Eggs Your Way - A Great Approach for Reading - A New TOS Review!!

Do you have a new or struggling reader?  Then you will want to check out Reading Eggs, the newest product our family was graciously allowed to review.

The Product:
Reading Eggs is an online program designed for ages 3-7 as an introduction to reading through the use of fun games, cute stories, and fun creatures and characters throughout.  The Reading Eggs program starts from alphabet recognition and uses phonics in a unique way to get your little learner to reading their own little interactive stories all the while, the child thinks they are playing a "game."  In each level there are 12 sections your child will have to master in order to proceed.  Each section is either a game or puzzle designed around that level's "theme".

There is also an older version called Reading Eggspress, designed for older children (ages 7-13) which helps with fluency and comprehension during reading.  This is a separate section of Reading Eggs and has a completely different setup then it's younger version.

Each child can progress through Reading Eggs or Reading Eggspress at their own rate through the use of these one-on-one lessons. Every lesson includes a new book and an interesting new critter at the end as part of their reward for finishing the lesson.  And the way that these lessons are designed your child will be asking to come back to Reading Eggs again and again.

There are a variety of pricing options as well as a two week FREE trial:

• Monthly $9.95
• 6 months $49.95
• 12 months $75.00

And with the 6 or 12 month options you can add a second or third child at a reduced rate of 50% off.

Our Experience:
I initially signed up just Audrie for this program because she has been my late bloomer when it comes to reading.  She was VERY excited to have a program on the computer that was totally her own.  I was skeptical at first because I knew she wasn't very fluent at reading yet and she also doesn't use the computer as much as Arianna so I wasn't sure how that would play out in her lessons.

At first their was a placement test that she took to "place" her at the correct level. I thought for SURE that she  would be placed at the very beginning.  To my surprise she was placed in Map 6 (which I believe is level 6).  Each map has 10 parts.  Each lesson has 12 sections and the 12th section is always a little book which is based on the words and sounds they had just learned in that lesson.

Then once inside the lesson they have a slew of different puzzles, games, and activities that reinforce the letter sounds.  Here's a few pictures of Audrie while she's working on a lesson.

At the end of each map there is a certificate that can be printed out and displayed.  I also receive email at the end of the 10 lessons in a map letting me know what Audrie has accomplished in the lesson. There is also a quiz at the end called the Mastery Quiz which goes over all the lessons and asks questions to make sure there has been retention.  If the child passes that they can go onto the next map.  If not, the email will let you know that they didn't pass it and would be better off going through the same map again.  That happened to Audrie and I noticed that although the program suggested she start the Map over and go through the lessons again the arrow pointing to the next "lesson" is telling her to go to the next Map each time she logs in.

Here is a mini-interview I did with Audrie about her new reading program:

Me - What is your favorite part about Reading Eggs?
Audrie - It has games in it and that a lot of different activities. And it has lots of colorful shells in it.  I like the animal critters that you get at the end of the lessons.
Me - Which is your favorite game during the lesson?
Audrie - I like the goose game because you have to match the words. If you are wrong you lose a goose and if you don't get done in time you lose.
Me - Do you lose a lot?
Audrie - Yeah.
Me - What sound are you learning today?
Audrie - "be"
Me - Do you think Seanan would like it and be able to do it?
Audrie - Yes.  It has the alphabet at the beginning so he could start there and not have to be where I am already.

My Thoughts:

I think this has been a GREAT program for Audrie.  We did do a minimum exploration of the older version for Arianna, and she likes it, but it seems it is just reading  books (about 600 fiction and non-fiction books a lot) and working on comprehension, which for Arianna isn't a necessary.  She does that very well.

Audrie has asked to do Reading Eggs every day and some days she asks to do at least one other lesson.  If I let her she probably would stick to it for hours on end, but we do need to accomplish other school in a day too. ;)  I am so happy that she has enjoyed this program and I hope we will be able to keep our subscription, but for right now we'll just finish out our 3 month trial that the company graciously granted us.

Be sure to see how what other Crew member families thought about Reading Eggs. for any questions regarding technical issues or general queries you can reach them by phone at 877-394-6695 (for teachers) or 877-661-4898 (for parents).  You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter.