Our Real Experience with Reading Eggs After 3+ Years of Worldschooling

When we first left the US in May 2022, I packed what I thought was everything we'd need for homeschooling on the road. Workbooks, flashcards, reading games, art supplies. By month two, most of it had been abandoned in various European cities because hauling educational materials across continents is impossible.

That's when I discovered Reading Eggs, and honestly, it saved our homeschool sanity.

We've been traveling full-time for over three years now. Our girls have been to more than 20 countries, lived everywhere from Tokyo apartments to Vietnamese beach towns, and somehow managed to not just keep up with their reading but actually excel at it. Reading Eggs has been a huge part of that success.

What Reading Eggs Is (And Isn't)

Reading Eggs is an online reading program for kids ages 2-13. It teaches phonics, sight words, and reading comprehension through games and interactive lessons. Kids earn rewards and move through levels at their own pace.

What it's not is a complete curriculum. It only does reading. No math, no science, no social studies. (Though they do make Mathseeds for math.) Just reading, but it does reading really well.

The program works on tablets, computers, and phones, which matters when you're constantly moving. Everything syncs across devices, so the girls can start a lesson on the laptop in our Airbnb and finish it on a tablet during a long train ride.

How We Actually Use It

Every morning, before we start our day's adventures, the girls do their Reading Eggs lessons. Usually takes 20-30 minutes per kid. They've gotten so used to this routine that they ask for it when we skip a day.

Lily (9) is working through the advanced levels and reading chapter books. Cora (8) loves the interactive stories and is finally confident with phonics. Harper (6) just graduated from the early learning section and can read simple sentences now.

The best part? I don't have to sit there and teach every lesson. The program is designed for kids to work independently, which gives me time to plan our day or actually drink my coffee while it's hot (or cold, as is often the case with the amazing Thai iced coffees I'm obsessed with).

What Works Really Well

Consistency Across Countries When everything else in your life is constantly changing, having one educational constant is incredibly valuable. Whether we're in Bangkok or Chiang Mai or Prague, Reading Eggs is always the same. Same login, same progress, same familiar interface.

No Physical Materials to Lose I cannot tell you how many workbooks we've left behind in various accommodations. With Reading Eggs, there's nothing to pack, nothing to lose, nothing taking up space in our already overstuffed luggage.

Individual Pacing All three girls are at completely different reading levels. Reading Eggs puts each kid exactly where they need to be and lets them progress at their own speed. No more trying to find three different sets of level-appropriate books in random international bookstores.

Rewards System That Actually Works The golden eggs and certificates might seem silly, but they genuinely motivate the girls. Harper squeals with excitement every time she earns a new egg. It makes reading feel like playing instead of schoolwork.

The Challenges

Internet Requirements This is the biggest issue for traveling families. Reading Eggs needs internet for most features, and reliable internet isn't guaranteed everywhere we go. Rural areas, budget accommodations, travel days... there have been plenty of times when the girls couldn't access their lessons.

You can download some content for offline use, but it's limited. I've learned to download whatever I can when we have good wifi, especially before long travel days or when heading somewhere remote.

It's Just Reading Reading Eggs only covers reading skills. You'll need other resources for math, science, writing practice, and everything else kids need to learn. (Though they do make a math program called Mathseeds if you're interested.) It's not a one-stop education solution.

Screen Time Concerns As much as I love the program, it is more screen time for the kids. In places like Japan or Thailand where there's so much to explore, it sometimes feels wrong to have them on devices. But 30 minutes of educational screen time feels like a reasonable trade-off for the consistency and progress they're making.

Real Results We've Seen

Lily was a reluctant reader when we started traveling. She preferred being read to and would give up easily when encountering unfamiliar words. After two years with Reading Eggs, she devours books. She read the entire Magic Tree House series during our time in Vietnam and is now working through the Dork Diaries books.

Cora struggled with phonics and would guess at words instead of sounding them out. The systematic phonics instruction in Reading Eggs finally made it click for her. She's now confident tackling new words and actually enjoys reading aloud.

Harper went from scribbles to reading simple sentences. Watching a three-year-old become a reader is pretty amazing, and Reading Eggs made it feel natural and fun instead of forced.

Cost Reality Check

Reading Eggs costs about $100 per year for a family subscription. That breaks down to roughly $8 per month for all three kids, or less than $3 per child per month.

Compare that to international school tuition (often $1000+ per month per child), private tutoring ($30-50 per hour), or constantly buying new books and materials as you travel, and it's actually quite reasonable.

Hidden costs to consider: you need devices that can run the app smoothly, and it will use some of your internet data if you're on limited plans.

Should You Try It?

Reading Eggs works well for families who:

• Have reasonably reliable internet most of the time
• Want kids to work independently on reading skills
• Need consistency across different locations and time zones
• Have multiple children at different reading levels

It's probably not right if:

• Your internet is consistently poor or unreliable
• You strongly prefer hands-on, non-digital learning
• You need a complete curriculum that covers all subjects
• You're on an extremely tight budget

Getting Started

Reading Eggs offers a 30-day free trial, which gives you plenty of time to test it with your kids in different situations. Don't just try it at home though. Test it with poor wifi, during travel days, when the kids are tired or cranky. That's when you'll really know if it works for your family.

The setup is straightforward. Each child gets their own profile and takes a quick assessment to determine their starting level. The parent dashboard shows you what they're working on and how they're progressing.

If you want to try it, you can start the free trial here. Just remember it's only part of the education puzzle, not the whole solution.

Reading Eggs isn't perfect, but after over three years of full-time travel with three kids, it's proven to be one of our most reliable educational tools. It's helped our girls not just maintain their reading skills but actually improve them while living this unconventional lifestyle.

For traveling families struggling with reading education, it's definitely worth a try.

Lindsay helps families plan educational travel experiences as a certified travel advisor with Fora Travel. Follow our family's worldschooling journey on YouTube and Instagram.

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