HOMER: Fun Learning For Kids Reviews

by Jennatrix967

We love HOMER so much, we’ve had it for almost 2 years now and my kiddo absolutely loves it and has learned so much and I love as a parent that it grows with their knowledge. So if you happen to have an intelligent child that learns at a higher level than their age group, it doesn’t stop or stunt their progress like other learning apps that keep them in their age groups regardless.

The cons to HOMER is unfortunately as of late, now that their trying to “fix bugs”. My kiddo hasn’t been able to successfully get into his learning for the past 2 months and our annual plan is supposed to renew here soon so I’m not sure if to keep it or not as we haven’t been able to use it and has been starting to feel almost like a waste. :/

Please fix these issues as soon as possible, my kiddo has been working so hard on his learning outside of HOMER but with his adhd this has been the best method we’ve found so far that he can hyper focus with and stay up with his skills and not fall back.

by Nouvellevague220

I had finally found an app that was simple, that my daughter could use to help learn how to read, that was progressive, that I didn’t have to look over her shoulder and make sure she was doing something educational unlike ABC mouse which I found to be a mishmash of overstimulation but that has all changed with this update. I can no longer get to her to focus on one thing, she only wants to watch the videos, stories and play the games. Even the math section is just a total mess, when we first signed up, HOMER asked what reading skills she had but did nothing of the sort when they introduced math, the activities aren’t linear so she keeps doing the same activities that she enjoys instead of moving onto other ones, I can’t seem to find any parental controls in terms of what she has access to, how much time she spends on certain things... I literally cannot express how much I hate it.

by Concha Tu Mare

I understand that this an application and the developers would like to get what they put in, but how sick is it that you will charge for education instead of investing in someone’s life free of charge just to have the satisfaction that someone learned through your work. I’ve been a teacher for a very long time for young learners. I still don’t like the idea that if I download a GAME it’s all free..I download EDUCATION oh, I have to pay. I don’t live in the states, I don’t make dollars, and I sure as HELL don’t think ANY parent should pay to teach their kid their ABCs. Here’s the thing, I’m not paying for an app that just tells me it’s great. You have subjected education to only those with affordable incomes that can benefit you. Even though I can’t be one of those parents for my kid, my kid deserves educational apps as well. And IM SO SICK of seeing that every child educational application has a fee. IM DONE with the greed of the world that they only see MONEY! I hope you rot with your app money.

by Ldysnr

I first saw HOMER through a Carter’s shipment ad and installed it on my daughters iPad to try (There should be a trial period according to Carter’s ad, may be 2 or 3 months) We tried the entire day (because this would be her first app, so she insisted quite a lot) but HOMER was never opened so I found another one for my daughter. I had no idea how much HOMER or what would be the trial term, but since we tried all day that day and could not be successful, I just gave up. Today I realized that HOMER is making me pay a monthly fee of $9.99 since two months😳 We have never opened HOMER , never been able to use, even for once, and paid all those money! My suggestion to all future customers would be to go to their settings and cancel their subscriptions in case that they will face the same problem as we do. Apple chat support warned me that it is not enough to delete an app if it is a subscription even during the trial period. Sorry I am not an insider since I have never been able to use HOMER but I also don’t believe that I am the only person who faces a such problem so wanted to warn you all.

by GIGI10164

I’m not sure what to rate HOMER so I rated it three for now. I subscribed the 8$ a month to see what it was like, and after the transaction was complete it did nothing. No next button or arrow. I thought something must of gone wrong so I went back and pressed continue. It lead me to the subscription page again. I tried to subscribe again, but it said I had already, and that I could manage it. I tried pressing the manage button but when I did, it just said I could cancel or change it to the annual subscription. I kept trying different things. I’m not sure if I’m just missing something obvious, or there is a bug. If the developers can fix this, or point out the obvious, that would mean a lot. Anyway, I will write another review when (hopefully) I get into HOMER for my little sis.

by Griffgriff27

I’ve only used the free trial so far.
Good:
It is great supplement for teaching your child along with other learning lessons you teach them do not use this solely alone. It does teach a lot in one app and seems it lives up to its advertisement. My son really enjoys it. I like the engagement of getting to respond to what you’ve learned as well as questions at the end of the lessons. Love the idea of a “pathway” that is personalized for each child to what their likes are although I couldn't pick all of the likes in the beginning had only a certain amount but overall it is a very smart app and my son seems to really like it, he asks to play it and is learning some from it so I think I will buy maybe a month to month and see how it goes from there.

