EdShed Provides Web Based Games for Spelling and Math {A Review}

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 compensated in any other way.

Sometimes it is good to have an online program that multiple children in one family can access to practice their spelling and math skills using a web-based games format.

EdShed offers just this with their subscription based  Math Shed and Spelling Shed which is designed for your 1st-5th graders. 

If you order a subscription, you and yours can have one year of access to web games for up to 5 students with individual log-ins for each user and a Teacher Hub which allows parents to set up students (or groups of students called leagues), create assignments with spelling lists or custom spelling lists, and monitor student progress. 

Like many online programs Math Shed and Spelling Shed allows students to create personalized avatars that are shared between programs. Unique to Math Shed and Spelling Shed is the programs - or web games - within it, which students have unlimited access to and can easily switch between when playing.

As an extra bit of fun, the program allows children to earn online currency when they answer questions correctly during games. Thins, in turn, can be used to upgrade their avatars with fun accessories such as glasses, masks, and jewelry.

Math Shed is pretty much open-and-go. It doesn’t require you as a parent/teacher to select curricula or assign content. Rather, students log in and click on the topic the wish to practice with a choice of Easy, Medium, and Hard levels.

Topic areas include:

• Number Bonds
• Times Tables

• Addition and Subtraction
• Powers of 10

The space-themed menu for these games is organized by these math concepts rather than grade level and each section has an array of questions to enhance math fluency.

Detailed data reports reveal progress made as well as areas that need improvement or have been mastered.

Spelling Shed takes a bit of setting up by you as the parent/teacher, but it is not hard to get going.

It comes pre-loaded with Dolch, Fry, and other well-known spelling lists which are grade-level specific and aligned with national education standards. It also offers customization for you to set up assignments, create spelling lists, track your child’s progress, and see data about spelling mistakes.  All this is done from the Teachers Hub.

Then, with student logins, students can access:

• Play – where they practice spelling a list of 10 words in a timed format

• Beekeeper  – which allows them to guess words by choosing letters (almost Hangman style)

• Buzz Words – where they create words with random letter tiles 
• Hive games – where students can play with others inside the program

Games can be played at different levels:

• Easy, which means a word is shown, an audio clip is played, and only the included letters are shown.
• Medium, where an audio clip is played and only the included letters are shown.
• Hard, where an audio clip is played and the included letters plus some random letters are shown.
• Extreme, where audio clip is played and a full qwerty keyboard is shown.

This part of the program also includes weekly downloadable spelling curriculum for grades 1-5 that can be accessed from the Teacher Hub an includes activities and printable practice homework sheets with answers for those that like offline learning, too.

I had my 10 year old try out Math Shed and Spelling Shed to see how it worked, and we both that Math Shed could work well for practice for any child in addition to a spine curriculum while Spelling Shed could work as a supplement or a main curriculum for spelling and vocabulary for children and parents who like it so long as parents stepped in to expand on a few things regarding capitulation, punctuation, etc.

My son said, specifically:

It's okay. It's not the best style for me. I don't like being under pressure for quick answers with math and, since you have to get used to the keyboard, it is hard to answer quickly even when I know the answer.

With the spelling, the games were okay, but it had incorrect capitalization for the word tuesday and said 'Mrs' (with no period) was the answer when I heard the voice say 'misses'.  Also, sometimes, I could not hear the voice well and missed the words.

Overall, it did not seem like the games taught. They just test what you know and let you practice. Some kids might like it.

Obviously, my son was not taken by Math Shed and Spelling Shed, but I have no doubt other children could find it a helpful fit. In fact, over 80 Homeschool Review Crew families tried out subscriptions and some of them absolutely loved the program and had great success with it. (Click through to find social media, video, and blog reviews.)

Further, I think the program could be a possible "extra" for classroom / co-op teachers to use to encourage skill building and practice.

It provides helpful, detailed data for individual students from the Hub dashboard and allows you to customize things for your children.

So, if you are looking for a web-based math games supplement to solidify fundamental math skills or a supplemental or complete spelling/vocabulary program that works on learning through repetition with web games, Math Shed and Spelling Shed might be worth considering  You can try a  free trial without having to enter credit card information to see if it is a good fit for you.  You can also try an app if you prefer that format.

Find Math Shed and Spelling Shed on social media at:

  Website |  Facebook |  Twitter |  Instagram |  YouTube