I need the next level up!

[altarflame]

Ananda and Aaron used to LOVE going on PBSKids.org and nickjr.com to play games and do challenges...when they were preschoolers. Isaac and Jake do it now, but I don't have anything new for A and A and they've long outgrown it.

My criteria is that a site be at least semi-educational, without a lot of obnoxious (pop-up, videos to watch before you see what you're there for, etc) ads (a sidebar banner or something is probably ok, assuming it's appropriate). They're both really good readers at this point, with math skills about on point for grade level (2nd and 3rd) and a TON of science knowledge. Even just a collection of amazing science videos or something would probably be great for them, without games...we don't have cable here so they're not watching Animal Planet anymore. They like to do things like watch Foo Fighters videos on YouTube and browse things to save their money for on ThinkGeek.com but that's kind of not the same.

So what have you got?

Comments

[vaginajones.livejournal.com]

I'm just passing through, but starfall.com and iknowthat.com are wonderful for educational games.

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

Hey, thanks! Starfall I'd forgotten all about (we have some of their workbooks) but iknowthat is great and I'd never heard of it :)

[seanclocks.livejournal.com]

I saved this site a while back, with the idea to share it with you guys for science experiments... Maybe now the kids can read on their own, they can find cool science experiments to tryout:

http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/snacksbysubject.html

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

cool

[anayasmom.livejournal.com]

My kids love first in math...its part of the math program they do at school. I'm not sure if you need to be affiliated with a school to get login codes but it's fun and they love it. They also use everyday math but definitely like first in math better.

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

Hmm...it doesn't seem as though I can get in there without login info. Thanks anyway though.

[phoebebeast.livejournal.com]

My son used to love tutpups - they can do math with kids from all over the world (they show the flag of the country you're in). I believe it's www.tutpups.com

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

No s on the end :) Looks good though - we'll definitely be using that one. Thanks for replying!

[phoebebeast.livejournal.com]

Also, my five year old likes www.phonicsplay.co.uk - it's a British site for phonics (we're ex-pats in the UK) with lots of interactive games.

[its-jemma.livejournal.com]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/children/

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

I think I'll have to help them get the hang of that one, since there is so much on every page. But that they'll LOVE IT once they do, because there IS so much on every page :) This is almost exactly what I was imagining, as being one step up from pbskids.org. Thanks so much!

[its-jemma.livejournal.com]

no problem, my little brother (who's now 12) has always loved this site, he can always find something new on there as well :D

[minamorgan.livejournal.com]

I know www.neopets.com has some educational games in there, its also just really fun to do in general. They might like it more for non educational purposes, but there are tons of education things to do in there. They even have their own neopets stock market. You could teach A and A about the stock market and what have you. Just a thought. :)

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I hadn't thought of that...their cousin Robbie has given them hand held versions before, things like tamigachi? And they did looooove them. They kind of drove me nuts, though, honestly, because it seemed like it could just eat up hours without them actually learning anything, and they were always fighting over the things when usually they get along well.

I think I'll use this as a reward site, because even though there ARE educational parts, those aren't gonna be the parts they gravitate towards. But they'll definitely have fun.

[rockstargrrrlie.livejournal.com]

Do they like stuffed animals at all? I saw that someone recommended neopets, and having played that as well as webkinz.com, I really preferred Webkinz. You have to purchase a stuffed animal to get a code for it, but it has a lot of really neat games to play as well as how to budget and take care of something (you have to feed your animal and keep it happy). Each day (actually hour) there's a different featured activity or game, and there are also quiz challenges in various subject (and I believe you can select your grade level for some of these).

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

I have issued a moratorium on stuffed animals, dude. It is bad. Approximately once a year we donate an entire garbage bag STUFFED with stuffed animals...some years 2-3. I've thrown tact to the wind and straight up told all our relatives that if they gift us stuffed animals, they're going straight to Goodwill.

It does sound better in general than neopets, though... Maybe we could gift someone else stuffed animals sometime and get codes, or something. Really though we have so many actual pets they have to care for as it is that I almost feel like the digital pet thing is sort of pointless for them.

[rockstargrrrlie.livejournal.com]

You know, I think my account is still active and I haven't played with it in months- if you want, I can email you the code and see if they'd even be into it.

[(Anonymous)]

www.mathletics.com is great! and they have a homeschool network you can join ( i think) it costs, but well worth it, they can track their progress. highly recommend it