One of my biggest fears when taking on homeschooling my children was teaching them to read. Honeybun came out of kindergarten reading and seemed to be a natural at it and has blossomed as a reader and now tells us regularly that reading is her favorite thing. And now with three others coming up, I hope to instill the same love of reading and success that Honeybun has acquired.
But taking under teaching a child to read when my professional experience stops at letter recognition is quite a daunting task. And with a reluctant learner like Sugarplum who would rather be flitting around the yard or doing flips on the couch, I’ve found myself even more overwhelmed. We’ve tried a lot of things including various work books, studying sight words, reading books together and we just started the Sequential Spelling program that Honeybun has been very successful with but all of it has been completed begrudgingly usually with a lot of arguing and threatening from me to complete the tasks.
So, needless to say, when I was offered the opportunity to try Learn with Homer, an online program specifically for reading, I was intrigued. My girls often fight over taking turns using my iPad for math games so I figured a reading program on the computer/iPad would be just as exciting to my reluctant learner.
I easily set up the account for the entire family, including Doodle, and as soon as I sat Sugarplum down with the program for the first time, she was off and running. First she had to select her avatar and a thinking cap which was a bit of a long process for my computer-mouse challenged kindergartener but eventually she got the hang of it and we jumped right into the first lesson.
I decided to have her start at the beginning which started as many reading programs do, with the short /a/ sound. The first lesson discussed the sound short /a/ makes and had her complete a few tasks which included letter recognition, repeating the sound, and selecting words with the sound. She breezed right through the lesson as she’s already reading somewhat independently but still enjoyed the lessons and it was a good way to get her comfortable with the program. (There is an option to turn off the “learning path” which allows children to skip around the lessons and not be forced to do them in order which I may explore for Honeybun who is already reading above grade level).
After each lesson is the option to continue or draw a picture. The program prompted Sugarplum to draw a picture related to the lesson but she struggled with controlling the mouse and staying on the canvas area. It’s something I’m sure she’ll get better at with practice or may do better with on the iPad.
The program also includes many poems and stories which follow the lessons or can be accessed through the “Storytime” area of Pickle Wickle Park (the program homepage). Each lesson in a level builds upon itself and reviews previous lessons and includes phonics, letter recognition as well as relating sight words and is designed for children to be able to use the program without adult help but the program also allows parents to monitor and track their child’s progress in the program through an easy to navigate dashboard.
Overall, we are really enjoying the program so far. Sugarplum giggles her way through the lessons and the program also includes non-fiction information in history and science and songs in the same read-aloud format of the poems and stories.
I’ve tried a few other electronic reading programs with the girls and truthfully, I didn’t return to any of them but I think we’ll stick with Learn with Homer as Sugarplum really enjoys it and I like the way it starts from the beginning, builds upon itself, covers all the different aspects of learning to be proficient reader and also offers opportunities to play and be creative.
So with so many other reading programs available, what makes Learn with Homer different? Learn with Homer was created by education reformer Stephanie Dua, based on the best teaching practices and uses the latest science on how children learn to read and build knowledge. The program that are known to predict later academic success for children and it is the only program available to families proven effective by gold-standard research.
Many other online reading programs assume a child has already been taught the basics of reading and really just drill skills but Learn with Homer includes more than 1,000 lessons and activities and each part of the program has a specific purpose and activities reinforce the lessons with real world context.
And Learn with Homer has stood the test of time. Originally launched in 2013, the program has engaged more than 1.5 million children worldwide to date and this fall, it is undergoing a complete reboot with entirely new navigation and introduction of a new interactive themed world.
Learn with Homer is available for free 30-day trial from learnwithhomer.com or on the App Store on iPad. Unlimited access to the entire curriculum is available for $7.95 per month or $79.95 for a full year’s membership but Beyond Mommying readers can save 50% off the yearly membership here.
You can also visit Learn with Homer on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube.
I received compensation and free access to Learn with Homer to use with my children in exchange for sharing my honest opinions about their program; however the ideas, statements and opinions included are all mine.
