Reading Eggs Mum's Panel full reviews
With interactive animations, fun games, great songs and lots of rewards, Reading Eggs is a great place to learn to read. Reading Eggs is suitable for children age 3 – 7 years old. We gave Reading Eggs to five gurgle mum testers to see what they thought…
The testers:
Mum and gurgle.com editor Nifa and daughter Ivy, aged 5 and Poppy aged 3
Mum Sian and daughter Millie, 4
Mum Victoria and son Finley, 6
Mum Emily and daughter Lisa, 4
Mum Laura and William, 5
Mum Sian and daughter Millie, 4
Did you understand what the purpose of the site is from the homepage?
Yes
How straightforward was it to set up an account for you and your child?
Very straight forward although tried first on an ipad and it didn't work- needed flash player to work.
How did you find the level of the program for the age of your child?
Level of programme perfect for Millie- she can't read yet so we started at the beginning which was identifying individual letters.
How did your child find the program?
Were they keen to use it? Millie loved Reading Eggs- she was very keen to use it. It was good that I didn't show her the playroom first as she would have spend her time there instead of doing the lessons!
What did you think of the site as an educational tool?
Very good as an educational tool. I am a teacher and will be using the 6-7 year old reading part as part of my lesson!
Did you find the site kept your child motivated to learn and did they want to return?
Millie wanted to stay on for longer but she also wanted to skip through the lessons faster than it was going. It was very repetitive for her but I know this is a good learning tool.
In the time you spent using it, how effective do you feel the techniques used, lesson layout and program set up were in aiding your child's progression?
Very much aided Millie's progression as this is exactly what she is learning at school. I was surprised how quickly she picked up what she needed to do without my explanation. The only game that was too fast was the Stamping Game ('S' Lesson 1) where the boxes were moving too fast for her to click with the mouse. Also some images used are a bit confusing- in the letter 'S' it is unclear whether the objects are nuts, seeds or stones… ? Did you realise there were areas on the site additional to the lessons?
Within My World there are the lessons, a music cafe, Story Factory, Reggie’s shop, My House, Driving Tests, Puzzle Park and the Arcade which are a series of rewards and motivational elements to keep learning fun. I did realise but only after I had investigated first and navigated through the left hand bar. It might be an idea to suggest parents have a go first (perhaps a parents taster session) so you know what to expect.
Did you understand the avatar, critters and the golden egg rewards and what these can be used for?
Absolutely no idea what these are and there was no explanation I could find? I could see the rewards increasing on the golden egg each time Millie completed a section, but I don't know where to find the golden egg or how this is translated in Millie's progress? ?
Would you use Reading Eggs in the future to support your child's learning at school?
I love the idea and Millie loved the Reading Eggs- yes, I will be using this. My 2 year old son also had a look at Millie doing the lessons and was happy to watch- he laughed everytime the caterpillar talked. I think there needs to be a small parents explanation on exactly how to use Reading Eggs on the home page so it's very clear to parents when they first use it.
Mum Victoria and son Finley, 6
Did you understand what the purpose of the site is from the homepage?
Yes. It was very clear what the purpose of the site was, what could be achieved, and how to sign up.
How straightforward was it to set up an account for you and your child?
Very straightforward. I had registered and set up the account in under 5 minutes – the questions I needed to answer were minimal.
How did you find the level of the program for the age of your child?
Once we had completed the test to ascertain Finley’s reading level I think the programme started at around the right point for him – reading isn’t his strongest skill, but everything was explained clearly and he picked it up very quickly.
How did your child find the program? Were they keen to use it?
Despite the fact that I found his voice a little grating my son loved Sam the Ant. And he loved being told he was clever and that he had got the question right- Although he didn’t like the buzzer noise when he got a question wrong! Oh, and the little songs Sam sang made him laugh!
What did you think of the site as an educational tool?
I really liked the site although we struggled for a few moments to begin with as our PC speakers weren’t plugged in, and the site didn’t make it clear that sound was a requirement for using it. Once we had that sorted though I thought the site was brilliant – both educational and fun.
Did you find the site kept your child motivated to learn and did they want to return?
Yes he loved the encouragement, and the repetition proved a great learning tool. He also enjoyed the little games you could play as each task was loading. And the site was very colourful, reminding him of cartoons: which always hold his attention!
In the time you spent using it, how effective do you feel the techniques used, lesson layout and program set up were in aiding your child's progression?
I think the programme was very effective. The lessons were quite quick and easy to follow, meaning Finley didn’t get bored half way through. I would say that his reading skills have definitely improved since we started using it. Did you realise there were areas on the site additional to the lessons? Within My World there are the lessons, a music cafe, Story Factory, Reggie’s shop, My House, Driving Tests, Puzzle Park and the Arcade which are a series of rewards and motivational elements to keep learning fun
No I didn’t realise that – but now i’ve read this we will definitely be checking it out! ?
Did you understand the avatar, critters and the golden egg rewards and what these can be used for?
My son was pleased to earn the golden eggs (which made him feel clever) but we didn’t realise they could be used for anything
Would you use Reading Eggs in the future to support your child's learning at school?
Definitely. We both enjoyed it, and I think his interest in reading and his ability have definitely improved.
