays on this system, I don’t offer him another alternative and as he is 4 years old, he doesn’t usually ask for anything else- just accepting the games I offer him.
All of the lessons ahead of the one he is working through are locked, so he doesn’t jump ahead of where he is before he has learned what he needs to. At the end of each lesson he does a quiz to cement what he has learned and he can’t move onto the next map until he has got all the questions correct. We did the first few lessons together on the computer to get him started, but now he is used to the system, he navigates through it on his own so I can go and prepare the evening meal whilst he is playing.
Reading Eggs is a subscription based learning platform costing £29.95 for 6 months or £39.95 for 1 year but you can get a free trial at the site to see for yourself what it is like. Learn more at: http://readingeggs.co.uk/
I plan to continue with Reading Eggs for my son as he is enjoying it so much and I’m delighted at his progress. If you want to instill a passion for reading in your child, Reading Eggs is definitely worth a look.
Disclosure: We were given a free trial of the Reading Eggs system to be able to write this review.
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4 Responses to Review: Reading Eggs
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Can I get something similar to this for a DS game, as my son wants one for Christmas, i would love a game like this for a DS. He is 4
Hi Martina
I don’t know if Reading Eggs has a DS game- maybe try searching online to see? But they DO have an iPad app- we downloaded this after our free trial of the system and it is great. Your 4 year old would love Reading Eggs – perfect age to start him off!
Nice article. My kids have been using the Reading Eggs program for the last 6 months and they absolutely love it.
Thanks Claire. It is great to find something that is educational but the kids love going on too!!