ABCmouse.com Review on whether ABCmouse is really worth the cost. ABCmouse.com is an educational platform for children 2-8 years old which helps children dive into reading, math, science, art, and more.
ABCmouse.com Review: IS ABCmouse worth the cost?
An Unbiased Review of ABCmouse By a Skeptical Mom of 2
If you’re anything like me then you’ve seen the ABCmouse commercials all over Disney Jr and Nick Jr….because, let’s face it, with 2 kids under 6 those seem to be the only channels we get these days. And I have to say- ABCmouse has an advertising budget that must be INSANE….they’re like the sole sponsor of Disney Jr!
Anyway, over the last several years I’ve seen hundreds….no, more like thousands, of these commercials and I always thought “who would PAY for that when there are so many free educational websites out there for kids?”.
Seriously, it seems like a complete waste of money….right? Let’s take a closer look!
ABCmouse is an online learning platform designed for children between the ages of 2 and 8. It claims to provide a comprehensive curriculum that covers subjects like reading, math, science, art, and music. The platform is specifically designed to help young children develop the skills they need to succeed in school and beyond.
In this blog post, we’ll dive deeper into what ABCmouse is, how it works, and whether it’s worth the cost.
What Is ABCmouse?
ABCmouse is an award-winning educational platform that provides a fun and engaging learning experience for young children. It was launched in 2010 by Age of Learning, Inc., a company based in California. Since then, ABCmouse has become one of the most popular online learning platforms for young children, with over 10 million subscribers worldwide.
ABCmouse offers a comprehensive curriculum that is designed to help children develop essential skills in subjects like reading, math, science, art, and music. The curriculum is based on the National Common Core Standards and is designed to be interactive and engaging for young children.
How Does ABCmouse Work?
ABCmouse is an online learning platform that can be accessed from any device with an internet connection. The platform is designed to be user-friendly and easy to navigate for both parents and children. When you sign up for ABCmouse, you will be asked to create a parent account and a child account.
Once you have created your account, you can start exploring the ABCmouse curriculum. The curriculum is organized by grade level and subject, making it easy to find the content that is most relevant to your child’s needs. Each lesson is designed to be interactive and engaging, with games, songs, and other activities to help children learn and retain information.
ABCmouse also offers a range of features that are designed to help parents track their child’s progress and support their learning journey. Parents can access detailed progress reports that show how their child is doing in each subject and identify areas where they may need extra support.
Why People Choose ABCmouse?
ABCmouse is a great choice for parents who want to provide their children with a fun and engaging learning experience. Here are some of the reasons why ABCmouse is a popular choice among parents:
- Comprehensive Curriculum: ABCmouse offers a comprehensive curriculum that covers a wide range of subjects, making it easy for parents to find content that is relevant to their child’s needs.
- Interactive and Engaging: The curriculum is designed to be interactive and engaging, with games, songs, and other activities that make learning fun for young children.
- Easy to Use: ABCmouse is easy to navigate and user-friendly, making it easy for parents and children to use.
- Parental Support: ABCmouse offers a range of features that are designed to help parents support their child’s learning journey, including detailed progress reports and personalized learning plans.
- Affordable: ABCmouse is an affordable option compared to traditional tutoring services, making it accessible to families of all income levels.
What is the Cost of ABC Mouse?
At the time of writing this post, ABCmouse costs just $12.99 per month with a 30-Day free trial. Or you can use this ABCMouse coupon and get a full year for $45! That’s just $3.75 a month!!
My Personal ABCMouse Review
This past Christmas we bought the kids an iPad, which is a completely new territory for us. We’ve always had Android tablets but since Little Man is using an iPad in kindergarten, we decided to bite the bullet and go with an iPad.
In our hunt for educational apps for the iPad we kept running into issues like:
- The FREE Apps weren’t REALLY free
- The FREE Apps were VERY short and simple
- The FREE Apps were riddled with Pop up ads and click bait
- The kids would easily get bored with an app and want something new
- The paid apps add up QUICKLY
I must say, over the years, ABCmouse.com has gotten into my head with all of those commercials and after 3 days of no school during Christmas vacation, my curiosity finally got the better of me. But first I needed to do a bit of research and check out the reviews online…
Other ABCmouse.com Reviews
From all of the ABCmouse.com reviews I could find, they seemed to be split across the board. People either loved ABCmouse or hated it….there wasn’t much to be found in between.
Billing Issues with ABCmouse.com
Let’s start off with why people hated it. The most common reason I could find was that many people experienced billing issues and were not getting much luck with customer service.
