MESSYLEARNING by PandaParents REVIEW

MESSYLEARNING FOR PRESCHOOLERS AND KINDERGARTNERS by PandaParents is our newest review and Little Bug approves.  I received the first 3 months of digital copies of their program and should be receiving 3 more months soon.  The files included digital reading books, videos, and digital workbooks.  This is a monthly digital subscription service so you would get one month at a time.  Each month there is a story topic and for each month you have a reading book, a video that supports that book, and a workbook that reviews the story and has LOTS of activities to work on throughout the month.
M.E.S.S.Y.Learning is an acronym for:

• Mixed subjects and activities for integrative learning
• Engaging activities and questions that challenge brains
• Simple 1-2-3 steps: READ, WATCH, DO
• Smart designs for creative learning
• Yeah, a new way to promote early brain growth!

I was able to download the files with no problem.  I have a wonderful, very economical, color printer that I get ink for very cheaply so I was able to print off the reading book (only 50 pages - 25 duplexed-  for the first month) and the workbook (only 40 pages, 20 duplexed).  They are both PDF files so you could easily just read them on your computer and only print necessary pages from the workbook for assignments.  Technically all pages in the workbook need to be printed but there are some you can adapt and just have child answer on screen.

Their program says it builds complex brain functions (early brain development) and fine motor skills through:

• Story recall and thinking activities (preschool stories with pictures)
• Reading, writing, and tracing (early reading activities for preschoolers)
• Sequence and matching games
• Counting, math, and writing numbers (early childhood education math activities)
• Completing patterns, sorting colors, and shapes (preschool learning)

It is recommended that you read the story, watch the video, then complete a page or two in the workbook (they recommend you use it 2-3 times per week for 30 minutes at a time).  We followed the suggestions and worked on ours about 2 - 3 days per week for about 30 minutes or so.  We, of course, reread the book several times and watched the videos multiple times.  Repetition is key at this stage of learning.  Some of the material was very much PreK oriented but Little Bug still enjoyed working on her pages.  I liked the reinforcement she was getting.

Sample book page

The first month we chose to work on has a book with two parts and two videos (part 1 and part 2).  The Part 1 video was approximately 10 minutes long and Part 2 was approximately 38 minutes.  The first part of the book was A Jolly Jingling Journey and if you guessed it was based on the letter J, you would be correct!  The letters R and F are also covered.  The story opens with introducing Davy Rainbow and his dogs Dahu and Magnus. In his dream, they travel to the North Pole and meet Jet, a husky dog. They learn about the letter J and patterns.  They play a game of "find me" to find Santa.  The second part of the book was An Epic Journey.  Davy and his gang help Santa find a missing reindeer.  We learned about the migration of reindeer.  Davy and Santa use clues to find the reindeer.  They use Jet and his friends to pull the sleigh to go look for them.  All through the story the letter "J" and "J" words are being used.  We counted the reindeer with lighted collars.  The story ends with Davy waking up on Christmas morning. At the end of the book, there is an Extra Credit page that has even more activities with an answer key.

Extra Credit page

In the video, Part 1, we learn about the Special Guest Star letter "J" and juggling.  Both upper and lowercase letters are shown.  I also really liked how they subtly introduced foreign language in a couple of places.  It is cute and whimsical and Little Bug got a kick out of it.  Little Bug is 5 years old and I have done a lot of Kindergarten work with her this past year but we will also repeat Kindergarten next year.  The Part 2 video is a movie version of the book with some extra activities.  It is a wonderful reinforcement to the storybook.

Sample video clips

The third part of this curriculum is the workbook that further reinforces themes from the story and this is where your child gets to really engage in various activities including cutting, pasting, matching, coloring, counting, and writing (including tracing). Activities teach your child to problem solve and learn about sequencing.  They will learn about nature and shapes, feelings and emotions.

Workbook cover

Sample workbook page

Little Bug working on her workbook page

Sticker page can be printed on sticker label paper or just
 cut out and glued on page (which is what we did)

There really is a lot to this curriculum and when you look at it as a whole and work through the activities you can see how engaged your child becomes.  It is a fun curriculum that is just perfect for the PreK age group.  It will go a long way to preparing them for kindergarten.  With there just being a book per month I'm not sure this could be a stand alone program (I can't see if they cover all 26 letters of the alphabet), but definitely a great supplemental one.  If the goal is for it to be a stand alone program and all 26 letters will be covered then It would probably work just fine.  I looked at the other two books we received.  Mommy's Baby covers the letters P, T, K, and B and animals and shapes.  The video for Mommy's Baby is only about 5 minutes long.  The third book I received, Scotty Skunk Hears a Scary Sound, covers the letters S and H.  It also covers nature and seasons.

I think I would recommend MESSYLEARNING FOR PRESCHOOLERS AND KINDERGARTNERS for Preschool aged children that have not had experience with their letters and numbers.  It is a wonderful introduction to more formal learning and will give them many skills they need to be Kindergarten ready.  Little Bug is really enjoying it even though she already knows her letters and numbers.  There are still some skills she needs to work on that this curriculum covers.

You can connect with PandaParents on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, and INSTAGRAM.  Currently, they have digital subscriptions available.  If you want printed books they have options for that but they will only fulfill those once they receive 200 orders or more.  Just check their website out for more details on all the options available for purchase.  Of course, your best deal is the monthly digital subscription.
Please also be sure to check out the other reviews to see what fellow Crew members have to say.