A couple of years ago, I was looking to for a change in our homeschool. While I was searching, I stumbled across a reading program called Reading Eggs. I was intrigued. I decided to try their two-week FREE trial and was hooked.
The best part-my kids love Reading Eggs, too!
What is Reading Eggs?
Reading Eggs is the name of an online reading program. It is designed for children 2-13 years of age. The program progresses from pre-reading
Reading Eggspress
We use the last level in the program: Reading Eggspress. I will focus on this aspect of the program. I have checked out the other levels and was quite impressed. We have not used them in our homeschool so I will not do an in-depth review of them.
Who is Reading Eggspress For?
Reading Eggspress is designed for children 7-13 years old. At this point in the program, kids are focusing on building reading comprehension. Comprehension is worked on in the previous level along with spelling and vocabulary.
Getting Started
To begin, you can have your child take the placement test. The test gives you an idea for the best starting point in the program. As the parent, you can decide where you want to start your child and place them at that level.
Next, your child creates an avatar. As they complete quizzes throughout the program, they collect eggs. The eggs can be used to buy things for their avatar. The eggs are used for other things as well. I’ll talk about that shortly.
How is Reading Eggspress Set Up
Lessons:
Lessons are arranged in maps. Maps have certain things in common
- Each map contains FIVE lessons that are in a particular Lexile Reading level. (Lexile Reading Levels are away to help you monitor progress. Certain grade levels fall within a certain Lexile range.)
- Each map focuses on literature or nonfiction text.
Literature lessons have books on various genres while nonfiction lesson
The best part is that each lesson focuses on a comprehension strategy. It may be sequencing events, point of view, or making inferences. They cover a broad range of comprehension strategies multiple times so students can learn it.
Pre-Reading Work:
Before a child even reads a story, they complete a series of pre-reading activities. They build dictionary skills, word work, making predictions based on pictures, and many more. It works on the skills they will use while reading.
Quizzes:
After each story, students take a quiz. The quiz asks comprehension questions that not only tests their recall skills but their ability to use various comprehension strategies.
If students score too low, they need to redo the quiz. They won’t move up until they are ready. Students are awarded “eggs” for completing a quiz. I will explain this in a minute.
You can buy workbooks or print off extra practice sheets if your child needs more work. I go to “Bonus Material” on the Family Dashboard and print off extra practice under Activity Sheets.
At the end of each map, students take a quiz. This quiz covers all the material in that map. The reward for doing well on the quiz is eggs AND trading cards.
Trading cards are pictures of different characters or creatures on a variety of topics. My kids love trying to complete a set.
Other Parts of Reading Eggspress:
English Skills:
In the English Skills section, kids practice spelling. They watch a video on a spelling skill, answer 20 questions to practice what they learned, and a quiz.
If they do well on the quiz, they are awarded “eggs” to use later on.
Stadium:
In the Stadium, kids can work on spelling, grammar, vocabulary, and usage. The kids can practice the skills OR play games against other kids around the world. Kids are awarded a certain number of “eggs” depending on how they placed in the game.
Library:
If you ask my kids, they will tell you the library is the best part. The library contains over 2000 BOOKS! Kids have a huge selection of books that span all reading levels. Not to mention, there are so many topics and genres covered that kids can easily find something to read.
Kids are motivated to select books from the library because they can earn eggs to spend later on.
Targets
The Target section is a goals page. To encourage kids to read, they have different levels of goals for kids to accomplish. For example, one of the early goals is to rate a book while one of the later targets is to read 100 books in the library.
SO WHAT ARE ALL THESE EGGS FOR?!
The eggs kids earn are to buy things in the mall. In Reading Eggspress, kids have an apartment. They use their eggs to buy pets, furniture, rugs, and even a scene to look at from their balcony!
The eggs can also be used to buy things to change their avatar. They can buy accessories, different hair color, and clothes. Kids will love personalizing their avatar.
Another benefit to collecting a lot of eggs is kids can use them to play games in the Arcade. These are fun games but kids can’t spend a lot of time here unless they are willing to pay. Honestly, my kids prefer buying trading cards and accessories for their apartments.
Student Progress
The great thing about reading eggs is parents can easily keep track of their child’s progress. On the Family Dashboard page, you click on your child’s avatar and their latest information is displayed. You can see:
- their reading level
- how much they have progressed
- how they are scoring for fiction and nonfiction books
- how well they score on different Stadium skills
If you want to see what books your child has read and how they scored on the quizzes, check out the My Progress section on your child’s page.
I LOVE IT!
Every time my kids complete a map, I receive an email. I know the map my child completed and their quiz score.
It is great being able to keep on top of their progress.
The Benefits of Reading Eggspress
Reading Eggspress makes reading FUN! Kids are motivated to read and challenge themselves.
- Longer books = More Eggs. If they are looking to buy something for their avatar or add another pet, they will choose to read more books and harder books.
- More Eggs = More Rewards. The more time spent reading means more eggs. If a child earns 1000 eggs in one week, they get a bronze medal. Read more, and they are rewarded with a Silver Medallion and then a Gold Trophy.
Kids will love reading time with Reading Eggspress. Set them up on a computer, or use the app, and watch their reading grow. Reading Eggspress is the perfect addition to your homeschool curriculum.
Have you tried Reading Eggs or Reading Eggspress?
Happy Homeschooling!
I’m lovin’ it! I actually just read like three of your posts today. So that means you better keep writing more, because I am going through these like they’re going out of style.
Hi, the Reading Eggspress Makes Reading Fun article it is well written, it’s very informative.
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