Not so good:
It does freeze up sometimes and when my son went back to record his voice of what he wanted to say again about the lesson it wouldn’t allow him to so you have to only do it when you compete it and are still on that page, doesn’t seem you can go back and record. I don’t like that the stories don’t exactly match or complaint the lesson taught and overall just wish there was more to it. Also, it seems to specialize in reading but for the price I would like it to also be all basic subjects.

Overall:
Pretty good, is simple learning. Has engaging, fun characters that seem to make the pathway exciting but wish there was more to it (subjects).

:)

by Fandango85

I've been trying to sit down with my child to do these together but as soon as the "tell the story" activity comes up she spends all her time doing that. I understand the value of using pictures to guide her imagination and that story telling is a skill she should learn but she's not telling the story, she's just treating it like stickers and it's very distracting and time consuming. The drawing game too. If it would come up less often them it could be more of a reward for completing a module. As it stands this is just a waste of our time and I'm going to invest in other reading apps. Maybe if there was a time limit to these it would be better. Or give us some way to disable them.

Also it bothers me that the instruction is so rigid about how to draw the letters. Maybe this is important for some reason unknown to me but I think there are multiple ways to draw letters and it is frustrating that she can't do it the way she knows how.

by 2Kittens Love Me

My older daughter is dyslexic and her teacher noticed that she was struggling to have confidence with reading. Came across this on Pinterest one day and decided to try it. We have only been using the free trial for a few weeks and we love it!! My younger daughter is addicted to it right now. She is using the preschool pathway and loves everything. My older daughter is on the growing reader pathway and is gaining confidence, even if she is sometimes bored (it’s geared more towards younger children and she’s 8). I run a very small prekindergarten for about 6 of my friends kids. Our neighbor is incredibly bright for her age (newly 5 and can read chapter books) so I made her and her little brother profiles. However, it has her on the pre-k pathway and she says that it is really easy. Her brother is only 2 and is on the same pathway as my youngest(3). I remember that when I made my first profile, I gave me the option to chose another profile for my older daughter but I can’t do that now. Is their anyway that I can chose the pathway I think they should be on?

Overall, this is a really lovely app for any child who wants to have an educational boost. Totally recommend!!!!

by DoyleOwl

HOMER has been amazing in helping our 4 year old learn to read. The games and exercises are engaging and well thought out. My son is definitely learning and enjoys it. Win!

Some things, especially after the last big release are not so hot. The animations for the listening exercises slowed down SO much! They add what feels like an extra 5 minutes to each day’s lesson. Worse, it gives him time for his attention to wander. Also, the scene building game at the end of each lesson is just broken. Plain broken- we can’t scroll after we put down the first picture.

Otherwise, we are quite happy with HOMER , though I do wish the exercises would challenge him a bit more. There’s a fine line between being easy enough to not get frustrated and challenging enough to make faster progress.

by Halfwaytomygoal!

