My third grader is what anyone would call a "bookworm." My first grader, on the other hand, claims to be allergic to reading. Despite the fact that we read together every evening, she has little to no interest in actually reading to herself. She's just not that into it.
Needless to say, I've been brainstorming ways to encourage her to love reading. From books about fairies to notes from "fairies" to reading games... we're all about getting creative to engage her. But guess what? There's an app for that. As much as I enjoy reading with her every night, I love seeing develop her reading skills on her own with the Learn with Homer app.
About Learn with Homer
Learn with Homer is a groundbreaking early learning program developed by top literacy experts and proven to produce results. The program is currently available on both the web and iPad and targeted for children ages 3-7. Created by education reformer Stephanie Dua, Learn with Homer is based on the best teaching practices and uses the latest science on how children learn to read and build knowledge.
We really appreciate the six Learn with Homer standards which guide their mission.
- Joyful Learning - designed to encourage a child's natural sense of wonder and curiosity.
- Smart Design - beautiful and intuitive visual experiences that spark the imagination and make learning magical.
- Child-Centered - experiences that engage children any time, anywhere.
- Sweet Spot - where adult approval meets kids' delight.
- Connectedness - learning experiences that bring together families, schools and communities.
- Big Challenges - the bigger the better.
Playing and Learning
The first thing we noticed about Learn with Homer is that it is a HUGE curriculum. There is a huge variety of content; in fact there are more than 1,000 lessons and activities including stories, games, history, science, art and music. Even with the big selection, every activity has a specific purpose to teach and reinforce lessons.
The games are simple and well-though out. Unlike many apps and teaching websites, Learn with Homer doesn't assume your child knows how to read. Rather, Learn with Homer actually teaches how to read focusing on letter sounds and science about how children actually learn.
When a child signs on to play, they find the main menu to pick between StoryTime, Songs & Rhymes, Learn to Read, Discover the World and Brain Games.
One of my favorite activities is Discover the World. It goes beyond basics of a-b-c's to incorporate some interesting lessons beyond the basics of reading.
My daughter really likes the Brain Games. The screenshot below was a "What Comes First?" game that focuses on reasoning more than phonics.
As a reward for completing some reading challenges, my daughter loves to color and draw pictures. Learn with Homer even has drawing prompts so here she took a shot at drawing a peacock. The drawing is saved to her profile and I can see it on the Parents' side, too.
You can set up multiple children profiles on one account and Learn with Homer will track each child's development and adjust the learning level to meet it. We created a profile for my 8 year old to mess around a little on Learn with Homer and it quickly changed his "level" to much higher than my daughter's. Parents can also track their children’s progress - actually listen to an audio recording of their child’s voice reading a book - and look at a collection of their drawings.
Originally launched in 2013, Learn with Homer has engaged more than 1.5 million children worldwide to date. We're excited to share that this fall, Learn with Homer is undergoing a complete reboot to help families and kids more easily navigate the vast amount of learning material. We were given a sneak peek of the new navigation and introduction of a new interactive theme world, and it looks amazing! For the latest news and updates from Learn with Homer, make sure to follow on social media. Find Learn with Homer on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube.
Get! Learn with Homer is available for free 30-day trial from learnwithhomer.com or on the App Store on iPad. Get unlimited access to the enormous Learn with Homer curriculum for $7.95 per month or $79.95 for a full year’s membership. We are really excited to offer readers an exclusive 50% off one year membership of Learn with Homer if you click this link.
This post is part of a sponsored campaign. I received compensation for my participation, but my review and opinions are my own.