Little Homeschool on the Prairie: Math Shed & Spelling Shed 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 was I compensated in any other way.

Math Shed & Spelling Shed from EdShed has been a welcoming addition to our homeschool the last several weeks. My family received a 1 year subscription for both. This is an online digital learning resources that can be used on a computer or as an app.

My subscription allows up to 5 students. The intended age is 1^st grade – 5^th grades. Each child can have a separate log in.

Creating my account was simple. Once I was logged in the first thing I did in the Teacher Hub dashboard was watch a 22 minute video that gave me an overview of the games and dashboard. You can also download the information as a PDF.

In the Teacher Hub you can see when they logged in with a colorful bar graph display. I can set up weekly assignments, spelling list, input your own spelling list, and monitor the students’ progress and when they log in. You can also turn off the music in your settings. This was a good thing for me having a child who would be distracted by the music. You will have your own log in to access the content as a parent/teacher.

With each student having their own log in each one can customize their avatar to their liking with some basic features. Once they start playing the games they earn honey pots which are points to buy things for your avatar. Your points allow you to purchase accessories like backgrounds, hair, hats, and other fun things to customize your avatar.

Math Shed & Spelling Shed have separate areas that you access on the Web Game area to learn while playing the games.

Spelling Shed

Spelling Shed you can download the curriculum from the Teacher Hub list by stages 1-5. The stages correspond with grades. Stage 1 is grade 1 and so on. The stages are broken down by Stage 1 & 2, Stage 3, and Stage 4 & 5.

You can download the list as a PDF or a PowerPoint. The activities varies with things like crosswords, unscramble words, tic-tac-toe, word searches, and other activities around the spelling words. Answer key is included in the PDF. You can also create your own spelling list. This actually has 36 weeks of spelling list-pretty impressive..

There are different levels to choose easy, medium, and hard.

A few options of game play for Spelling Shed:

Play-10 spelling words that are timed. Level 1 which my daughter played has sound, there is information on of the part of speech. You see and hear the word the 1st time. Click on the letters to spell the words you hit the check mark when you are done.

Beekeeper- Choose letters from random honey hexagons to figure out your words. If you input the wrong letter you lose a bee. You have to complete the words without losing all your bees. This is in a fun hangman game format.

Missing Words You have to locate the word that is missing from the sentence.

Hive Games- this section you can play online with other players in a safe confined environment

Math Shed

Math Shed is a fun space theme web games. There are several games to choose from to help you with math.

Number Bonds is numbers that bond to 10, 20, and 100 for both addition & subtraction math problems. You choose your level from easy, medium, or hard after you select which fact you are playing. You have to solve the unknown fact. This continues until your allotted time runs out or you complete all the problems.

Times Tables- You can choose multiplication or division. You also can select single, mixed, related, related decimals, or a year 4 MTC. You can also choose which fact family you can work on. This is basically online flashcards that you are allotted a time limit. If you don’t complete all the answers you can choose to quit or replay.

Add and Subtract facts within 10’s, 20’s, 100’s, and 2, 3, 4 digits. Same option of play at an easy, medium, or hard play. Space themed flashcards that you have to solve before you run out of time. If you choose you can replay or quit.

Powers of 10- Using either multiplication, division, or a combo of both with an option of easy, medium, or hard play choice. You have 1 minute to answer as many questions as you can correctly in a flashcard style game. If you don’t complete all the answers you can choose to quit or replay.

How did I use Math Shed & Spelling Shed in our Homeschool

My daughter used both Math Shed & Spelling Shed. She is 17 but has many learning challenges due to her disabilities. We used this exclusively on a desktop computer.

My daughter logged in 4 times a week. I wanted her to play by switching off to Math Shed and Spelling Shed every other day. Spelling is an extreme challenge for her and she wasn’t very pleased with having to try spelling. The bee theme caught her attention and I was able to get her to play a little. Some days she would do both. Each lesson took no longer than 10 minutes per game.

Spelling Shed she worked at Stages 1 and 2. Spelling is hard for her. She reads better than spells. To start she chooses her levels which include easy, medium, hard, and extreme. She stayed in the easy section. I liked what I seen with Spelling Shed but it didn't grab her attention and spelling is complicated with her in this format. It wasn't Spelling Shed's fault it was more her special needs that was the issue. We had many tears and frustrations and she was stressed throughout it. She didn’t get very far into this. I took over and played some of the games myself.

Math Shed she loved and was excited to get on and play. I had to tell her to get off so she could do her other school items! She played all the games and I honestly couldn’t get a favorite game out of her. If I had to guess from which game she gravitated to I would say it was the Times Table. Did I see improvements in her math skills? Yes, this was well received and she did great being under the pressure of being timed. Usually timed work doesn’t go over well with her. I was thrilled to see her thrive with Math Shed.

I thought both Math Shed and Spelling Shed are great supplements to add to your homeschool. I liked that it didn't take to much time and my daughter could be independent with Math Shed.