Review ~ KinderBach ~ Piano Lessons Online

We have been blessed to review an online beginner piano program for children. We received 6 months of access to The KinderBach Online Piano Lesson Membership With Teacher Corner.


When it comes to teaching music I can introduce them to many styles, composers, and even a lot of music history. When it comes to teaching how to play music I do not have those skills. I had music class in school as a kid but I have forgotten most of it, and wouldn't know where to begin to teach someone else what I do remember. Thank goodness for KinderBach! They have filled a need I felt we had in our homeschool. Best of all, they do all the teaching, we get have all the fun!

Since music is not a required course in our state it isn't something I put a lot of effort into, unless one of the kids had interest of course. As it turns out they had more interest than I thought. KinderBach introduced them to the art of reading music and beginning to play piano. Once you can read music then learning to play other instruments later in life is easier. Although I never learned to play piano, I did play flute in Junior High. Memories of the joy I felt when playing came flooding back as I "relearned" how to read music while the kids did these lessons.

There is nothing to download and take up space on your computer, all of the lessons are streamed from the website. A high speed internet connection is required to use KinderBach online. They do offer the same course on DVD for those who do not have access to high speed internet, have limited use of it, or just prefer not to do the course online. You will also need a printer, basic supplies such as crayons, paper, scissors, etc. and a keyboard. It doesn't need to be a fancy or expensive one.

There are workbook pages to go along with and enhance most of the lessons. These can be downloaded and printed as needed in PDF form. If you choose the DVD option your workbook pages can be printed from a CD.





There are 6 levels of lessons, each level contains 10 weeks worth if you use 4 lessons a week.

KinderBach was designed to be used with children ages 3 to 7. I used it with my 5 and 7 year old mainly, I tried to get my 9 and 10 year olds interested but they thought it was a bit babyish looking and balked until they heard their little sisters playing their first song. I think they may be willing to give it another try, minus the coloring sheets.

We started out at the very first lesson, but if your child has already had some music instruction you can begin at whatever level you wish. I loved how the lessons started out slowly and built upon each other, they were not overwhelming at all. In fact my girls often asked to do another lesson because they wanted to keep going. This is fine, you can go at whatever pace you like. If you miss a few days for some reason it is easy to start right where you left off.



 Karri is a great teacher. Her face is very expressive and her voice very soothing. She sings songs as she teaches, my girls just loved this because they sing all day long no matter what they are doing.




I found the teacher corner useful but we did not use it much.  The lessons are self guided really, just print the corresponding workbook pages, play the video, and go. It did a lot of explaining about how the program works, and offered many suggestions for extra activities. There are a lot of suggestions and help for teaching a group if you have the desire to do that sort of thing. This is also included with your subscription.

Below is a sample of one of the songs kids eventually learn how to play. (We aren't there yet, but with perseverance we will be!)

 

Overall we have really enjoyed using KinderBach and plan to continue with it as long as the girls have interest. We had just one simple thing that would have made using KinderBach easier for us, bigger screen size for the video. Since the two girls were watching it together at the computer they had to squeeze in to get the best view. Of course this always leads to arguing. Enlarging the screen did not help, it became blurry. We tried using the desktop computer because the screen is bigger but it didn't solve this problem. Otherwise the video quality is excellent and the sound perfect.




Right now a One Year Online Membership Plus Teacher Corner starts at just $7.99 per month, or $95.88 per year. This special price may not last for long, a regularly priced subscription is $130.00 per year. This is very affordable in my opinion, and if you are using it with more than one child in your family it is an even greater deal!

They also offer a free trial and a 30 day money back guarantee. So give KinderBach a try if this sounds like something your kids would enjoy.

Connect with KinderBach.....

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/kinderbach
Facebook for Teachers:  www.facebook.com/classroomkinderbach
Twitter: @KinderBach
Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/KinderBach/
YouTube: KinderBach Preschool Piano

Review ~ Reading Kingdom

 Reading Kingdom is an online program designed for kids ages 4-10 and also offers help for struggling readers.  We were blessed to be able to use this program with 3 kids so I chose my 7, 8, and 10 year olds.

There is nothing to download, it is a subscription to the Reading Kingdom website and everything is done online. You must have internet to use it at home, but you can use it anywhere since you can log in anywhere. We can use it at the library, grandmas house, etc. I can even make them do a little school on vacation!

Dr. Marion Blank developed the Reading Kingdom program using what she calls the "6 SIM" 6 Skill Integrated Method which includes sequencing, writing, sounds, meaning, grammar, and comprehension. Read about why this method works here.