Mum Emily and daughter Lisa, 4
Did you understand what the purpose of the site is from the homepage?
Yes, the homepage message seemed very clear, that the site would help children with their reading and was clear about the different ages that it catered for.
How straightforward was it to set up an account for you and your child?
It was a very easy process and only took me about 5 minutes.
How did you find the level of the program for the age of your child?
The level seemed just right.
How did your child find the program? Were they keen to use it?
Yes, Lisa enjoyed the program and wanted to carry on even when the lesson had finished.
What did you think of the site as an educational tool?
It was great and definitely something we’ll try to use a few times a week.
Did you find the site kept your child motivated to learn and did they want to return?
Lisa really enjoyed the session and liked the Ant that spoke and has asked me a few times when she can play with the Ant on the computer again.
In the time you spent using it, how effective do you feel the techniques used, lesson layout and program set up were in aiding your child's progression?
The technique was good and a very effective way of teaching the letter sounds. Lisa kept coming out with the ‘m’ words all day after the lesson we did. The only time during the lesson that she lost a bit of concentration on the ‘m’ sound was when she saw the monkey with the banana and then kept going on about the banana until I got her back on track on the ‘m’ sound/ letter.
Did you realise there were areas on the site additional to the lessons? Within My World there are the lessons, a music cafe, Story Factory, Reggie’s shop, My House, Driving Tests, Puzzle Park and the Arcade which are a series of rewards and motivational elements to keep learning fun
I didn’t realise there were other sections on the site but I will go back and show them to Lisa next time.?
Did you understand the avatar, critters and the golden egg rewards and what these can be used for?
No, I didn’t read up on that. I concentrated on the lesson.
Would you use Reading Eggs in the future to support your child's learning at school?
I would definitely consider it.
Mum and gurgle.com editor Nifa and daughter Ivy, aged 5 and Poppy aged 3
How did you find the level of the program for the age of your child?
Nifa: At first Ivy found some of the questions hard and I thought she would give up but then she got a few right and started to really enjoy the spellings. The little ant Sam helped her to feel like it was for children rather than me making her do homework! I also got my three year daughter Poppy to have a go to see whether she’d like it and although she was only at the very basic first level, it was good in teaching her individual letters and she loved that there were songs and things she could laugh at whilst learning.
In the time you spent using it, how effective do you feel the techniques used, lesson layout and program set up were in aiding your child's progression?
Nifa: I thought the techniques were good because they combined fun with education. Both Ivy and I found the map a little confusing at first. There was a lot going on and Ivy tried to move the little chicken on to the next step but it wouldn’t move.
Did you realise there were areas on the site additional to the lessons? Within My World there are the lessons, a music cafe, Story Factory, Reggie’s shop, My House, Driving Tests, Puzzle Park and the Arcade which are a series of rewards and motivational elements to keep learning fun.
Nifa: Yes I did realise this and Ivy really liked the playroom where she loved painting, making music and at one point she loved the little kitchen where she could put all the toppings on a pizza! I thought this was fantastic because when her concentration dipped slightly when she’s been spelling for a while we were able to play some games before going back to the spellings. How did your child find the program? Were they keen to use it?
Nifa: Ivy was very keen to use it, she initially thought it was a game and was a bit disappointed when she realised it was going to require some brain work, but once she got into it she really enjoyed it and was eager to move on to the next level. She was of course frustrated when she got some spellings wrong, but this is part of learning to read and hopefully she’ll learn from her mistakes!
Did you find the site kept your child motivated to learn and did they want to return?
Nifa: Yes I definitely would. I would also recommend it to parents who want to prepare their children for school so the children get a little taster of what it is going to be like when they start learning in the classroom. I think it’s also useful for parents to see how their children are progressing through the levels and also if there is anything they keep getting stuck on. Then they can give their child extra support in this area or mention it to the teacher when they start school.
Mum Laura and William, 5
Would you use Reading Eggs in the future to support your child's learning at school?
The programme found William’s level easily, but it took us a while to understand how to play each game. Once we worked it out it was fine, but he needed me there to help him. This isn’t something you could leave a child to get on with – perhaps when they are six or seven but William definitely needed me around.
Did you find the site kept your child motivated to learn and did they want to return?
William has a very short attention span and loves nothing more than running around outside so I was dubious about how long he would sit and do this for, but he actually enjoyed it. Obviously he liked the ‘playroom’ part better than the spelling games, but I said after each level he could play in the ‘playroom’ and he accepted that and completed the levels quite quickly.
How did you find the level of the program for the age of your child?
My only criticism was that there was no way to skip a game, so if one particular game didn't suit William, he still had to complete it to a certain standard to move up the levels. There was one game which involved stamping letters onto boxes in a factory which I didn't get and he really didn't like but we had to keep doing it until he had stamped a certain number. I would have liked to skip this as it just didn't suit him but there didn't seem to be an option to do this.
How did your child find the program? Were they keen to use it?
I would definitely use this to support William’s reading in the future, especially since this is one of the only educational ‘aids’ he seems to have shown any interest in. He doesn’t seem that into books, but really loved the little stories on Reading Eggs so we’ll definitely use it in the future.
To find out more or start a FREE trial with Reading Eggs Click Here
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