DISCLOSURE: I RECEIVED THIS COMPLIMENTARY PRODUCT THROUGH THE HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW.
Every time one of my children has successfully learned to read, I have felt like a rock star and halfway through homeschooling! That might be an exaggerated reaction, but learning to read is the most important thing to start students off in the right direction. Once they master it, it can be tempting to just relax because, “as long as they are reading, right?” It’s I have subscribed to that line of thinking a lot, sometimes out of sheer exhaustion or limited options. Doing the intentional work on comprehension, writing and vocabulary can get lost in the shuffle of 3 kids, math meltdowns and other activities. Today’s review provides a platform to work and monitor these elements while providing a ton of books for your child to read and work with. We were given the opportunity to try out the Premium Subscription to LightSail for Homeschoolers which includes Reading, Writing, Vocabulary and Fluency work and tracking.
What We Received:
We were given a one year subscription to LightSail with access for up to 5 children. The 4 year old was provided access to World Book Early Learners and the 8 and 10 year olds have full access to LightSail Premium.
How It Works:
According to their website, LightSail for Homeschoolers is a reading-centric, adaptive language arts platform. This program allows students to be placement tested in reading skills through a Power Challenge. There is an initial one to get each student started, but then certain books (indicated clearly) include a power challenge to continue evaluating their level. The library of books is enormous and searchable by category, level and name. It includes access to World Book which provides some really interesting live streams and educational videos. Each child has their own login information and parents have a dashboard where they can adjust and evaluate each all students’ progress. From the dashboard parents can set assignments for each child. As students read books and engage in activities, the program tracks all the things - vocabulary, fluency, etc. The library consists of K-12 level books which means not all books are appropriate for all ages. Some books require parent approval first which is something either student or parent can initiate.
What We Thought:
LightSail is a massive resource and very overwhelming at first. It was recommended that we watch the intro videos before diving in, but we didn’t follow that advice at first. Big mistake. The big kids tried it out and kept getting frustrated because they essentially didn’t know how it worked. So I tried to help them and I got pretty frustrated. Then, I remembered the intro videos and finally did what I should have started with! The concept and platform of LightSail is educationally sound and very versatile. With so much trouble at first, we have come to the conclusion that we haven’t even begun the scratch the surface of what LightSail can do. Through this program, my 4 year old has access to all kinds of videos, games and activities in addition to books, which he loves.
Besides being overwhelming at first, the only other concern we had was that after a little bit of use it often slowed way down and required us to logout and log back in. That was a little time consuming, but fixable. Overall, this seems to be a wonderful resource to effectively evaluate and challenge your student’s language arts level that can be really handy the older they get!
Social Media Links: LightSail for Homeschoolers
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LightSailEd
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lightsailed/
Are you interested in other family’s experience with this product? Check out the other reviews through the link below.
