I have mentioned previously that the Little Ones love reading and telling stories and that Little 1, who is 4 and doesn't start school until September, has currently developed a massive interest in letters, learning to write and early reading. When the lovely people behind the Reading Eggs programme offered us the chance to write a review on Reading Eggs we obviously jumped at the chance and I have to say that from what we have seen so far we think it is brilliant.
Reading Eggs is an online programe developed by educationalists focusing on the core reading curriculum to teach children phonics, sight words and skills and strategies essential for reading success. The Reading Eggs programme is aimed at 3-7 year olds and includes 100's of spelling and literacy lessons, comprehension and grammar lessons and so much more.

There is also a further programme,
Reading Eggspress for 7-13 year olds taking the lessons further and encouraging children to earn rewards and further their skills as well as 1000's of e-books and a lot more.

The company also have another programme
Mathseeds for children aged 3-6, using the same techniques to teach number skills.
We headed over to www.readingeggs.co.uk and signed up which couldn't have been simpler, you just register your child and an email address. The site offers you a free 2 week trial without asking you for any card details which I think is great (read on for an extended trial offer), subscription for 6 months costs £29.95 and a year costs just £39.95, siblings are offered a 50% rate and I think it is well worth it.
There is the chance to take a reading test at the start to see where it would be appropriate for your child to start but we started right at the beginning for Little 1.
The site immediately struck me as bright, friendly and cheerful and grabbed Little 1's attention straight away, she couldn't wait to get stuck in. The idea is your child works their way along a map completing lessons introducing phonics, word blending and simple words initially, unlocking characters and earning golden eggs to spend in the fun section creating your own avatars among other things.
Subsequent lessons build on and reiterate previous lessons and you can't jump ahead so your child doesn't get overwhelmed or confused. As you work your way through, new maps and areas are unlocked and provide further opportunities for fun and games not just learning letters and words.
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Sam the Ant |
Lessons are catchy, entertaining and fun. Lead by Sam the ant your child is asked to do several things relating to the phonic or word sound they are learning such as finding the correct sound, which word starts with that sound, drawing the letter, making a word book or hoping frogs onto the correct lettered leaf. Lessons are varied with different games and graphics used so that they don't become boring. Each lesson takes us around 20 minutes to complete.

As well as the lessons there is loads more to do on this site, the playroom is Little 1's favourite place to go after a lesson or two, here there are simple games like puzzles, drawing, making ice cream, dressing characters, far to many to mention but each as captivating as the next, I literally have to drag her off the computer to get her to stop. There is a library of e-books and nursery rhymes to explore and the further you get through the lessons more is unlocked, we haven't had the time to thoroughly explore more than a few yet but we certainly will.
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The Playroom |
Little 1 has been using the Reading Eggs programme for 2 weeks now and can't get enough of it, she asks daily if she can go on my computer to play the letters thingy (!). We will do a lesson or two together and then she'll have fun in the playroom for a while until I say she has had enough, which is usually met with a big fat 'NO'.
Before Reading Eggs Little 1 knew most of the letters of the alphabet and their phonics as well as recognising a few familiar words from me teaching her at home and a bit through pre-school. Now in this short time she can read a few simple sentences and read a host of 3 letter words as well as developing the skill to attempt to sound out words. She has also developed computer skills like using the mouse through the use of this programme as she did not use the computer before.
I have to say we are big fans of the Reading Eggs programme and will definitely be signing up to continue with the programme, as long as Little 1 remains interested and willing, once our free trial has ended.
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Reggie and some of the Reading Eggs characters |
The kind people at Reading Eggs have given me a code to let all you lovely readers experience an extended free trial like I did. This code UKB26RET will give you 4 weeks free trial instead of the usual 2 week that all new registrations receive. Just pop it in the promo code box once you have registered and your trial will be extended.
Reading Eggs have also recently launched The Eggsperts – their fun new series of interactive appisodes for the iPad! Suitable
for ages 3-7, The Eggsperts appisodes combine the
best elements of high quality TV style animation with the interactive features
of the iPad that children love. The appisodes are a wonderful new way to
inspire young children to watch, interact and play while learning essential
phonemic awareness skills. Each appisode features:
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A stunning full length 3D animated episode of The
Eggsperts.
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3 fun interactive educational games that build knowledge of letters and
sounds.
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A karaoke sing-along to an animated The Eggsperts song.
N.B I was offered an extended free trial of the Reading Eggs programme and asked to write a review if I wanted to, I was under no obligation to do so. All views and opinions are my own honest thoughts.
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