Learn about teaching methods for home schooling with expert tips from an experienced teacher and home school authority in this free homeschooling video clip.
Expert: Jennifer Miller
Bio: Jennifer Miller has a degree in elementary education and has worked extensively within the home school community. She provides educational consulting, evaluations, and educational plans.
Filmmaker: Bryan Powers
Wizz-e is a magical place where books come to life. They move, they shimmer, they speak and even give quizzes. The magic has touched the classics such as “The Three Little Pigs.” The magic has affected new books, such as “Hoop-La the Hippo.” Some books count and some books rhyme. But whatever else they do the children always have a good time.
My daughter (6 years old) is a beginning reader who lacks confidence in her decoding skills. She actually can read better than she thinks, but the second-guessing takes a lot of energy of her. So when I found out about this website I thought it would be a nice change from Starfall.com (another great reading site) since the reading material is for “bigger” girls and boys. Once I got the site up, she was immediately drawn to the site’s layout and book offerings.
The first book we read together was “The Three Little Pigs.” Actually, she opted for the narrator to read that one and I’m glad that she did. The narration was first rate. And the beautifully drawn illustrations really captivated her. They are beautifully rendered as well as animated. But unlike other sites that really go overboard when it comes to animation and music, Wizz-e is very subtle and calming. No flashing lights to distract the children from what they need to concentrate on — the Words. Even the music is soothing, creating a cozy and relaxing feeling.
Another great reason to visit Wizz-e is that although most of the books are for purchase, you can’t beat the prices. The books range anywhere from $1.99 to $8.99, are immediately accessible and available for use. The bookstore offers books that encourage counting, health, classic stories like “Old Mother Hubbard”, alphabet books and bedtime stories. Regardless of the genre, the illustrations brought to life are really a feast for the eyes. And each book comes with the option of reading the story outright, an “assist” mode that allows the child to click on an unfamiliar word and have it read to them and straight reading. At the end of each story there is a little quiz just to make sure that the children remembered the main points of the story.
Aside from the library, which is expanding each month, there are also games, free downloads and jokes for the kids to tell us a million times. The game section is also a work in progress, so the interface doesn’t always work as well as it should. My daughter and I both got frustrated with the “Seek and Find — Find the Teddies”. Once again the illustrations are beautiful, but when we tried to circle the bears the interface didn’t always acknowledge you and put a circle around the bears. And since this is a time sensitive game it’s very annoying to know you lost even though you found all of the teddies. So, I would suggest that parents with small children give this a pass for now.
The “Hoop-La the Hippo” puzzle worked very well. My daughter’s only complaint was that there wasn’t a greater variety of puzzles. By that she meant that you weren’t able to choose a 9 piece puzzle versus a 21 piece puzzle. She suggested that I tell the owners that they need to fix that so that older kids could play too without getting bored. So, if anyone from Wizz-e finds my review, please add more puzzle piece choices. It’ll make Alaya very happy.
I know that a lot of parents are wary of allowing their children to access the internet without close supervision, but Wizz-e has solved that problem for you. Once you purchase the book you can immediately download it to your hard drive for later use. Although you can’t transfer it from whichever computer you download it to, this is a good way to keep the kids safe. And it’s a great way to entertain the children for a few minutes while encouraging reading and reading comprehension. I think once you take a look you’ll definitely see it as a worthy addition to your teaching arsenal. You can visit their site and get more information by going to www.wizz-e.com.
I'm a homeschooling mom with six children: 3 human, 2 feline and 1 canine. I'm also the wife of one very patient husband who seems to like the role of ringmaster to our circus. I am a member of the TOS Crew as well as a virtual assistant who enjoys writing, crafts, music and laughter. I hope you'll visit often.
Learn about teaching methods for home schooling with expert tips from an experienced teacher and home school authority in this free homeschooling video clip.
