Reading Eggs Review

I've had the opportunity over the past few weeks to review readingeggs.com. It's been a very fun review to utilize, as my, now, 3 year old, Cookie Monster, absolutely loves the computer. If he could play on the computer whenever he could, he would. I don't allow him to use the computer, in fact, before this he had never used the computer, so I was very surprised when he picked up what he was supposed to do straight away.

Cookie Monster has been showing a-lot of interest in reading and writing lately, so I figured this review was right up his alley, and I was right. He knows all of his letters and their sounds, but he has no other experience trying to read. The few games for beginning sounds that I have tried he has not been interested in. He can't seem to distinguish the beginning sounds from the whole word, which is fine, since I don't plan to push him into anything he is not interested in.

My very first impression of Reading Eggs was "Wow, what a neat program". Cookie dove right in. In fact, he was late for lunch he was so enthralled. He didn't want to stop playing, I had to pull him away.

The first lesson for the preschool age starts off with the letter "m", which they call, phonetically, "mmm". A cute little ant brings the "M" out in a suitcase, and explains that it is an "mmm". Cookie already knew that "M" says "mmm" but he had no practice identifying it within words. First he had to click the "M" that randomly appeared around the screen. A cute mouse would pop up and stick his tongue out at you when you clicked on it. Cookie giggled, he loved the little mouse.

Next he had to find the "M" that was on a cupcake. There were 3 cupcakes, with 3 different letters. Cookie breezed right through it.

It was the next screen that caught him off guard. Two pictures popped up, asking to identify which one begins with the letter "M". Those were the only directions it gave. In my opinion I wish it would have directed him a bit, or clearly sounded out the word to identify the "mmm" sound, at least since he was a beginning reader, with no previous experience. He identified "Snake" and I talked to him about how "Snake" begins with "Sss" and "Mud" begins with "Mmm". He actually was able to identify a few with no help, but needed help from me for most of this screen.

After that it asked him to find the "mm" in the words. I was amazed that he found every single one, every single time. He did great at this.

The lessons continued on like this. By the third lesson they introduce sight words. This is a sight word based curriculum from what I could gather. I enjoyed it. After the 3rd lesson Cookie Monster could actually read a sentence to me. He ran around reading it to everyone.

The playroom was a ton of fun for him as well. They had all sorts of different, fun, not directive learning, activites in it. Cookie loved the "puzzle table" and the "sounds table".

Overall I greatly enjoyed using Readingeggs.com and plan to continue to use it. The animation was great, and captivating. The content was wonderful. It kept Cookie interested, and he was learning at the same time. It was easy for him to use as well. It will be a great supplement to our reading curriculum, and he enjoys it so much that I'm not sure I could stop using it!!!

I would have posted pictures, but it seems that Milk Monster has run off with the cord. Stinky 11 month old! :)


If you would like to try out Reading Eggs, hop on over and sign up for a free two week trial!

I am participating in a sponsored campaign hosted by The Homeschool Lounge Review Team. I received a 5 week membership to Reading Eggs to facilitate this review. All opinions stated are my own.

Time4Learning!

I'm so excited! I've been invited to try Time4Learning for one month in exchange for a candid  review. My opinion will be entirely my own, so be sure to come back and read  about my experience. Time4Learning can be used as a homeschool curriculum, for afterschool  enrichment and for summer  skill sharpening. Find out how to write your own curriculum  review for Time4Learning.

Preschool Curriculum

Cookie Monster and I are gearing up to start preschool. Now that we have our tax refund I am picking and choosing what I actually want to try with him. I'm stuck between Sonlight and Five in a Row, with a little bit of our own stuff, and some from 1+1+1=1. I know for certain we will be using 1+1+1=1, but I'm just not certain on which part of her curricula we want to use. Cookie Monster is very into writing now-a-days, and he has been trying to sound out words. I know for certain we are going to use All About Reading Pre-level 1.

I think for now we are going to just fudge along, find what works best for us. I may order a little of both Sonlight and FIAR, and see which one we like best. I love the reading base of these curriculum's. I'm not to overly worried about switching things up, since it's preschool. The kid loves "school" though, and since it will be more play then school I think we are fine for now.

