Reading Eggs

     We were given a trial subscription of the online Reading Program Reading Eggs.  Reading Eggs offers individual reading lessons that allow a child to progress at their own pace.  It has been developed by a highly experienced team of teachers, writers and developers.

      The Reading Eggs program focuses on a core reading curriculum using phonics, sight words along with focusing on skills and strategies that are essential for sustained reading success.  Reading Eggs makes learning to read fun and enjoyable with games, songs and rewards. There are 100 lessons within the Reading Eggs program and are designed for 4 to 7 year olds who are learning to read.

     Children progress through a “road map” with a different map for each of the 100 levels. They can progress as fast or as slow as they need to complete their map.  Avatars are used that can walk and travel to many new destinations. Houses to decorate and a big new shop are also part of the program. During the lessons, children are given an opportunity to earn “Golden Eggs”. These eggs can then be exchanged in the store for games and other stuff.

Reading Eggs can be purchased online at  www.readingeggs.com. There are three payment options.

• Monthly $9.95
• 6 months $49.95
• 12 months $75.00
• A second child will receive a 50% discount when purchasing the same subscription in the same transaction.

ClarkClan Thoughts

     Rebekah was the one in our family that tried out this program.  She is 8 and is reading proficiently on her own. She was slow to get started with this program. I had to force her to play and try new things on it. I am not sure why, except that she is not a huge computer game player. Since the program is self-paced and designed for kids to use independently, I would let her use it without my help. When I noticed she was not enjoying it, I sat with her and went through each part with her. It was like a light bulb turning on, she became very excited after that and was happy to play Reading Eggs.

     I liked the variety of activities that Rebekah was able to choose to do. I usually told her to go through the lesson first, then she was free to choose what she would like to do for the rest of her computer time. Once she figured out how to change and personalize her avatar, she made a Pineapple Egg with parts bought with her “Golden Eggs”.

      I also liked that the games, while fun, were tied to reading skills and had time limits with them. Driving tests could test either sight words, letters and sounds, or content words. After taking a 20 question test which propelled a car around a race track with each correct answer, then a 60 racing game could be played. The game could only be played if a perfect score on the test was reached. Re-tries were offered to give every opportunity for success. Other games in the Arcade section were based on reading skills.  With 13 activities to choose from, Rebekah had plenty to do when she played Reading Eggs.

      A few things that bothered me just a bit. During the lessons, there are times that the lesson told Rebekah to say the sounds out loud and put them together. Without me sitting right beside her and telling her to do this she ignored the program. I also noticed that it placed Rebekah’s reading level quite a bit lower than what she actually is. I think there are a couple of reasons for this. First, as I stated earlier, Rebekah took a while to warm up to the program. When Rebekah is not enjoying something, she does not put her best efforts forward. The second reason I think her scores were lower is that Rebekah has a hard time distinguishing between different phonics sounds. Since this is a phonics based program, there were times she missed things just because she could not differentiate between the different sounds being said.

     Overall, I do think that Reading Eggs is a great program. It has many varied options for all sorts of learners. Being able to see the progress you are making on the map is a motivator and also being able to make the game your own by buying things for your house and  changing your avatar is also a good way to appeal to different learners.

     Reading Eggs also has another program called Reading Eggspress. This is aimed at students from 7-13 years of age to continue to develop their reading skills.

     What did my Crew Mates think of Reading Eggs? Head on over to the TOS Crew Blog and find out!

As an Independent contractor for The Old Schoolhouse and member of TOS Homeschool Crew I received a trial membership to Reading Eggs for free from Reading Eggs.com in exchange for my honest review of their product