Preschool Learning and Listening, Subscription for School with Play

We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this review or post, but all opinions are our own.

Recently I reviewed a preschool learning product called MESSYLearning FOR PRESCHOOLERS AND KINDERGARTNERS by PandaParents. It is a digital combo of parent led reading books, PDF workbooks printables and video, available in a educational, subscription based, monthly format. I have used a lot of curricula and I feel like I am normally a great judge of materials, BUT for this one, I really had to go to the experts. I let the kids tell me what they thought.

You see, the trouble is I am a graphic designer by training. I am a design snob, forget spelling fanatic , I am a kerning hound. A design enthusiast!

MESSYLearning was not, initially, appealing to my tastes or visual aesthetic. I really didn’t want to get into it, but the point of reviewing is to see how children respond to the material, not how pretty I think it is. It is designed to appeal to a specific audience, and they liked it very much.

We Like Learning Training Wheels

In our formal homeschool, we use a literature-based curriculum that has some pretty in-depth language arts. Because I want my kids to get the most out of their work time, I don’t begin formal school with my younger children until they are nearer to seven. Before you think I am negligent; that simply means we do a lot of hands-on learning. Talking and discussing the world around us, reading a million books and engaging in the things we see around us. This is how I like to teach my little ones over here.

When my children are hungry to learn concrete skills; asking what letter sounds are, wanting to do book-work like their siblings, I have relied on a few of my favorite work-books. We had moved away from workbooks recently so, using MESSYLearning is a good reminder that my little ones do enjoy hands on pencil and paper, school activities and more formally directed learning connections.

It’s Normal to Want a Guide

We have been homeschooling for 15 years. That is a long time to work organically with so many children. Because of my experience, I don’t necessarily feel like I need a program but, I remember being a new homeschooler. I remember that feeling of wanting some training wheels to help guide me through early childhood development skills. Assurance is want I wanted; to make sure I wasn’t missing anything.

An Educational Subscription with Focused Learning Tools

MESSYLearning is just enough. It is not overly taxing to a non-reading preschooler, since the program is for kids ages 3 to 6. I like the concept of a monthly educational subscription because, you can choose to cancel whenever you wish. At under $10 a month, I’m positive that I have spent that much on work-books and coloring books. At the preschool ages I find that these books are rapidly consumed.

For your subscription you get a PDF download of a workbook so, you can print pages and activities as you choose. You also get a digital book that is focused on a sound or concept, and a video that your preschooler can watch online.

This is not a babysitter video that your children are just watching because you need them out of your hair for 30 minutes while you cook dinner, though it can serve that purpose too. These videos are strategic in helping your preschool children create a concrete grasp on the letters and skills that are presented in the book.

Find Your Favorite Teaching Tools with a Little Help

My youngest child is six and reading, but he found the digital stories engaging. They liked the pages that I thought were a little on the bright, loud & obnoxious side. They found the weird smiley face character charming and funny. Obviously, I am not a six year old. This product was intentionally created with preschool learning in mind.

That is one of the reasons why every product we review is actually used by my kids. This is not just my pitch! Reviewing would be a ridiculously time consuming hobby. It would be impossible to try to gauge an opinion of how a learning tool can be used without physically putting it in front of a child and see how they interact with it. I care about you and your homeschool. You are my community and I want to give you the best tools for the problem you are experiencing.

Preschool Learning is Introducing Skills with Play

Since my youngest is reading, he found the videos too young since they were teaching the beginning letter sounds. They did however, love the PDF cut and match activities. The program is perfect for preschool learning.

The kids also identified how interconnected the PDF pages are with the book and video but they watched. Many times I just laid out some workbook pages for the kids. They would use them while I worked with my other students. Child directed learning time is HIGHLY valueable. The kids were able to follow the instructions because they were simple and familiar. The learning pages are pulled from reading books and videos your children are watching. We spent one book reviewing the letter “S” with Sammy the Skunk and “J” with a jolly jingle bell theme.

The Preschool Years Should Instill a Love for Learning

An educational subscription based program is actually a cute and beneficial way to introduce the concept of school while being fun and engaging. Everyone loves getting a new book every month! When I hear of the parent saying that their child hates school, I am deeply concerned! So much more when I hear the child is only six. Homeschooling is an opportunity to flip the school model on its head and school however your child responds best.  In the early years my goal is to educate in a way that helps my kids love to learn. Keep working to find the tools that help you do that.

These early years are vital to impress on our child that learning is something we do our whole lives and something we should look for in every single thing we do. MESSYLearnngs educational subscription by PandaParents is a fun way to add more concrete, pen and paper learning skills to a young child’s day. It literally takes less than 20 minutes, a few times a week. This means you have all of the time you need for reading story books and engaging in play time.