Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
We received a digital membership to use Math Shed and Spelling Shed. Math Shed and Spelling Shed is an online membership gaming program for homeschoolers and classrooms to be able to practice their math and spelling skills.
Review of Math Shed and Spelling Shed
We use many digital memberships in our homeschool. Logging into Math Shed was simple however understanding how all of it works was a bit complicated. However, there are tutorials to help. I reached out to the company where I was stuck and they were able to get back to me right away.
There are two different programs within the membership. Math Shed is geared towards math games and Spelling Shed is geared towards spelling games.
The Math Shed program includes:
- addition and subtraction facts
- multiplication
- multiples of 10
- number bonds
- bonus games that include negative numbers
The game is set up to last one minute with a round of facts. The student completes as many facts as they can in that minute for points. From the teacher hub, you can assign assignments. These would be games that the students would complete in order after sign in through their own login info.
This is a great game especially for screen time privilege or through summer break. It keeps the brain active in math facts. The only thing I found a challenge about this program is the one minute game. I had reached out to see if there was a way to change the 1-minute to a longer duration, however, it is part of the program and cannot be changed.
I can see that in a classroom setting this would be extremely beneficial because you wouldn’t have lengthy amounts of time to dedicate to gaming. Students can participate together so a 1-minute duration would be perfect for a round if you will.
However, in a home education setting, this program would be nice if instead of one minute marks it could be 5 or 10 minutes and then used in place of a worksheet or a lesson for example. It’s easy to get around this because you could then just make 5 to 10 assignments and assign those to the child. He would then have 5 or 10-minute math facts for the day.
Game Device
This can be done either on an iPad or on a computer. On the iPad, you use your finger to click on the right answer. As the math facts move up in difficulty it looks like a calculator compared to floating numbers to grab.
On a computer, you could actually type in the physical number if you wanted your student to have practice with their typing skills or use the mouse to click.
Spelling Shed is similar to Math Shed as in its bite-sized games that you spell words. From the picture below you can see you have all the letters to spell out the word. again you may use this on an iPad or on the computer. If you use it on the computer the student can use the keyboard to practice their typing skills or on the iPad to push the proper letter placement.
The spelling shed I found to be too advanced for my children who are not quite reading fully. I would recommend Spelling Shed at a minimum of 3rd-grade proficiency level to be used for the average household. However, if your child is already reading and spelling before third grade this could be a really fun game as a reward for screen time or throughout summer vacation to practice their spelling facts.
I also appreciated with Spelling Shed that it actually showed what sort of word was spelled whether it was a preposition, noun, verb, etc, and the definition of what it was once you got it right. If a child wanted to read that or you wanted to sit with your child and read that to them it makes for a great learning education game.
Conclusion
In our ever-changing technological world, I think it’s important to offer children outlets that are within healthy limits and boundaries for being on a screen. In my opinion, Math Shed and Spelling Shed do just that. If you only wanted to have 10 minutes of screen time instead of a show or other screen activity, this is a perfect educating game. I like that it’s not too gamey. Even though it has a game feel to it it’s more like a drill. There is not an overabundance of distraction like a video game would have.
For the price Math Shed and Spelling Shed is definitely worth a try for your family if you are looking for a non-traditional way of having to practice their math and spelling facts. I always judge a digital product by being able to reach out to the company with any questions.
Ed Shed has been more than helpful in answering my questions. So if you have any further questions feel free to reach out to them and be sure to read the other reviews from the crew in the meantime to see if this might be a program that you want to bring in for summer vacation or as a bit of fun time for your child to have screen time reward.
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