I’m a lab elementary teacher and I was looking for some apps that would help get my own children off on the right foot for reading! They did enjoy HOMER , however my daughter became bored quickly with the sight words part of the game. They enjoyed the different songs, books, etc., however they have to download all of them. This obviously became a problem with each item. They also claim to be able to track your child’s progress. This isn’t accurate. You can see what your child sees in HOMER . No progress, no data, etc. I emailed to company a while back about this and didn’t receive a response. My kids enjoyed it, however didn’t learn very much. Looking for a new app...

by MoNkEyGuRLmOnA

So I read the reviews and I was won over instantly. I downloaded the game and signed up to pay $8 a month to have my son play it after the free trial. Now my son is super hyper and I never let him have screen time but he’s behind in talking and knowing what he needs to know. So I let my son play this game and at first I’m like is he just coloring but they make it fun with puzzles ,coloring, identify the coloring game with ice cream lava for the kids and at first he skipped them reading the abcs now he stands up and dance and sing the abc in his special talk he does and you can hear him pronounce them better. He loves that he can color with the sticker of the hot dog and burger. If I was to make a suggestion that thing that just have the letters go by and it has what the letter start with as it goes by then it sings the abcs at the end make it into a game because my son was trying to touch the letters and identify them as they go by so maybe like a hide and find with other things not like the game with the balloons but like have a farm background with other things and have them identify the letters as they go by and have it go by fast and see how much they can get as it go by I think that would be fun. Thank you so much for helping my son learn in a fun way I have literally told everybody I talk to with kids about HOMER.

by Loveformod

We homeschool and my son (just turned 6) is so dang brilliant! Sometimes however, certain things do not hold his interest. Reading is one of those things. We’ve tried different curriculum, workbooks, other apps, flash cards, reading books, you tube videos... nothing held his attention (and other apps left him wandering around the page without actually working on the educational part of it). this app is the only app that has held his attention. It’s also the only app that is MAKING A DIFFERENCE! He actually enjoys learning how to read when it used to be the last thing on his mind. I’m so happy I’ve discovered this app for him.

And get this! His 3 year old sister is also using HOMER and loving it. I am so happy to have this tool to use as an aid in their education!

by Amanda JH38

I have taught 4 of my 5 children how to read. My youngest had not picked up on it very quickly. By Christmastime, she still did not know her ABC’s well, and was not doing well with reading. I was unsure of what to do next, but knew something different needed to be done. I decided to try this app. It has been the best thing we have ever done to help our youngest in her early education. After using this app for 2 months, my daughter can confidently say and write the alphabet in order. She can also read many sight words and sound out many others. She is not only learning so much from HOMER, but she loves doing it. Even at night she wants to do her “school”. this app has been such a God-send to us.

by Atrain839

As a busy mom, I am so grateful for the this app app! My daughter asks to have iPad time for this app specifically. Before school let out, I was given a list of areas that my Naomi needed to work on prior to school starting in the fall as determined by her teachers. this app actually gave a quick pre- assessment questionnaire in order to make a targeted learning path for her— I was so pleased to see that the path they created for her was exactly what her teachers said she needed to practice. There is a good mix of engaging reading and writing practice and Naomi is able to navigate with little to no help from me. Her brother (8) actually likes to do the work with her sometimes, laughing alongside her to the funny stories and cheering her on when she does the practices correctly. As a teacher and mother, I highly recommend!

by AsianSoul2468

Tried it because kindergarteners are expected to read. BEST PURCHASE EVER! Games and stories are short and keep interest. Content changes as my daughter continues along her pathway. She's already starting to recognize letters, even trying to name them. She saw a capital F and called it an E, but that's an amazing start! She loves making silly letter creatures and fairy stories with stickers. She can record her voice at the end of some of the stories, and the really great thing about that is that I can access all of her sticker pictures, voice recordings and such. Speaking of stories, there is a wide variety, including informational text, fantasy, science fiction, etc. and she gets to choose between three different stories each time. For as cheap as it is every month and how much my daughter is learning, this is the best purchase I've ever made!

by Nover1

My daughter is 2 going on 3, and she has been playing this app since she had just turned 2. Watching her write her ABCs and learn sounds and words makes me feel so proud. I’m so amazed by the progress she has made, I have to give some credit to this app! The best thing is she’s learning while having fun, which to me is the best way to learn. We started with the free trial and by the end of the first day I knew I was going to purchase HOMER . I even have fun playing with her! I love how she can grow with the game with the ‘Pathway’ as she gets older.
The other amazing thing is this app customer service. I was having issues with HOMER so I emailed this app and they told me all I had to do was update to the newer version (the issue was totally on my end.) Customer service responded so quickly and were very friendly. I recommend this app to anyone with a child age 2-8!