*Deep breath* I'm jumping into homeschooling.

What curriculum did/do you like best for your preschoolers?

Five Minute Friday: Real

Real. My boys are screaming, and we are in meltdown mode. When I'm trying my hardest not to scream back.

My life is full of real moments, sometimes they seem surreal. I like to cherish the real moments, knowing that someday I will look back and laugh, missing my rambunctious two year old and his spunky attitude.

*time out*

Real, like the moment I just had, trying to sit down and focus on my five minutes of writing. Suddenly I hear a cry from the next room and my husband calls me. My real life, I can't even get five minutes to write. :)

Sometimes I wish I had five minutes to myself, and then I remember that sweet smile I get, and the hugs, and I realize that if I truly had five minutes all to myself, I may start to miss them. I take a lesson from my real life and learn, maybe I should keep my writing, even if it is just five minutes, until those boys are asleep in bed.



We are linking up over at Gypsy Mama.

Home

We did a big move a few months ago. We moved from the United States to Australia. It wasn't a planned move, in fact, it was quite by suprise.

My husband immigrated to the U.S. after we were married. In September of last year, after living in the U.S. together for 2 years, when we went to extend his visa the government told him he had 30 days to vacate. 30 days to get our whole life together, store it into a container and move to another country. 30 days to prepare my two little boys for a move that would change their whole lives. 30 days to change my perspective.

I was angry, I was upset, I was frustrated, mainly I was incredibly sad. I didn't know why God would do this to us. I didn't know how we could manage this move. I didn't know how I could leave my family. Somehow, with a day or two to spare we got it all done and were able to make the move. 26 hours of travel and we were in Australia, with my inlaws.

Now, it hasn't been all peach's and roses. It has been tough, it has been frustrating and hard. Moving in with "parents" when you've been living on your own for so long is extremely hard. We've butted heads, we've silently raged, but all in all we have a roof over our head. God is good. He never said he would provide us with the luxuries of life. I'm learning slowly, but surely, that God will provide exactly what we need, everything else is a bonus. Right now we don't have much bonus, we have exactly what we need.

I still wonder and question why God sent us back here, a place we said we never wanted to live again. I have no idea why we are here, but I do know that through this storm, God will provide.

I am beyond thankful that God has provided a roof over my boys head and just enough money each week for groceries to make into food to put into their bellies. It may not be the type of groceries I would buy myself, but for now, food is food.

We will get where we want to be someday. For now, for some reason we are where we need to be. For that I am grateful, despite the wonder, confusion and anger. I am grateful that God puts us where we need to be, and He provides us with what we need.

We are linking up for Gratituesday over at Heavenly Homemaker.

Five Minute Friday - Tender

Tender - When my littlest one falls asleep on me, like he used toeveryday when he was even smaller.

Tender - When my little milk monster, while learning to stand, falls over, and sits waiting for me, arms outstretched, till we can nestle in on the couch and nurse his ouchies away.

Tender - When my precious cookie monster falls and my husband runs faster then I do, just to pick him up and cuddle him till he feels better.

Tender - When at the end of the day we all just collapse together to snuggle and read stories, and the big boy gently rubs the little boys head and says "Kisses milk monster"

(Don't mind the mess please, it was baby led weaning dinner :D)

Tender - When my sweet almost 3 year old comes up to me and for the first time says "Mama, I love you"

Tender - When my boys remind me of the love Jesus must have for us, because my love for them is so big I don't know how it could be any bigger.

I see the tenderness in my husband eyes when he comforts our boys, and I see tenderness when my big boy so sweetly pats my little boys back with me.

Linking up over at Gypsy Mama
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I'm Back!

I know, I took a long break from the blog world. I am back though! We did a big move, as in, to a different continent, at the end of last year. We are finally mostly situated (with the inlaws for now) and I plan to start blogging again. We are gearing up to start preschool with Cookie Monster. He got a chalk board/art easel for Christmas and has been wanting to write ever since. I figured I would follow his lead and start up, which I had been planning to do anyways, since his birthday is very soon. I'm hestitant to get started teaching him, but very excited. Here's to jumping in head first!!!