Learn with Homer is not only an app but an entire curriculum to teach early readers and build their reading skills. It has been shown to increase crucial reading skills by 74%.
My two-year-old son loves reading and, when we let him have it, playing with our iPad, so getting him to try out Learn with Homer was pretty simple. What I didn’t expect was how engaged with it he became and the breadth of materials that were available.
The Learn with Homer app itself includes so much content that we haven’t even touched some of it, but here are some of our favorites.
My favorite feature of Learn with Homer and the part we’ve spent the most time on is the “Learn To Read” section. Each one of these lessons teaches a phonetic or word part and then reinforces it before building on it. Words that start and contain the sound are taught, and then through a series of mini-games, children are led to find letters and words that make those sounds.
Our second most used feature is the “My StoryTime” section. There are tons and tons of stories available in the app, including folklore and poetry as well as completely new stories about Homer and the other characters in their world. All of the stories also have the ability to be read like a book or to have the story narrated to the child.
The “My Songs & Rhymes” and “Brain Games” sections round out the features in the app. I have to admit we haven’t used these much yet but just like every other section, there is a ton of content to explore here. From what we have tried out, the games actually do have educational value as well; for example, “Ice Pop Adventures” requires your child to select the correct color to move the character across the map. It’s pretty basic, but perfect for a child who is learning colors.
In addition to the app itself, there is also an entire website full of goodies available to you with a subscription. You can see the progress your children have made–which lessons they have successfully completed and what things they have read, along with any photos, recordings, or drawings they have saved.
Lastly, there is also a full library of downloadable materials available. These alone are almost worth the subscription cost. There are tons of coloring pages featuring the characters from the Learn with Homer world. And there are also complete activity and lesson books for every reading level that include more phonetics, vocabulary building, handwriting practice, and more.
Learn with Homer is available for a free 30-day trial from the website or on the App Store on iPad. Unlimited access to the entire curriculum is available for $7.95 per month or $79.95 for a full year’s membership. When our free trial runs out, we are absolutely signing up for a full year.
Note: I received a review copy and subscription for review purposes but all thoughts and opinions above are my own.