by Benbethandbeyond

My son whines about EVERYTHING he finds even slightly boring or uninteresting. He is struggling to start to read. I think he may even have a learning disability and most things I try with him make him whine 🙄 I saw an ad for HOMER and thought it was worth a try since it had a free trial. In two days I knew I found a winner. He looks forward to using the this app app and finds it very engaging. He loves his “monkey teacher” and the stories and games! He gets excited when he levels up and can see his progress. It was easy to decide to continue with the program after the trial was over. This past week he started identifying small words in texts while we read together and he also started to spell small words to me by sounding them out. I added my 3yr old and she loves it too! She has speech problems and recently started speech therapy. This is the perfect additional resource to help me get her ready for pre-school and kindergarten. Thank you!

by ViviSs893

Downloaded HOMER mid January and began doing a lesson (level) every other day with my 4 yo son. He already knew his letters and phonics but was having difficulty putting sounds with multiple letters together. As we started to go through levels I really noticed improvement and by end of March he was able to read simple sentences with the words in each level. Each level has a story at the end for reading practice and after a month and a half he is reading them on his own. We also practice reading books with simple sentences and he can read most of the words. He does need some additional practice for reinforcement outside HOMER so we practice the words that confuse him. Overall, I would totally recommend this for preschoolers and kindergarten age children. Note HOMER needs to be utilized regularly as repetition is the key for learning in HOMER. Having your child do one level a week will probably not be the most helpful.

by Nyuu42

I love this game. My 2,3 and even 5 year old LOVE it and are very engaged. For $8 a month is nothing. I lose that much in a couch a month or drop for quarters in random toy machines they play with for 5 seconds. HOMER keeps them engaged and happy, laughing at the funny videos and bragging about new skills. My 3 year old has had amazing reviews from her teacher in the last 3 days I’ve had this with her reading and letter comprehension. She has only been doing it for 3 days and she is ahead of the class when she was the one slacking. The games and jokes and fun tricks them into learning!! Sounds crazy but it’s great. MY ONLY COMPLAINT is the sticker games. They will do stickers for days if I don’t go to the next activity. BUT with any educational game, it’s something for parent AND child not just a tablet tutor. You have to do it with your child for the best benefit. Sometimes the games won’t go to the next level so we have to redo the entire area but it’s honestly not a big deal because they’re still having fun.

by Michellenaranjo24

I’ve had this the this app app for quite sometime I must say my toddler & I love HOMER! First off to start it has a bunch of different activities to complete from tracing letters of the alphabet to songs & rhymes. It amazes me how much my daughter learns from HOMER. The best part of this app is the section of art, where your child can create their story! My daughter goes all out she has so much fun putting “sticker like figures” on empty background // picture created for her to decorate. I have a subscription with them it’s about 8.99$ but it’s totally worth it if you think about it. The this app app also includes HOMER Stories, when you have the subscription which is nice like getting 2 for a price of one. The stories is really nice. Only thing is I wish they’d put more. They do have quite a few though so it’s fine for now. The customer service is absolutely wonderful, if needed any help they get back to you & are very friendly. I would love to see more games! More activities to do for sure. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the future of this app. I definitely recommend especially if you have a toddler!!

by Teachforsummer

Literally the first review I have ever written on any APP. I started a limited time offer more then a year ago, this app offered a special price for summer months. It was great for my kids who were in preschool. When my 3 months were up so was my access to the full APP. That is what I expected. Guess What?! Auto payment wasn’t! I have been autopaying for this this app APP that didn’t even allow me access to the full APP for over a year! Wish I could share photos (I took screenshots) on here to show you how confusing and ridiculous the cancellation process was. To cancel this membership you have to go through a complicated process to complete you cancelation. One of the last pages of cancellation I was give a choice of to give feedback about the reason for canceling. Then clicking one of two buttons. One: Keep My Membership. And two, guess what it was?! Two: Keep My Membership. I am so disappointed by they way this company chooses to treat its customers.

by Gold IPhone ;)

Learning to read can be a very emotional task. HOMER unfortunately does not help. I really wanted to like HOMER but after watching my daughter in tears for the 4th time because HOMER didn’t save her accomplished levels and dropped her back 2 levels, I realized it wasn’t worth the frustration. HOMER is very exciting when it works. Great celebration and sense of accomplishment but when that accomplishment is essentially taken away, that’s too much for a beginner to handle.
Also, HOMER does not track progress between different devices. So if my daughter primarily works on her iPad and then maybe wants to use my phone, her progress will not display. To be fair, this is something they know and have admitted in there FAQ.
All in all, there are many apps out there, find the one that will make the wonderful world of reading fun and not frustrating. One more thing, don’t bother contacting customer service, you will get no where fast.

by Hhbb113

We love this app! My daughter loves going on her iPad and doing her « schoolwork ». She uses it typically daily as a form of her homeschooling and gets a set amount of screen time just for this app. Until about a week or so ago and still to this day! HOMER no longer works on any device. We have reset multiple different devices, removed and re-downloaded HOMER on different devices and NOTHING works. HOMER just sits in a « loading » screen before you even get to choose what child is playing. It doesn’t load EVER no matter how long we let it sit. It isn’t our internet because everything else works just fine!

I am very disappointed by this and hope it gets fixed soon because my daughter has not been happy without her this app, and on top of it- I am paying for something that cannot even be used right now!

by K.cgoley

Great app both my kids use and love it and I have seen an improvement in their knowledge. With that being said, for the past three months, HOMER has had issues with loading and saving progress. I have been in touch with the support team over this issue and they told me to uninstall and reinstall HOMER . If problem still presists then to log out and log back it. I have done these things multiple times and both kids have lost all of their progress. I love HOMER but it is not glitchy and I don't feel the need to pay for it when it isn't working properly. They can't learn from the same two levels over and over. Another minor complaint is that it is not cross-compatible among devices. My iPhone and iPad have different levels for the kids even though the account it the same.

by ColleenT12

My 4.5 year old and 2.5 year old have been playing this nonstop since we downloaded it! We are still in the trail period of it BUT, it seems a little glitchy? My daughter will do the pathway and then suddenly just won’t her move on after completing something. Even if I do it after she does to see if she missed something, it won’t move forward. So if we close the whole app it’ll “fix” but it won’t be the same pathway anymore. I’m not sure what’s going on, this seems to be our only issue with HOMER . Otherwise we are LOVING HOMER. I love how it really wants them to get involved in repeating what HOMER has said. I love that they can’t just skip ahead to earn “tickets or a reward” and not actually completing the video or little game, or whatever HOMER may be asking for them to do. They’ve seriously been addicted to HOMER, and that makes for one happy mama, to know they love an app this much and it’s teaching them so much too! 😍😍

by Canoodle1234567

My son is not interested in learning letters/reading. This has engaged him with fun simple learning games that are mixed with creative games in just the right amount. He loves them. Also, the way it’s set up forces him to do the things he’s not as interested in to do the games/activities in the next level he is interested in. He went from refusing to attempt drawing letters to being excited he accomplished one on his own in about a (of playing every other day) week. Much better than other learning apps because it’s not too busy and keeps kids on a path that they are forced to learn on. I’m thankful for it. I had to force him to play mouse but he asks to play this!

by Creatuvehands

I appreciate that this program offered a 1 month free trial. I had been interested but afraid to try. Now I see this app is absolutely worth the monthly rate. My son loves electronics, of course. And I always try to limit them for all the behavior and health reasons pediatricians warm us about. HOMER lets my son play electronic games while building his kindergarten reading skills! I love that when setting up, HOMER prompts some questions to ascertain where your child should start, so that the games are not too advanced nor too basic for where they are! HOMER has given us both something we want and we both enjoy it!