Online Reading Game to Encourage Struggling Readers to PRACTICE!
My youngest and I have been struggling together over the past several years to get her to become an independent reader. She has grown leaps and bounds this past summer as we've really buckled down on practicing the basics of reading. Online reading games have been a lifesaver for me as they offer a neutral encouragement from someone other than mom to keep practicing tricky concepts.
As the school year has gotten off and running, we've continued with our program to solidify those basics, but when I ask her to pick a book to read, she still squirms away. If I could, I would spend every minute that I could helping her become a better reader. But this mamma needs help!
I'd heard about Reading Eggs for a while, and my daughter enjoyed playing it in the past at the library. When I had the opportunity to try it out at home, I was excited to see if it would be a good compliment to our homeschool. It's been such a hit, that I subscribed for a year to keep the learning going.
I received three months free access to Reading Eggs and was compensated for my time in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. See my full disclosure policy for more details.
Online Reading Practice with Reading Eggs
Reading Eggs is an online reading game that offers reading help for kids ages 2 to 13. The intuitive program meets kids where they're at, and then encourages them along the way to become better readers. There are three levels:
- Reading Eggs Junior - Ages 2 to 4: Toddlers learn about words, sounds, and letters in an engaging and fun environment.
- Reading Eggs - Ages 3 to 7: Students start in the playroom while they build up their reading skills. As they advance, their reading skills are strengthened through games covering phonics, sight words, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency.
- Reading Eggspress - Ages 7 to 13: With a variety of activities covering spelling, grammar, vocabulary, language usage, and comprehension, students get lots of great practice while having lots of fun.
You can access the material online, but there is also a downloadable app that kids can use on any iPad or tablet. I love that this feature allows learning to continue on the go!
My daughter, as a sixth grader, fits in nicely in the Reading Eggspress zone. There's a placement test in the beginning, but then she just follows the lessons as they appear in her dashboard.
What I love is that her assignments include reading chapters from books, answering comprehension questions, and learning about literary devices all while playing games. This has been a fantastic confidence booster for my girl. Additionally, it's been great to have reading practice that my daughter gets excited about completing.
Why So Much Practice?
If you've been following our journey this year, you'll know that we have three tools targeting reading practice in our curriculum this year. While that might seem like a little bit of overkill, practice is the only way to become better at any skill.
- We're using Mindplay as our core phonics curriculum
- We're using Readers in Residence for reading comprehension and enjoying literature
- We're using Reading Eggs for fluency and additional practice
Variety also offers a great way to approach the same concept without burning out. Reading Eggs keeps learning fun and encourages kids to keep coming back for more. As students get questions right, they receive a "well done" celebration, and they earn eggs to spend in the store.
It's always great to hear well done when you know its right. I love watching my girl build confidence and feel proud of her accomplishments. Nothing like breaking out in a little victory dance after correctly identifying similes and metaphors.
Get 4 Weeks of Free Access
You never know how your children will respond to a particular program. You can try Reading Eggs with your family for 4 weeks for FREE! This link expires October 6th, so make sure you take advantage of it while you can.
The 4-week free trial gives access to all programs:
- Reading Eggs Junior (for toddlers 2-4)
- Reading Eggs
- Reading Eggspsress
- Mathseeds
I mentioned at the first that we loved this program so much that we upgraded our account for the year. It's only $59 for the year, and if you have multiple kids, additional kids get 50% off. That amounts to about $5 per month, which I think is a great value!
Make sure to get your four free weeks, and follow Reading Eggs on Facebook for more reading inspiration!
Betsy Strauss is an unexpected homeschooler, mother of three, who is in a relationship with a sweet man for life. She loves reading books, drinking coffee, and learning anything with her kids.