There are lots of complaints about trying to cancel their service and continuing to be charged along with several reviews that stated they were charged for the full year instead of the month to month option.
They must have taken this feedback into consideration because after signing up I was easily able to find the “Cancel Subscription” page in my parent dashboard.
(update 5/11/23: Since writing this blog post, my children have outgrown ABCMouse…can you believe they’re already in 6th and 3rd grade?! Anyway, I was able to easily cancel my subscription and didn’t run into any of the issues that some older reviews mention.)
Age Range for ABCmouse.com
The other main complaint that I found regarding ABCmouse was that it is too juvenile for older children. I can see how this will probably be the one and only year that Little Man uses ABCmouse. It is a bit on the juvenile end of the spectrum, especially for kids who are used to playing with iPads and Xboxes. But, for Miss Jellybean, I see her enjoying the lessons for the next several years.
(update 5/11/23: We actually used ABCMouse all the way up through 1st grade! Then we switched over to Adventure Academy and are still loving it!)
Parent Tracking for ABCmouse.com
One of the most popular reasons that parents love ABCmouse is the Progress Tracker for Parents. In the parent’s backend, you are able to track each of your children’s progress and dive into what they like doing the most, where they excel, where they need help, and so much more. I have to admit the progress tracker section is very impressive and helps me to know where to help Little Man in his reading and math skills.
Extensive Educational Curriculum for ABCmouse.com
Another winner for many parents is the extensive educational curriculum offered by ABCmouse. With over 8500 educational activities and more being added regularly there are a plethora of entertainment options available for kids.
ABCmouse structures the learning experience around activities for everyone…there’s painting activities, singing, storytelling, reading, science foundations, math games, prizes, and more. The kids don’t feel like they’re learning…they just feel like they’re playing video games but secretly they’re learning tons of great foundational elements.
We Decided to Take the Plunge With ABCmouse.com
After checking out all of the online reviews and doing plenty of research on ABCMouse, I decided to give it a try. Now, let me start off by saying that Little Man has had a little bit of exposure to using ABCMouse.com because they offer it in the children’s center of our local library. Check and see if your local library offers ABCMouse.com and go check it out a few times before making the commitment.
I already knew that Little Man enjoyed the games but he gets very frustrated with using the mouse to play the games because he couldn’t always get it to line up right. Ah…the tribulations of the modern world where everything is touchscreen. Knowing that he would be using ABCMouse primarily on the iPad I figured he would be fine.
And boy was he!
He was so excited to have ABCMouse.com at home, he played so many levels he acquired 100 tickets on his first day! And now that school has started back, his tenacity for playing hasn’t faltered at all.
He wakes up 15 minutes early and gets completely ready for school on his own so he can play it before school. That right there is a parenting WIN! No more fighting to get him ready for school….he knows, if he wants to play on the iPad then he has to be completely ready to walk out the door.
Is ABCMouse.com Worth the Cost
When the ABCMouse coupon for $45 a year is available then I say grab the year of ABCMouse.com IF your children are between 3-6 years old. Outside of that age range and I think ABCMouse will either be too juvenile or too advanced. If they’re over 6, then I HIGHLY recommend checking out Adventure Academy!
At just $3.75 a month that makes it cheaper than purchasing most apps for your device. And they offer over 8500 games and learning activities….so that alone is well worth the price!
Personally, I love that I can give Little Man the iPad as a reward for doing his chores, being nice to his sister, helping out around the house, etc. and I know that he’s still learning and practicing his reading. So it’s a total WIN/WIN for me!
But, what I like even more is that I can watch his progress from the Parent Dashboard. I’m really impressed with how they have set up the dashboard so you can see how your child is trending and what activities he/she prefers. This helps me figure out other learning activities to do with him that aren’t using the iPad.
For example, Little Man really loves the “fill in the blank” type activities. By seeing that these are the activities he’s drawn to in the app then I can search on Pinterest for fun printables or check out Target for some fun letter games. I kinda feel like I get the cheatsheet in parenting by letting him play “games” and I know how to teach him better. 🙂
Note: I was not contacted, paid, or compensated by ABCMouse.com to write this review. I purchased the one year program and chose to share my findings with you. ABCMouse does offer a small referral fee for anyone who purchases it through the links above. This referral fee helps me pay all of the hosting fees to keep this site up and running. If you choose to purchase ABCMouse.com I would appreciate you buying it through this link at no extra cost to you. Thanks!
