Sunday, March 4, 2012

TOS Review: K5 Learning


Over the last few weeks, we have had the opportunity to try out another web-site for kids, K5 Learning.

K5 Learning is an educational website that offers online reading and math lessons for kids in grades Kindergarten through 5th grade.



So what is K5 Learning? (Taken from the K5 Learning site)

"K5 Learning was founded by parents who wanted better learning tools available to their kids for home use.  The best software was marketed to schools, not parents."

"There are many low cost CD ROMS and game based websites which entertain but have limited educational value and do little to develop study skills...We designed K5 to be a practical solution for busy families who take education seriously."

K5 Learning offers lessons in math, reading and spelling.  After taking an assessment test, the lessons your child takes will be tailored to their learning level.  


In addition to the lessons students can take timed tests to quiz themselves on their math facts, or online spelling and vocabulary quizes.  


Parents have the opportunity to view detailed progress reports and learning level reports on their child.  They can even assign certain lessons!  

So what did we think?

K5 Learning is a really in depth program and offers a ton of things that other sites don't.  I was really impressed with all the features provided.  Plus, K5 was designed as an AFTER SCHOOL program, not a curriculum.  So, this one is not just for my homeschool readers.  Any students can really benefit from the K5 program.

Mustang, however, did not like it.  I had a hard time convincing her to do more lessons to see if she would eventually like it (which she didn't).  I watched her work on the lessons a few times to try and get a better understanding as to why, but I can't say that just because she didn't like it that your child won't.  I think it may have been a little 'too school-like' for her.  But, that is the point of it, so I don't really know.

I myself was pleased to see the results of the few lessons and assessments she did try.  They were at her level, or even below her, and she scored a bit higher on reading then I thought she would.

I would probably say that her biggest issue, when watching her, was that sometimes the lessons were challenging her to learn and she equates her computer time with fun.  I remember as a kid, however, finding it fun to see how many math facts I could answer, etc.  It made me feel smart, which made me feel happy.  If your child is that type of child, they will probably love K5 Learning :).

K5 Learning offers a 14 day free trial which I HIGHLY recommend trying out.  Like I mentioned above, the program itself is really great and has lots to offer.  If your child likes it, too, it will be a win-win in my book.

K5 Learning costs as little as just over 16.00/month (with a year paid subscription) and offers discounts for additional children.  

If you would like to see what other families thought of K5 Learning, check out the TOS Review Crew Blog.

Happy Learning and God Bless!!

This is a review for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Review Crew.  Thank you to K5 Learning for providing my family with a free trial for the purpose of review.  All opinions expressed are my own.




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