Math Shed and Spelling Shed Review

{Disclaimer:  I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review.  I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.}


My kids really enjoy when I add digital learning resources to our homeschool.  Math Shed and Spelling Shed have been a hit around here for the last month and I have a feeling the kids are really going to appreciate it even more as we head into the summer.

A peek at both Spelling Shed and Math Shed

We received a 12 month subscription to both of these programs for up to five kids {C, D, E, F and G have accounts}.  They each created a personalized avatar and had a lot of fun with this.  They can personalize their skin color, eye shape and color, mouth, hair color and style, background color, and shirt color.

 Above you can see some of the avatar options.

You can purchase upgrades for your avatar with honeypots.  Honeypots are earned within the games when questions are answered correctly.  Upgrades available include shirt upgrades (pockets, buttons, and various designs), background upgrades (stars, various stripes, and various scenes), and accessory upgrades (glasses, masks, wand, headbands, hats, etc.).

Above you can see some of the background upgrades available.

The kids current avatars that they created.  A few of them have purchased new backgrounds.

Our subscription gives me access to the Teacher Hub and the kids have unlimited access to the web games.  I like that they can easily alternate between Math Shed and Spelling Shed as they like.

Math Shed Games

There are several games available in Math Shed for students to play:  Number Bonds, Times Tables, Powers of 10, Add and Subtract, and More.

 In Number Bonds, students can chose to have just addition, just subtraction, a mixture, numbers that add to 10, numbers that add to 20, or numbers that add to 100.

Students are to answer as many questions as they can in 1 minute.

In the easier levels, problems appear like above.

And this is what they look like in more difficult levels.

 Similarly in Times Tables students can choose to work on just multiplication, just division, a mixture and a variety of number choices.

 Again, students are to answer as many questions as they can in 1 minute.

Here is a problem from an easier level.

 In Powers of 10 students can chose between whole numbers and decimals as well.  You get the idea.

 And Addition and Subtraction includes single digits - 4 digits.

Here is an example problem within an Addition and Subtraction game.

The kids find these math games to be fun.  They also appreciate that they can choose what math operation they want to work on or practice at.  I like that these games challenge the kids to see how many problems they can answer in a minute and that they help the kids practice their mental math skills while having fun.

Spelling Shed Game Stages or Levels which increase in difficulty as the number increases.

Spelling Shed Games

Bonus Games

There are several games available in Spelling Shed for students to play:  Play, Create Hive, Bee Keeper and Missing Word.  In Play, students practice spelling a list of words while being timed.  In easier levels, students are given the letters needed to choose from and place in order.

The student is asked to spell from.  You can see that only the letters needed are provided.  Students can click on each letter in order, or they can use the keyboard to correctly spell out the word.

In harder levels, students must choose the correct letters needed to spell the word from numerous letter choices.

Above, the student is asked to spell allowed.  You can see lots of letter choices available to choose from.

In Bee Keeper, students guess words by choosing letters - think hangman.  You lose one bee for each incorrect letter guess.  When you find a word you will get three bees back and earn a honey pot.  The goal is to see how many words you can find before you completely run out of bees.

Playing Bee Keeper.  You can see all the faded letters have already been chosen.  The word is going to be field.

In Missing Word you might have to chose the correct word between two choices or you may have to spell the word yourself depending on the level of difficulty.

Hive games are fun because students can play with each other inside the program.  One student selects a stage and difficulty level and then creates a hive.  They are given a hive code number.  Another player can go to their menu, select join a hive game and enter in the given code.  Then both players can race against each other.

Setting up a Hive game.

My kids like to do this with each other and it's fun to watch.  They have to be on two different computers or devices in order to make this work.  And on that note, my kids like to use these programs both on our desktop computers and on our iPad.

I previously mentioned that students earn honey pots as they play games and answer questions correctly.  The honey pots accumulate together for both Math Shed and Spelling Shed.  There are other awards given that are specific to the program itself - stars, medals, and trophies.

Above you can see screenshots from F's account.  

He has 578 honey pots in Math Shed and Spelling Shed (remember they accumulate the same amount for each program).  He doesn't have any stars for either.  He has 37,490 medals in Math Shed and 33,000 for Spelling Shed.  And he has 715,296 trophies in Math Shed and 193,000 in Spelling Shed.

And above you can see E's account as another example.  Unlike F (when I took his screenshot), E has tons of stars.

Difficulty Levels

Another feature I like is the ability for the student to choose their difficulty level.  In Spelling Shed students can choose easy, medium, hard or extreme.  In Math Shed students can choose between easy, medium or hard.  I like this because it allows a broader range for different ages and abilities.  The older kids need to challenge themselves; whereas, my younger crew need the easier levels at first.  Then, they too, can work their way up in difficulty.

I haven't taken full advantage of the Teacher Hub as the kids have been using these programs just for fun but it has data reporting so you can monitor the progress of all your students.  You can also schedule and track assignments.  This might be something that I look into using more in the future.

I think both of these programs are most appropriate for grades K-5/6.  G is definitely on the young side and I think C is a bit too old for it but that hasn't stopped both of them from enjoying it along with their other siblings.  If you are looking for math or spelling practice for your kids (or even more digital learning resources), these are great options to consider. 

Be sure to click on the banner below to visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read even more reviews of Math Shed and Spelling Shed.

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