Looking for resources for your kindergarten and pre-K home learners? There are so many web-based services to choose from. ABC Mouse is an educational web site with a vast scope, and we checked it out over this Thanksgiving weekend.
ABC Mouse has a huge number of activities. There are activities for toddlers to kindergarten children. Most activities are under five minutes long. There are reading and math activities and there are also areas that focus on science, social studies, and art. For under $8 a month, your child gets access to hundreds of web-based lessons, games, puzzles and printable worksheets. Up to three children can be on the same account.
I loved the fact that you could choose an avatar to match your child. This is something small, but it’s also a big deal for many children who don’t see themselves portrayed in the world of the web. You can choose everything from eye color, hair color to the clothes your child wears. You can also choose a teacher for your child’s classroom.
There are several virtual locations for learning, including a farm, a room, and a classroom. Each area is a little different. We spent most of our time in the classroom. You can click on different areas of the classroom to learn about different objects in the classroom. For example, if your child clicks on the clock, up pops a box with games to learn about telling time.
Any cons? Cost is one that comes up, considering that there are free reading, writing, and math games online. In this case, I think that the volume of activities on ABC Mouse is certainly worth the cost, and it’s nice to have an online headquarters for learning. The graphics are a little small and take a while for my old computer to load. While the lessons are interesting, we found the games and puzzles more exciting.
As with most online games, ABC Mouse is best played with an adult present. There are many different activities your child can do, and the choice is a little overwhelming without an adult there to guide the child to the activities that most interest her. You can also check in to see how your child is progressing through their level of learning, and you can also see which games they have completed.
How would we use ABC Mouse? While it is a useful teaching tool, I found ABC Mouse most useful in gauging my daughter’s level of understanding of specific reading and math concepts.
What are your favorite educational websites for your preschooler?