Essential Skills Advantage
is an online learning tool for kids grades K-6. They offer a wide variety of
teaching tools such as spelling rules, writing activities, reading
comprehension, word pronunciation, sight word activities, phonics programs and
reading skills. We were given a full year subscription to all
levels of the website to review with our family. The Premium Program we reviewed is $9.99/month. I used the program primarily
with Max, my 3 year old with whom I am doing preschool this year. My 6th
grader, Julia, did some of the spelling work available. She is an advanced 6th
who does mostly 7th and 8th grade work but spelling is
something she could use help with.
When I first took a look at the program to see if it was
something that would fit our family, I was surprised to see that what they are
calling kindergarten readiness work falls in line with what we either have
already done or will be doing with preschool this year. (Because Max is 3, we
will be doing two years of preschool… this year is more like tot school.)
The Complete Reading Grade K program is broken down into
four groups (we only worked with the first group, the others are too advanced for
him): Readiness Skills, Phonics, Sight Words and Stories.
The Kindergarten Reading Readiness tools fall into four
groups and are broken down from there:
Picture Vocabulary
Within this part are several smaller games that ask the
student to identify a spoken word, such as an animal, form of transportation,
clothing, action words and body parts. There are 18 games total in the Picture
Vocabulary section. Max was able to complete 11 of them without much assistance
from me. There were some, like word searches and memory games that are just too
advanced for him right now but would work just fine for an older 4 or 5 year old.
Visual Skills
There are 32 games in the Visual Skills section. There is a
wide variety of games in this section, like identifying items of the same
color, which one is not like the others, which letters are the same (for upper
and lower case) and much, much more. Max finished 6 of the games, mostly pertaining
to the alphabet and colors. There are more he could do but the attention span
of a 3 year old is, well, lacking.
Auditory Skills
15 games make up the Auditory Skills section. These all had
a lot to do with rhyming and sequencing, both of which are above his head right
now.
Basic Concepts
The 13 games in Basic Concepts are all about big and small,
tall and short and other opposites. There are 2 or 3 games here I know he is
capable of but we didn’t make it that far.
Overall, Max really liked being able to play on Mommy’s
computer (which normally I don’t allow). I introduced him to the mouse (he
loves the scrolling wheel) and after a few attempts with moms help, he picked
up how to use it and did fine on his own. He had a lot of fun with the
different kinds of games- the dancing dog at the end of some of the games was probably
his favorite part. This is something we will come back to again and again because
not only is it fun for him but it’s educational!!
Spell Master 6 is the program tool Julia worked with, specifically
the Spelling Rules section. She completed 23 of the 24 games. She enjoyed the
program but was a bit reluctant about doing it at first. Being a Charlotte
Mason-esque type homeschool, we don’t do a lot of spelling work. Her spelling
gets worked on when she gives written narrations, writes stories, does copywork
and of course through reading so much.
A special offer from Essential Skills Advantage!
Essential Skills Advantage has started offering a sponsored version of the program that is completely FREE. You can sign up for that at the ESA Learning website. Through the FREE version, you can enjoy all the programs ESA has to offer but there will be some sponsored advertising and some of the available features will be missing.
The Premium Plan we reviewed is $9.99/month and has all the available features. HOWEVER! From now until October 1st, ESA is offering a 50% discount on the monthly fee!! Use code TOS50 and the monthly fee will drop to $4.99/month per student for the life of your membership! How awesome is that?
My bottom line
Essential Skills Advantage is a fun program for reinforcing basic language arts skills for older kids and teaching school readiness for little ones. This would make a great summer program to keep the kids up on their skills and not allow the brain drain of summer to take full effect. Remedial work for struggling students could be another good fit. I look forward to continuing through the program with Max and seeing how he learns from it. I just love those "aha!" moments. :) Thank you Essential Skills Advantage for this opportunity!
Click the banner below to read more from the Review Crew about the different programs offered by Essential Skills Advantage!!
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