My kids used this with public school to get ready for the state test. I found that my kids loved to play the games, but they weren't actually doing the "test" parts as much. So for our purposes (to get ready for the state test in 3rd grade) it really didn't work out that well. It seemed to be real game like and it asks you questions before the games. My dd9 is giving me her review as I type. She liked the game part, but the practice test part was boring in her words. We would have to keep checking her progress and would see she had played the "games" the whole time and not touched the "test" parts. I looked at the individual prices if you aren't using it through a school and I can say I wouldn't pay it after seeing my dd9 use it and only it through the public school last year to prepare for the state test.
Games vs. Test on Study Island Hi OpenMinded! This came up for one of my coworkers using Google Alerts, and I just wanted to see if I could help. I handle all of our Social Networking for Study Island, but I worked in our Customer Relations department for over two years, so I am really familiar with the program. If I understand you correctly, I think you have a common misconception. In Study Island, there is no way for a student to play games independent of content. When a student works in "game mode", the system just integrates the chosen game with the same content they would be using if they were operating in "test mode". She is going to be getting the same practice and review in the game mode that she would in the test mode. I hope this helps you get more out of it. Feel free to reply here or e-mail me if you need any help.
Actually, we could only use it last year through the public school system here. They issued her a username and password. We aren't in public school this year so she can no longer log on with the username and password. I watched her on this site often and checked her progress throughout the year. She would do well on the "games" portions and not well at all on the "test" portion. She often played it at the house as well to prepare for the state test and I just wasn't that fond of Study Island. The games may have had the same material but it wasn't in a test format which was why she was using study island. She often made great scores on the games and poor scores on the tests. This was a constant while she was using Study Island. She would always do well on the games and poor on the tests. In fact, she often was high in her school for the games portions and just horrid at the test portion. I don't think it would be worth the cost for a homeschool family. You can find plenty of games on the internet that are educational and often free and you can always buy a test prep book at the local Barnes and Noble. So I stick with my original assessment. It is fun, but not worth the cost if I had to pay for it myself and I didn't find that it accomplished our goal of being prepared for the state test.
Google alerts are where you can put in a keyword and everytime it is posted about or comes up on the net you get an alert. A lot of companies do this to read the feedback and monitor their company's image. It is becoming an unfortunate by-product of google alerts that more and more companies feel the need to defend their products on forums and in comments on articles. This is just my opinion but if you are on a homeschool site you are asking for personal experiences with the product-both good and bad.
Actually, if a company has any sense, they'd thank us for posting negative comments because we're telling them for free how they could improve their product! PS - I see now that Faith3 made the very same argument in another thread. What can I say? Great minds think alike.
OpenMinded: I apologize if I have offended you. My honest intent was to help you, as I misunderstood and thought you had purchased the program. I wanted to help you get your $49 bucks worth. I'm still not sure I understand your problem, but you don't seem to need any further help since you no longer use it. If you didn't like using Study Island, that is a-ok by me. Cornish Steve: You're right; the major reason that we use alerts like this, is to observe all comments, positive and negative, and improve on these issues. It's not typically something we jump into. Like I said, I thought she had purchased Study Island, so I wanted to clear that up for her and hopefully help her get the most out of the subscription. I meant no harm.
But you must confess that it does come across as rather "Big Brother" like and heavy-handed when you ask a simple question on a small and close-knit discussion board and along comes a representative of a company trying to correct a "common misconception". There are times, as a company, when it's best to sit back, learn from people's comments, and quietly improve. If I had a question I'd like to ask you about your product, I'd contact you via your company website. On the other hand, if I wanted to share experiences with other users, I'd like to get candid feedback without a company breathing down my neck looking for the chance to correct any "common misconception". You're not going to tell us to email fishy comments about your company to flag @ studyisland .com, are you?
Cornish Steve: Ha! No, we won't do that, for sure. This sort of communication is new to us, and we're definitely still learning. We'd like to extend a helping hand where we can, but I absolutely see your point. We don't want to be those people. Thank you for your kind feedback.
And thank you for realizing that my comments were indeed meant to be constructive, not dismissive. There's a fine line between being overly responsive and becoming stifling or overbearing. And, of course, this is only my opinion. We may learn shortly that others disagree.
Certainly. If I ever think about homeschooling any kiddos I may have in the future, I'll be back. Thanks again!
Oh my, did I cause a stir?I just wanted to get some reviews on the program. I need to find a way to help my son prepare for MSA next year ( that he is begging to take). I had been looking at Study Island for a while now, but I didn't want to spend $49.99 if it's not going to work. Plus I would have to purchase 2 grade levels. (= $100.00 that I don't have to waste) I did do an internet seach for reviews on the program but I didn't find any that were helpful. Anyway thanks everyone.
I didn't mean for it to be a stir either. It didn't help my dd with her state test in my opinion. We had to use it b/c it was the only thing the public school used to prepare them for their state test. You can go to your state board of education site and get samples and practice tests for your state tests. My dd has to take the "real" state test this year. She was taking the pre-test last year. I don't think computer programs help them to prepare for the written test. I plan to use the test prep books from Barnes and Noble for her grade level (4th). I think they are Spectrum. I am also going to print the practice tests from the state board of education. I think this helps to prepare children for the actual test taking process and procedures.
Hi, Cricutmaster, I see that this thread is quite old, but I would like to add my two cents for other folks who are wondering about Study Island. This is just my personal opinion, but it is based on two and a half school years of using this product through my children's online public school, the Georgia Cyber Academy. I detest Study Island. My children hate it. I am seriously considering withdrawing from the Cyber Academy (which I love), just so we can get away from Study Island. I know it's not quite fair to drop in and leave my opinion without explaining the details of my position, but I can't fully get into it right this minute. I really just wanted to put this out there, because I get the feeling that there are other people like me who are required to use Study Island, are struggling with it, and don't know where to turn. I am working on a more substantial critique of this product which I am planning to send to our school's principal. When I get it finished, I will post it here. As an aside, it's funny that last year, when I did the search "Study Island Reviews", LOTS of negative reviews on blogs and threads like this one popped up. This year, I found nothing but 4 star reviews and the comments on this thread. I wonder if the company that owns Study Island has gone on a major PR blitz, and is aggressively burying negative reviews. SISocialNetwork's responses above seem to lend some credence to that idea. No offense intended, SISocialNetwork.
Amen! We are required to do it in our K12 e-school too. We hate it. The computer voice is awful, the games are not fun, and the buttons are so touchy that if you roll your mouse over them they get pressed. If you get too many wrong (for any reason) you have to keep doing more and more until your average is passing. If your child get frustrated or just guesses and starts clicking answers it messes up your average big time. You will be stuck on that test FOREVER. My daughter hates doing Study Island. She doesn't mind the printed test as much but they don't pint in a good format (very hard to read) and there is no way to put them into the computer for them to count. The printed tests are not the same as the computer test.