Each student starts out with a skills survey to determine the level they should start at based on what they already know. All 3 of mine started out in Letter Land because they had weak keyboarding skills, but they advanced pretty quickly once they got better at it. You can choose to use a keyboard on the screen or the physical keyboard. They tried both ways and preferred the actual keyboard.

If using this program daily a child can finish it in 12-15 months. More advanced users can complete it much sooner. Each lesson lasts an average of 15 minutes, so it is possible to do more than one if a day is missed. I had no problems getting the kids to use it every day, in fact most mornings there was a fight going on about who got to go first!  

I like that the program adapts itself for each student, so they are less likely to become bored by repeating things over and over again. I also love that I get emails with progress reports for each child weekly, so I can let them use the program by themselves and still keep up with what they have been learning. This frees me up to give attention to the million other things going on here daily.

In addition to reading the kids kept telling me that they were learning how to spell better as well. I also noticed that when working with sentences they were required to use a capitol letter at the beginning and punctuation at the end. YES! I feel like I repeat myself daily on that one, perhaps once we start full time school again next week they will be better at that when writing as well!

Below are screenshots from the program, there are many levels so your child may never encounter these particular ones.

 

I asked each of the kids what they liked about Reading Kingdom and if they enjoyed using it. These are their comments.....

Skye 7 ~ Its really fun! Even when you get questions wrong its ok. I want to use it every day!

River 8 ~ I like using it because it teaches me to spell and read better, the lessons aren't too long, and its not too hard.

Braeden 10 ~ I like everything about it, I have learned a lot. Especially the spelling, I want to spell better. Im glad we got this!

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You can try Reading Kingdom for FREE for 30 days to see if it would be a good fit for your family. You will be asked for credit card information but you will not be charged unless you decide to subscribe after the 30 days are up. They do this to make sure you are a real person. If you decide to subscribe the charge is $19.99 per month or $199.99 per year. Additional students on your account receive a 50% discount ($(.99 per month or $99.99 per year) and you can cancel at any time.

If this sounds like a program that would benefit your child but it is simply too expensive they do offer a scholarship program. Read about that program here.

Samson's Classroom

Samson's Classroom is an online membership site that gives your children in grades K through 5th practice in Sight Words, Spelling, and Reading. There is nothing to download to your computer, you simply log in anywhere you are to use the website. This was especially helpful to us because the kids were able to use Samson's Classroom while we were at the library.


Here you can see sample pages from the Reading with Samson section. Choose a level to start at, and then your child reads a short story and answers questions about what was read. This is really great reading comprehension practice. My 8 year old daughter enjoyed this section, my 9 year old son didn't like it as much, but he is a reluctant reader unless it is something that really interests him. My 6 year old daughter needed my help with this section.






 Another reading game.....












The Sight Words with Samson section was voted the MOST FUN part of this site by all 3 kids. I don't believe they realized how much they were learning as they played it. Even my reluctant 9 year old asked to play this. I have noticed improvement when reading aloud since he began playing the sight word games.








Another sight words game.....









Spelling with Samson can be customized to give practice with the spelling words we are using each week. I also sneak in words I know they have troubles reading aloud. My 9 year old proclaimed this was the best way ever to study spelling words. My 8 year old was also very enthusiastic about practicing spelling this way. Their test scores have proved it to be an effective method for both of them.

For my 6 year old I didn't customize her word list. She has not yet started a formal spelling program so I just let her play with the lists already provided to see how she would do. She did surprisingly well with 3 letter words.




My thoughts on Samson's Classroom.....
I think this is a good practice site, I would not use it as a substitute for a good solid language arts program. I am not a fan of "video games" but because these are educational I let them give it a go. I must admit I did see improvement in spelling and in reading comprehension with my 9 year old son especially. This format made learning and practicing fun for him. Must be a boy thing! The girls enjoyed it too of course, they both ask to play it just as often as he does.

I also want to mention the wonderful customer service that this website offers. If you have any issues they are FAST to reply to you and offer assistance. I was very impressed with the friendly people behind Samson's Classroom!

I appreciate the extras that are offered as well, including printable worksheets, lesson plans and awards for the kids. 

Want to see more? Watch a short video here that explains how to use the site.  You can also try out a free demo and play all 3 sections of the website before you buy to make sure it is a good fit for your child.

A family membership at Samson's Classroom is $50.00 per year for up to 4 users. A $30.00 per year option is available for just one student. Classroom options are also available.


 Disclaimer ~ We received this product at no cost in exchange for an honest review after using it in our homeschool. No other compensation was given. All opinions expressed here are my own.  Other opinions may vary. Click the banner above to read what others thought of this product.