Brainpop.com

Brainpop.com can be a fun educational resource, when the need arises. It is cartoon based and features a robot, Moby, and a teenager, Tim. Together, Tim and Moby explain “the mysteries of life. There are a few other characters as well, as girls are needed to teach certain sensitive female subjects.

This online interactive program teaches math, science, technology, English, social studies, and health. The subjects are also listed by grade appropriateness and state educational standards.

Each cartoon unit also has a “pop” quiz at the end that will help the child retain what they have learned. The cartoons will also give the learner a good chuckle.

For home use, brainpop costs $79.00 a year or $8.95 a month with three logins allowed each day. There are also price packages for school use. You can use the 14 day free trial if you want to try brainpop before you buy, and there are a few teaser cartoons per subject that are free to use.

I purchased brainpop over a year ago and my kids used it on and off. Unfortunately, it was more off than on. They just had too much of a workload and not enough need for extra explanation to use it in most cases. We did not renew our subscription.

I do recommend it however if you have curious children who will explore the site (at least for a year or two). Parents must monitor what the children view however as the children may not be ready for all the health subjects.