Over the holiday break I decided to take a look at a few new programs for this semester. After looking through some of the top leading online learning platforms Nessy peaked my interest. Nessy is reading , spelling and grammar curriculum that is designed for kids with all sorts of abilities. What sets Nessy apart from competitors is the design. Nessy is aligned with how children with dyslexia learn to read and write. Now my son doesn’t have dyslexia but like all moms we always worry about making sure our kids are learning in the approach that works for them. For this review I will be discussing the Nessy Reading and Spelling ages 6-11 and Writing Beach ages 7-14.
I decided to do the trial and my son LOVED it. I reached out the company and they were gracious enough to extend our account. The kids start out with is called the Challenge Placement. You can have your student bypass the Reading Challenge Placement, but I wouldn’t recommend bypassing the reading assessment. The assessment is really detailed and it helps the system target exactly where your student needs practice. There is also a Spelling Challenge Placement I let my son complete the first few parts of the assessment but I knew as a mom that he really needed more practice with spelling so in this case I decided to manually go into the system and place him. I did this because I didn’t want to frustrate him he missed a few words and I wanted Nessy to continue to be an enjoyable experience. So I would recommend if you know your student isn’t a strong speller to just manually place them and then do the assessment when you think they have strengthen their skills.
There are 10 islands and 100 lessons in the Reading and Spelling my son placed at lesson 71 as his starting lesson target, Now I know what your thinking only 100 lesson, let me just tell you these lessons are broken down very detailed your kids are not going to just fly through them and the target lessons (these are targets the assessment sets) will have your student moving between various lesson and islands so don’t fret because my sons next lesson was 83 then back to 72. So you can totally ignore the fact that there are 100 lessons and 10 islands because the system is going to move your kids around the islands according to the set targets. You can manually change this in the administration board if you like but I recommend you let your student work the targets.
So lets talk about the Writing Beach, how I LOVE WRITING BEACH!!! The Writing Beach is the grammar part of Nessy. This is a comprehensive program that covers grammar and writing skills. There are 10 fun filled detailed lesson ,the first 6 lesson are grammar and the last lessons are writing skills. In Writing Beach the students have an option to take assessment or work through the lessons. I started my son from lesson one because even though he is pretty good in his grammar the review is still good for him. You can also go into the system and set lesson as well for your student. At the time of this review my son is working in lesson 1 Sentence Structure but I also set him a target lesson 6 for Past Tense and Irregular Verbs because we are working on this in his curriculum.
Nessy also includes extension activities with every lesson. These printable extension lessons can be used as a way to reinforce the skills and mastery. The Nessy resource library is extensive. Parents can find helpful “worksheets, strategies, phonics and Mnemonics materials“. The student reporting pages is detailed and gives parents an accurate account of what their students are learning. As mentioned parents can follow the assessment targets set or they can manually set targets themselves that pop up on their students dashboard to complete.
For those parents who are interested in the Dyslexia Quest Screener, the cost is only $20 a year per student. This is affordable option provides your students 6 assessment areas. the screener test and been researched by board certified doctor. There is also a free dyslexic early test on the website. There is a lot information on the website in regards to dyslexia if you are looking for more information. Nessy also has Nessy Fingers for typing and a Summer Pack to help with that summer slide prevention. You can also find Nessy new YouTube channel go Hairy with educational videos for ages 4-6.
So lets talk cost at the time of this review the monthly cost for 1 student is $12 a month or $100 for the year for the Reading and Spelling. The Writing Beach is $25 a year per student. The company offers sibling discount as well as 3 different bundle packages. I give this program a thumbs up if you are looking for and affordable program that appeals to all children’s learning styles. They have great customer service and the website is loaded with lots of information and added benefits.
Until the Next Time,
Mom and J
FTC Disclaimer The majority of products featured on my blog have been purchased by me. At any time a product has been provided to me by a company for a review or as an affiliate or I enter into a partnership with a company. I will disclose it in the video and/or description. Amazon affiliate links are provided for your convenience at no additional charge to you. All opinions and reviews that I share are always entirely my own.
Little Learner and Mom 