Would you like to have some learning activities that your children can do independently, make progress in mathematic and reading skills and not just play games? We were granted access to a trial of the new K5 Learning site and it meets all of those requirements. K5 Learning is an educational website made for children working anywhere from a kindergarten through 5th grade level. There are plans to extend some of the lessons to accommodate children in this age range working at an advanced level.
After completing assessments in reading and mathematics, the program determines the level your child needs for the lessons. If you would like to make your own assignments, that is possible through the parent’s account. The lessons are animated and interactive. My children enjoyed their time working through them. And I didn’t worry about the time they spent (other than making sure everyone had their share–one computer); there are not games and time wasters/rewards. The lessons themselves are engaging enough that my children enjoyed their time working through them.
After completing the online assessments, my daughter was placed at a math level lower than what I knew she was working at. This daughter likes a bit of a challenge, so staying at this easier level was “boring” for her. I am sure I could adjust this, but I did not spend a lot of time poking around in the parent’s section. If we were continuing this beyond the short review period, I would have invested more time in learning all in the parent features.
She spent more time working in the math facts area. We don’t drill much, so this was good practice for her. I could adjust the time so it was not too challenging while she was learning the system, which numbers she wanted to use (number pad, etc.), etc. but can easily decrease the time per question to match her improvements. She worked on addition and subtraction, but also had available the multiplication and division as well. The matrix/chart shown above is just like the one we could look at to see how she was doing with each set of facts. I like this easy to decipher chart to determine at a glance how she is doing.
We spent some time in the reading area, but my girls don’t seem to like reading like this from the computer screen. There were also lessons for vocabulary and spelling. The lessons covered through K5 Learning are great to supplement any curriculum. It is easy enough for your children to do this on their own. I could envision using this during a short-term disruption to our regular learning. I would know the basics are being covered. I could adjust any levels if needed and as necessary, but would not need to set things up as the program does well keeping the child progressing as they learn.
You can try your own free trial to K5 Learning and see how this fits with your family. To continue on, subscriptions start at $25/monthly ($15 each additional learner) or $199 annually ($129 additional children).
Be sure to read the reviews from other TOS Homeschool Crew families. They can be found through the Crew blog.
