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The reading curriculum for working parents
Like many other parents, my brother and his wife suddenly found himself with his kids at home and learning online. It was a disaster for them. The district kept changing what was going on, their kids were not learning, and meanwhile both parents were trying to work from home. It was a disaster. This summer, he contacted me and said, “Ticia, you’ve been homeschooling for a long time, we’re thinking about homeschooling this year, what curriculum would you recommend?” I thought about their requirements, they needed minimal parent interaction, it needed to be interactive for young kids, and preferably online, and I said, “I’ve heard of this new HOMER reading app that should be perfect for you.” Try it out and tell me what you think of that curriculum? And that is how my brother started using HOMER reading with my niece and nephew.
Now, let me tell you what they thought.
(this post is sponsored by HOMER, they’ve got an awesome online reading curriculum for your kids)
Here’s what I know about HOMER REading
This was designed knowing parents are busy right now. Not everyone homeschooling was planning on homeschooling, and they need a reading curriculum that will engage their kids.
It’s a personalized phonics program. It proceeds at your child’s pace AND their interests.
You can try HOMER for free for 30 days. If it’s not for you and your kids, cancel it. They’ve also got a back to school offer, you can get it for $45 a year.
Now, I hand this post over to my sister-in-law and her kids, who’ve been using the program for their reading curriculum for the year.
My sister-in-law’s thoughts: educational and fun
We’re excited to use HOMER Reading and see how it goes. I like that it’s something they will be able to interact with — a huge step up from virtual learning last year.
I’m thinking that the drawing prompts, while I know that the kids will enjoy drawing digitally, could easily be turned into on paper drawings/prompts as well.
I could tell the difference between levels, but it was still something everyone seemed interested in (The Baby in particular, haha).
The 3rd grader’s thoughts
Side note from me, how did my nephew get so old???????? I was going to edit out the kids’ names, but then realized my brother shares their names on his YouTube channel and on his second vlog channel, so it would be kind of silly to do so. Also, I kept missing times where their name was mentioned.
I think it’s good. I like how the two other levels are really short; I thought it was funny how we were confused at the second part.
“When you told me about it, I wasn’t very interested, but when I played it, I was very interested.”
Mom’s Opinion:
The website definitely held the attention of all three kids. They were all swarming around us as I tried to walk Liam through the level. Not realizing what it wanted, I had disabled the microphone, so we didn’t participate in that part, but were able to continue on anyway.
The people sounding out the vowel sounds made us all laugh. (Liam said they were hilarious)
The first part of Liam’s first lesson had him selecting upper case and lower case letters. My main issue with that was that it asked the exact same thing each time, and didn’t say the word of the animal on the screen (i.e. it had two iguanas, one next to the upper case I, one next to the lower case, but it never said “iguana,” or sounded out the word…just would have been a nice addition — for that one in particular, Liam said, “Mom? What are those?” So, it would be nice to have it be clear which animal or item we were looking at by having it say the word). That being said, because it was so easy to understand and simple, Liam was very capable of going through it by himself.
Additionally, there were some features at the end of the level that were optional, but confusing (an art feature where he could draw something from a story he liked, as well as a microphone that enabled him to talk? to the monkey character). We were not entirely sure what those were for, and there was no option to go back.
Overall, the program is inviting, entertaining, and he enjoyed it, so thus far it’s a thumbs up for me. We’ll see how it goes as we continue through the lessons. I’m particularly curious about how our answers to determine his lesson path will dictate his lessons vs. Chloe’s.
The first grader’s thoughts
I liked it. I liked that I got to draw, and the people saying the sounds were funny and made silly faces.
Mom’s Opinion:
I could tell the difference between levels, but it was still something everyone seemed interested in (Charis in particular, haha).
So, there you have it, this is working for my brother and sister-in-law as they’re homeschooling and working from home. This is a nice online reading curriculum for working parents.
I just realized, I think the shirt Chloe is wearing, is a hand-me-down from Princess. As we cleaned out the kids’ room this past weekend, I found the American Girl doll version of that outfit.
More 1st and 3rd grade fun
It’s been awhile since my kids were this little, but we had a lot of fun back then. I don’t even know if they had cool online reading curriculum when my kids were little.
- Test Tube Science
- Paddington book and movie (ironically we watched this with the cousins)
- Sumeria Unit Study
- Colonial Games to play
- Liberty Bell craft
Comments
One response to “The reading curriculum for working parents”
No thoughts on the app, of course, but I SO get the problem your brother and his wife are having right now. Remote learning for elementary school is a joke. I am SO upset with our local school district for wanting to stay remote for longer. These kids NEED real interaction. We are lucky to be out of that age for sure!
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