Reading Eggs Reviews: Learn to Read Program for 2-7-Year-Olds

Reading Eggs is a fun program that teaches children to read using animated games and other varied activities. Its engaging and entertaining graphics that rival Candy Crush have earned it excellent reviews all over the internet. But is Reading Eggs as good as the hype suggests it is? Find out the pros and cons below, and check out its subscription options.

In this article, we’ll cover:

About Reading Eggs
The app
The cost of Reading Eggs, subscriptions, and packages
Advantages, disadvantages, pros, and cons of this program and
Alternative learn-to-read programs

Let’s dive in and get started!

Rebbecca Devitt

I hope you enjoy reading this blog post. If you want to do my course on how to homeschool, click here.

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

About Reading Eggs

Reading Eggs is an online learn-to-read program that makes reading fun because it has many engaging games for kids. Perhaps it is so enticing because it hooks children as it looks very much like the addicting game Candy Crush.

The program is published by the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC), a business that the government funds yet is supposed to be independent.

It is now used in many schools around Australia and sold in many places, with even ALDI putting Reading Eggs products out in June 2021.

This literature program is also gaining popularity with the international community as a great online reading option for preschool and school-aged kids.

Reading Eggs also has a version for children aged 7-14 called Reading Eggspress. It has a math section called Mathseeds, which parents can purchase in conjunction with Reading Eggs.

The cost of a one-year subscription is $85 or $99 if purchased in conjunction with Mathseeds. Many parents on review forums say it’s worth the money.

What Ages Does Reading Eggs Cater For?

There are three age levels that Reading Eggs are designed to fit, namely ages:

2-4-years-old – the Junior Reading Eggs program. This is also called the ‘First Steps’ stage.
3-5-years-old – the ‘Ready for School’ stage.
6-7-years-old – the ‘Practice makes Perfect’ stage.

As I mentioned before, the advanced reading version, called Reading Eggspress, is for 7-14-year-olds. This program is more advanced and requires children to read mini books.

Reading Eggs Reviews. Learn to Read Program for 2 to 7-Year-Olds. #readingeggsreview #homeschool #learntoread

The App

The Reading Eggs program comes with an app that children can use on the iPad. This allows parents to let the app teach their children while they’re on the go. This is what its creators said about the app:

The ABC Reading Eggs Learn To Read app lets you access the award‑winning reading program on your iPad. If you have an existing Reading Eggs account, download the app for free and use your current login details. [Reading Eggs App Page]

ABC also has other apps by ABC that are similar to Reading Eggs, including:

Eggy Times Tables – games that teach children aged 5-10 their multiplication tables
Eggy Phonics – a learn-to-read phonics program with multisensory games that teach phonics to children 3-years-old and up.
MathSeeds Play and Learn – a math section for 3-9-year-olds that teach them core math concepts

ABC Reading develops programs for various reading ages, including pre-school age.

Cost, Pricing, and Subscriptions

If you love this program, you can get a subscription to it. A subscription gives you access to all areas, including ABC Reading Eggs Junior and ABC Reading Eggspress.

In this case, you have a few options as of February 2019, namely, buying a:

6-month subscription for $59.95 or
12-month subscription for $79.95

Unfortunately, there is no monthly option available, although you can get a free trial for two weeks if you want to try it out.

Reading Eggs plus Mathseed Bundle

If you’d prefer a monthly option, you can do this if you get the bundle of Reading Eggs plus Mathseeds. As of February 2019, here your options are:

one-month subscription for $13.99 cancel anytime
12-month subscription for $109.99
12-month subscription to Mathseeds ONLY $59.95

Of course, if you prefer to do things offline, there are plenty of Reading Eggs books available in the online shop.

The ABC Math Program

The Reading Eggs math program is called Mathseeds Play and Learn. This program is designed for children aged 3-9. It teaches them core math skills using highly structured lessons. However, it’s still fun and light, so children are engaged the whole time.

Like Reading Eggs, you can get the app and play it anywhere. This is another reason it has been so popular and lauded on Mathseeds reviews around the internet.

