Preparing for Kindergarten

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Thank you to Reading Eggs for sponsoring this post, a great website filled with learning fun and a great way to prepare for kindergarten.

A lot of what I write about is relevant to what is going on in my life. I usually don’t have to sit around dreaming up post ideas, they come in the form of everyday. This is definitely the case with today’s post. My little guy will be entering kindergarten this year. I’m pretty sure all I want to do with him in the meantime is cuddle on the couch watching Spiderman, but I know a lot needs to happen before the first day of Kindergarten.

We are very lucky to have our son in a great Preschool program. Throughout this year I have seen him learn so much, adjust to a schedule and grow socially.

I’m so thankful to have seen such wonderful changes in him as he grows, and I want to make sure I’m doing everything I can to reinforce that at home. One of the ways we are preparing for kindergarten in our house is with Reading Eggs.

When I first heard about Reading Eggs I was excited to give it a try. It’s a website for children 3-13 years old that uses games, songs, golden eggs, and other rewards to make learning to read fun and interesting.  I will admit at times I have had a hard time getting my son to sit still long enough to work on different learning exercises. I felt like trying something interactive like this might be a great way for my wiggle worm to learn.

We took advantage of the Reading Eggs FREE 4 week trial that they are offering right now. I felt like that would give me enough time to experiment with the program and see if it worked for our son.

My son has never really been allowed to play on the computer, so when I said we were going to play some games on mom’s laptop, he was instantly excited. It didn’t take him but a second to pick up on things before he was off having fun (learning.)

He can travel through the map completing reading lessons. He could always repeat lessons, but he couldn’t continue forward until a lesson was completed.

For my son, the lessons started out with a sounds. He learned how to recognize the sound and by the end of the lesson he was picking that letter out of words. As he progressed he went from a single letter to sound combinations like “am” and “at.”

He received golden eggs as a reward as he worked through the sections. As he completed sections I gave him the option to move forward or take a break and go to the playroom. I was surprised that a lot of times he wanted to do another lesson before going to the playroom. Once in there he could play other activities and games that are a little less structured but still learning fun.

I really tried not to hover over my son’s shoulder and let him do it on his own. I want to be close enough to cheer him on, but I don’t want to interfere with his learning by telling him the answer or giving “hints.”  I think that gave him such a feeling of accomplishment. It makes me feel good that he was not only learning, but it was boosting his confidence, which makes him want to learn more. Now each day one of the first things he asks me is when can he work on the computer game?”

I have definitely been happy with the Reading Eggs and with the FREE 4 week trial I definitely recommend trying it out. I’m sure you will love it, but that way you can see the benefits it has for your child before purchase anything. The free trial offer is only valid from December 26, 2014 – February 28, 2015, so don’t miss it!

 

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of the Reading Eggs. All opinions are my own.