July 22, 2012

Have you heard of K5 Learning?


Have you heard of K5 Learning before?

K5 Learning is an online reading and math program for kiddos from kindergarten to 5th grade.  The program is designed for at home or after school use and the kids can participate in the lessons and activities completely independently.


I had the opportunity to try out this program with two of my students who were working below grade level this past year.  The first thing the kids do is take an assessment to figure out where their learning needs are. This assessment is emailed directly to the teacher or parent and provides some valuable feedback about the child's strengths and weaknesses in reading and math.

From there, the teacher or parent can assign specific skills for the child to work on.  The program automatically provides a list of suggested lessons and the approximate time it takes to get through a lesson.  As a teacher, I found the time appropriation particularly helpful.

Here are some quick highlights about what the K5 program includes:
  •  free online assessments of each child's math and reading skills
  • award-winning curricula based reading and math content (Seriously, you should see all the awards?!?)
  • over 3,000 online multimedia activies, personalized for each child based on their assessment
  • structured environment with lessons paced in a logical way
  • easy to use 
  • child safe with no external links, advertisements, etc.
  • comprehensive reports for parents
  • 24/7 availability and no downloading required
K5 is composed of a comprehensive reading and math program, a math fact program, and a spelling program. To try a lesson out, click here


There are lots of lessons to sample form all different grade levels. This is a screen shot of a 2nd grade vocabulary lesson on homophones. 


There is a quick introduction and then the students get to practice. There are lots of pictures to support visual learners throughout the lessons as well as explanations for auditory learners.

The math fact program is especially cool because it keeps track of student progress on every single math fact! The program keeps track and analyzes every response the child makes, including how fast they respond to determine whether or not they need more practice with that particular fact.  Then, it keeps track of everything on this master grid.  When the grid is full, the child has mastered their math facts. Pretty cool, right?


My students LOVED working on this program.  They enjoyed the lessons and working on the computer.  One of their favorite things to do was work on their math facts because they were able to choose their screen character and customize!  Boy, do they LOVE that!

I was lucky enough to try out this program for free, which was awesome!  I wish I was able to purchase this program for all my students to use at home.  I mean, wouldn't this be the coolest way to assign homework?  It would all be personalized!! Talk about differentiation.

It is available on a subscription basis for $25/month or $199/year with substantial discounts for siblings.  I know that sounds expensive, but it really is worth it. If I had a child that was a bit behind, this would be a great way to help catch them up, use technology, and have some fun.

The good news is that there is also a 14 day trial period for FREE! So, if you think you might be interested, go sign up!  Just click here to go directly to the free trial page.

I plan on recommending this program to parents of both my struggling students and my GT students this year.  That way all kids can get the extra support that they need outside of the classroom.  It's the perfect answer when parents ask, "What can I do to help?"

I hope you also find this program helpful.  If you have had experiences with K5, I'd love to hear about them below. Comments welcomed and happily encouraged!

Happy Learning!

3 comments:

  1. OMG thank you for sharing this. I have not heard of this program, but I'm so excited to learn more about it & show it to my team.Thanks- you rock!

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  2. This sounds like a great program! I am so glad that you shared this with us. My school occasionally has a little bit of "extra" money so this might be something to look into for us. I'll let you know if it works out this year. Thanks again!!!

    :) Nicole
    Tadpole Tidbits
    www.mrscorbitt.blogspot.com

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  3. Wonderful! This is great! I love the fact that it has an introductory video and a video to show how it is used by members. The reviews and comments are always good to read too, it answers a lot of questions and saves time on searching. I think I will try the trial on my youngest seeing that I will have to really dive into it before I can present it as an option. What really got me is the fact that it is tailored for at home or after school use! Every year I have parents telling me their child is weak in this or that area and do I know of a tutor or what can they do to help them. I would usually advise them to give me time with their child then steal time to come up with weekly work to send home to help the students. Last year there were 6 of them that needed extra help. I'm sure if they are willing to pay for a tutor they wouldn't mind jumping onto this program!
    Thank you so much!
    Michelle

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Thank you for taking a moment to share your thoughts!