by Jessica Matthews
My daughter Ava was three when I first heard about the online reading program ABC Reading Eggs through a Facebook mums’ group. At the time I thought she was too young, but I was keen to look into it more when she got older. I was also curious to see what all the hype was about. Would it benefit her?
Well, I blinked and she’s older!!
Now she’s four and has just started kindy this week (I know, flood gates of tears by me of course, whilst she happily skips into class each day. Thank goodness I have work to take my mind off it!) A few weeks ago I decided to sign up for the free trial of ABC Reading Eggs to see what it was like and how Ava would respond. Thanks to YouTube, she already loves the iPad (don’t get me started!), but I was very hesitant about whether we’d have any success. I honestly was unsure of how an app could encourage her to:
- want to read or attempt to read
- keep her engaged
- actually teach her whilst coming across as fun & appealing to her.
So fast forward to today and we have been using the Reading Eggs program for a few weeks now.
When you first sign up (by way of the free 4 week trial – link below or here, you are encouraged to get your child to do a placement test. Make sure you don’t help them as it’s designed to assess their reading ability and match them to the appropriate starting level. I was surprised just how far Ava got as I haven’t really pushed her to read – she went straight into lesson 21. I sat beside her as she was prompted to touch the letters that correspond with the sound or letter on the screen, and to tap basic words and things like that. It used a good selection of pictures and images to engage young kids – it made Ava want to do it herself (tick, tick, tick!).
What do I think?
It’s easy to navigate! Nothing makes me feel older than my 4-year-old being more technologically savvy than me!! It uses eye-catching colours and has an easy layout.
Logging in is easy with your email and password. You can log in at any time to check your child’s progress, what they have recently achieved, the level they are at, print their certificates and so on. You can also add additional children to the account.
I really like that the program gives you an estimated reading age based on your child’s ability, how many phonic skills they have (from 237) and how many sight words they know. If needed, you can also go back a level if you’d like to do so. I always open it for Ava and get her ready, but with some continued use she could easily do it herself in no time.
The sequence of lessons is mapped out on almost a yellow-brick, road-style path. There is a snapshot of books ready for your child to read and kids can even write their own stories (personally we aren’t there yet!).
ABC Reading Eggs is designed for kids aged 3 to 13. I was surprised how young you can let them have a little play. It honestly comes across as a game, which I love because it’s not forceful, is relaxed, and your child can move at his or her own pace. Ava used it for about 20 minutes and was happy to do so, which at her age I found impressive.
So what are you waiting for? From now until the end of February, ABC Reading Eggs is offering a free 4 week trial. To sign up simply click here!
Important further reading:
If you need some further information apart from my personal feedback, the below has been provided by ABC Reading Eggs.
The ABC Reading Eggs program includes:
- My Lesson: 120 guided and interactive reading lessons
- Spelling: 96 carefully graded spelling lessons
- Driving Tests: 45 literacy tests that assess sight words, phonics skills, and vocabulary, and award children with fun racing car games
- Story Factory: provides a step-by-step guide to writing a story. Children can choose illustrations and access word and sentence suggestions to craft an original story
- Storylands: opens after lesson 60 and contains 20 new lessons that build young children’s comprehension and vocabulary skills
- The Library: over 2000 e-books sorted by age level and Lexile level, including fiction and nonfiction texts. The library also includes read-to-me audio options for beginner readers. Each book ends with a comprehension quiz to assess children’s understanding
- Rewards-based areas: ABC Reading Eggs is designed to reward children for their achievements to motivate them to keep learning. The program includes multiple rewards-based areas, like the Shop and Arcade, where children can buy items and games with the golden eggs they earn
- Parent dashboard: Parents have access to detailed progress reports and hundreds of printable worksheets that correspond with the lessons in the program. Parents can also print out a certificate for their child after they complete each map.
- ABC Reading Eggspress: designed for older kids aged 7–13, with 220 comprehension lessons, 216 spelling lessons and live multiplayer games that build skills in spelling, vocabulary, grammar and usage.
Happy learning to all your kiddies! 🙂
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