Whether you are homeschooling your child or simply looking for a fun and entertaining way to supplement their preschool education, ABCmouse.com is definitely a great place to start. With over 850 lessons and 9,000 learning activities at your fingertips, ABCmouse is one of the most comprehensive early learning programs online.
Designed for kids 2-8 years of age, your child’s educational journey at ABCmouse.com begins with an interactive online classroom. From there, kids can read books, play games, listen to music, paint pictures, watch educational videos, and so much more. The learning path guides your child from one activity to the next, focusing on essential subjects like Math, Science, Reading, and Arts & Colors.
Pros:
- Award-winning curriculum with step-by-step learning path
- Provides one-month trial for free
- Created by a team of educators and experts
- Visually appealing lessons, fun and absorbing games
- Parents can actively participate in activities and even create lessons
- Accessible on computers, tablets, and smartphones
Cons:
- Subscription-based. Users are billed monthly or yearly (depending on what option you prefer) to continue using the service
- Despite the simple interface, there seems to be a lot in one page which can be overwhelming
- Lacks detailed customer service
Early Learning Features & How they Work
ABCmouse.com uses a step-by-step learning path that unlocks or leads to another activity or lesson. There are 10 levels throughout the entire curriculum, each one has its own set of lessons, games and activities. As your child completes each lesson, he/she is guided to the next one.
The ABCmouse curriculum covers four major subjects: Math, Science, Reading, and Arts & Colors.
Math
This lesson covers numbers, basic addition and subtraction, shapes, and more to begin with. In the higher levels, your child gets to learn the base ten system, place value, 2D and 3D shapes, length, time, and money measurement.
Science & Social Studies
This lesson is designed to help children understand the world they live in while inspiring their curiosity. The curriculum includes the human body and health, plants and animals, matter and its properties, the solar system, earth and the environment, as well as weather, climate and seasons. It also covers Regions of the United States and maps.
Reading & Language
Reading and comprehension is an important skill that children needs to learn as they enter preschool. ABCmouse.com curriculum language spans the entire range of early reading, beginning from learning the names of each letter in the Alphabet to their sounds, and up until they can read a book themselves. The step-by-step learning path will guide your child from learning how to read a few words and gradually advancing to paragraphs. Under this curriculum, your child also learns about basic grammar and language skills, such as sentence structure, proper use of punctuation, parts of speech, and writing genres.
Arts & Colors
ABCmouse.com features many different types of art activities, ranging from coloring pages to paint-by-numbers, traceable, connect-the-dots, and more. You can also access over 2,000 printable activities printable copies for a hands-on experience. This way, kids are encouraged to continue learning even if they are offline.
Usability
One of the key determining factors for the success of a web-based learning program is how easy to use it. One of the best things about ABCmouse.com is that as a parent, you have the option to make them explore the site on their own or with your guidance. It comes with a simple navigation and audio explanations that makes it suitable for even very young users to explore with very minimal supervision.
One account can be used by up to four children and the great thing is, they don’t have to wait to take turns. They can access the account simultaneously from their own devices. Each user will have to create his/her own avatar and register their name so once they go back to the website, they can simply click their avatar and pick up where they left.
The website also features a Progress Tracker that helps parents see how much progress their child is making. The tracker displays the total number of learning activities your child has completed in each category, as well as his/her academic level and by curriculum subject. And even if you customize the lessons, the progress tracker will display matching results.
The website can be accessed from any computer, tablet or smartphone that is connected to the internet and meets the following system requirements:
For desktop and laptop computers
- Windows 7 or later
- Chrome
- Firefox
- IE 11 or later
- Microsoft Edge
- OSX 10.7 or later
- Safari 6 or later
- Chrome
- Firefox
For mobile devices, such as tablets and smartphones
- iOS
- iOS 5.1.1 or later
- Android
- OS 4.4.x or later
Benefits to Child’s Learning
In addition to the comprehensive curriculum and almost endless learning activities, ABCmouse.com has unique features for better results which set them apart from other early learning websites.
They include the “Tickets and Rewards” system. With this, your child receives tickets after completing the learning activities. These tickets can be used to purchase virtual items on the site, such as pet fish. Some items require more tickets; therefore, they have to work harder to earn more tickets and spend them wisely. This is a great way to introduce and practice ‘delayed gratification’. ABCmouse.com also lets your child explore different places, like a zoo, farm, and an aquarium. All these places are interactive and packed with fun activities too.
Pricing
Similar with its competitors, ABCmouse.com subscription costs less than $10 a month. You will save more if you choose the yearly subscription, wherein you will only pay $79.95. The site offers one month of free trial so you have the time to think whether it is the best online learning tool for your child. According to the website, users can cancel their subscription anytime by logging into their account page. You will be able to continue accessing the program for the time that has already been paid.
Conclusion
ABCmouse.com is a great early learning online platform for children 2-8 years old. It’s packed with lots of lessons and activities so your child will never run out of things to discover and learn.
Unfortunately, all these are for a cost. Well, it isn’t really expensive at all especially if you think about how organized the curriculum is and the fact that it has been designed by education experts. It’s also free from annoying ads and pop-ups. You might find yourself checking out other learning websites for children but nothing is as comprehensive as this platform.
