Phonics: Online phonics learning with ABC Reading Eggs

Met up with a friend recently whom reminded me of the importance of phonics. As this would allow the kids to self help on reading and understanding instructions in their future studies. This worried me for awhile, as I realised my pair of twins , Ethan and Noelle, are still not versed in phonics, and they are coming 4.5 years old! Indeed it's time I refocus my attention on the two.

Today I dug out my old materials from my bookmarks, setup the notebook, plug on to the TV and had a great online phonics sessions with the family.

I did some research on the web, and came across a great web that teaches phonics very interactively. Enclosed the URL: http://readingeggs.com.au/ ( For direct link, please click here) There is a brief video introduction at the home page that breifly explains the programs they have to offer, and there is a free trial for 14 days. I am currently signed up for the 14 days free trial and just started exploring the site, learning together with the kids.

The program started with a test assessment with your kid, then offers you a progress map that is best suited for your child. This map will then guide you through the teaching materials and tracks the progress of the kid accordingly.

The tools are very interactive, simple and colorful. There are many repetitions to the alphabet which is the topic of the module, thus helping the child to create a deep impression of the phonic.

Towards the end of the lesson, there are word games which reinforces and guides the child were to identify the alphabet and phonic from different words.

There is also a module which guides the child the strokes that forms the words, following a number pattern for each of the alphabet. For this exercise, I equip each of the kid with a small white board and a marker,  and following the numbering guides together and write out the alphabet. With a few reptitions, the kid will be able to write the word confidently.

There are also worksheets that we can download and print out for the kids to practise further offline.

I have explored the web a little more and found an online library for kids from 5yrs and above, you can select fictional or non fictional online books to read from. They even have a comprehension gym and much more for older egg readers.

We had lots of fun doing the programs together, and will review towards the end of the trial period whether to pay for the service and continue with the program.

Do drop by for a trial if you have the time, and hope you enjoy the program as much as we did.

Happy learning!