ABC Mouse

Michael saw an ad for a website called ABC Mouse and wanted me to check it out.  I was a little skeptical.  I didn't think Olivia would be able to use it yet.  Also, since I have an education background I just wasn't too sure how I'd like an "online" school.  But I thought I'd give it a look.  I watched a few of the videos explaining exactly what it was and I was impressed.  I signed up for the free one month trial.  I figured it wouldn't hurt anything.  Plus, there are TONS of free printables so I thought if all else fails I'll just print a bunch of coloring sheets before my month expires.

Well, it turns out Olivia IS IN LOVE WITH ABC MOUSE.

Here is a screenshot of the main page.  There is so much to do!  Right now we are trying to do a few of the "Learning Path" lessons whenever we get on.  I honestly thought that this was something I would look into and then do in a year or two when she's older and "gets it".  However, we've done the whole "toddler time" learning path and she did great!  We use our laptop right now and she just clicks the button.  I use the touch pad to move the cursor. We eventually want to get her a little mouse to use, but right now this is working for us.

This is a screenshot of the "Classroom".  You can scroll over any of the pictures and it is linked to one of the educational categories.

Here is a screenshot of the current learning path we are on.  The background changes after so many lessons. Each lesson has 3 to 6 tasks that have to be completed.  Most are similar in their make up, so there is some repetition. 

If you look in the left you can see a tag that says "Farm" and another one that says "Zoo".  This is one of Olivia's favorite parts.  She'll ask, "Play ABC Mouse.  See the animals?!"  You can choose to either visit the animals just for fun or do games and activities.  We generally just visit.  Her favorite are the elephants.  It gives you facts about the animals, the animals move around the screen and they make the noises.

We all learned something new.  The giraffe noises were weird to us.  Here is a cute (but choppy) video of Olivia's reaction.  (This was actually the second time she did it.  She did it earlier in the day and I was trying to get her same response for Michael to see.  You know they never do it as well the second time, but it's still pretty cute!)

We are very conscious of Olivia's "screen time".  Even though she asks to do this every day, I try to take breaks where we may not do it for a day or two.  We also try to limit her time to about 20 minutes a day when she does do it.

Our free month has just ended, but we are going to keep with it.

It's $8 a month, or they give a special offer if you sign up for a year at a time and even cheaper if you sign up for two years at a time.  I think we will get our use out of it.

If you have a preschooler and are looking for some educational fun, I would suggest checking it out.  It's very user friendly!