Like Reading Eggs, you can get Mathseeds on a two-week trial to see if you like it. If you don’t, you can cancel anytime and not pay a cent.

Reading Egg Reviews: What People Say About it.

When I research a program, I try to go into it as if I’m a new homeschooling mom trying to find out information on a topic. To compile this article, I looked at 20+ Reading Egg reviews from around the web. I compiled a pros and cons list from these.

Essentially, people were very happy with this program and, although I list the disadvantages here, I think you’ll find many people didn’t find all the disadvantages relevant. To give you an idea, Verified Reviews had over 3,700 reviews, of which 90% were positive, 7% neutral, and 3% negative.

Advantages

Some of the advantages of Reading Eggs include:

games that teach your children to read so they have fun plus learn to read
varied lessons including fun games and other formats
visually attractive with bright cartoon characters doing a lot of the teaching
students learn plenty of words that are used in everyday language

This program seems like a great way to get kids into reading if they’re not very interested in the idea. It appears to be especially good for children with special needs like autism or dyslexia as it is so engaging.

Disadvantages

Some of the disadvantages of Reading Eggs include:

children may lose interest in the program after they learn to read properly (perhaps this is just a job well done, though!)
a couple of parents mentioned their children were bored with it as they found it too easy. (The ABC representative questioned whether they had taken placement tests and were placed in the correct grade for their understanding, though.)
it’s addictive. Kids get hooked on technology, and it can be a battle to get them off the iPad.
some animals are only really found in Australia, so children from other countries might not be familiar with them.

It seems like the main complaint arose when a child was put in the program at the wrong stage for their development – but this doesn’t seem to be a legitimate problem with the Reading Eggs itself…just an incorrect placement problem.

Other Points

Some other things parents noted in their reviews include:

The accent is an Australian accent. Australians would love this as most online programs have an American accent. However, Americans may find this frustrating as things might not be pronounced correctly.
Putting your two-year-old in front of an iPad for a long time has its own problems. See this article for more.

If You Want To Read More Reviews

Besides asking other parents on Facebook, these are some of the pages I found helpful when looking into this program:

Learn to Read Programs with Christian Values

Some homeschooling parents might like a Christian reading program. While there aren’t many online stand-alone Christian homeschooling programs similar to Reading Eggs, a couple stood out.

The best option I found was the Veritas Press’ Phonics Museum app. It also has fun games and animations and inspiring content that follows a Classical education model. Another one I found was the Hooked on Phonics app, which you can check out here. Both have stunningly positive reviews, so I encourage you to check them out.

However, you can easily purchase a single subject from a Christian homeschooling curriculum provider that provides an online curriculum.

For example, the Monarch homeschooling program is split up so you can buy a whole year group or just one subject. In this case, you might get the SOS Language Arts Curriculum (below), but this only starts from Grade 3.

Of course, if you want to go offline, there are so many to choose from, and you can get your learn-to-read subject as a full-blown curriculum or purchase it as part of a set.

The Ideology behind ABC

It’s always good to realize that every person or group has its own ideology and bent. Secular beliefs have a religious tendency of their own, even though they don’t claim to. Because Reading Eggs is published by ABC media, which are secular in their ideology and framework, you’ll find it is humanist in its outlook.

Although their government funders require ABC to be impartial and independent, it has been heavily criticized for having a progressive, left-wing lean. If you’re a parent who has a conservative, right-wing perspective, there is a chance that you might find the material in this curriculum frustrating. (I saw parents echo their frustration in this regard on Facebook comments).

Conclusion

There is no doubt that Reading Eggs is a highly popular, engaging, and outstanding program. Now used in many schools, this program appears to be an effective learn-to-read program that teaches children to read using animation, which rivals Candy Crush. While the cost is decent, many testify that it’s worth it. Reviews also show evidence of how popular this program is among early readers. While homeschooling parents with Christian affiliations may find the Phonics Museum or Hooked on Phonics more to their liking, parents with secular leanings will prefer this ABC program.