Parent reviews for ABCmouse.com

ABCmouse sounded interesting, so I decided to register for my four-year old son. He really enjoys playing games on playstation, iPad and online (ie Fisherprice, Cartnoon Network). He also enjoys our own learning activities- we regularly do "homework", where he learns to read and write four to five-letter words, as well as math games, memory games, etc. I thought he would love this site. At first, it was neat to make an avatar that looked like him, and watch it move along the learning path, but it was way too easy. So, I took it to the next level...still too easy. ABCmouse apparently believes that math games for preschoolers should be counting to 10 and number identification. Dispite this, I let him carry on with the lessons. Later I noticed that there are quite a few "art" lessons, which was just frustrating. More than most, I appreciate the arts (my degree is in art, for crying outloud!) and I couldn't bare it. It was coloring pages, tons of them. The pointer had terrible delay for all coloring sessions and my son and I found it both boring and aggrevating. Maybe it's for some kids, but I don't see how coloring in line art could possibly teach anything to anyone. My son sees them as a chore. Why not put in an at-home craft activity, or have them look at actual art by real artists? After completing the "art activity", it wouldn't allow us to move forward unless we saved the darn thing. I customized the activities to exlude all coloring, but still, it just seemed so slow and boring. Games took so long to load, stories were slow and uninteresting, songs bored you to sleep. My advice is to save your money, download a few applications for your tablet or phone. If you can't do that, then check out Umizoomi videos at the library and check out a few beginner books. I can't say enough for the public library system. If you do have the ability to download apps for your child to use, I highly recomend Monkey Preschool Lunchbox for reading, Umizoomi Race Around the City for preschool math, any jigsaw puzzle apps for problem-solving, heck, there are tons of resources to keep your kid learning and motivated. ABCmouse just isn't quite there in terms of site layout, smooth navigation, and appropriate activities that will hold a preschooler's attention. I would have happily offered my suggestions when I cancelled, but they didn't provide a section to explain my issue, only a few boxes that gave you ONE option to check. If ABCmouse really wanted to improve their site, they should send a survey, or give parents a comment section.