Website review: Twinkl

www.twinkl.com
Ages: 0 to 18

Reviewed by Rachael, mum to Elijah (8) who is moderately deaf and wears hearing aids.

Elijah

"We’ve had a subscription to Twinkl for four years and have found it invaluable for Elijah's education in general, but specifically his language and communication development. As part of our subscription, we receive a Twinkl original book (from a choice of three levels) every half term to read and enjoy together. Then, we print off related resources, from finger puppets for story sacks, Play-Doh mats and role play aids when he was younger, to numeracy and literacy worksheets now. This has helped Elijah learn new words and develop a love for books, as well as helping memory and other skills. Many of the stories’ illustrations include children wearing hearing aids and even a teacher with a radio aid.

Twinkl has a phonics scheme which takes you through the letters and 'family' of letters with coordinating pictures, in fun interactive lessons on PowerPoint, games and worksheets. There are also British Sign Language posters which we have used with other resources.

As a home educator, I love that you’re able to search for topics that the child is interested in, plus a specific learning target, for example, pirates and multiplication. This helps create positive, fun engagement for the child, which is when they learn best. We also enjoy the board games you can print, as well as Twinkl Go, an online resource where the parent can add specific games for the child to access with a code. This is good for practising already learnt skills, however the computerised voice for letter sounds is sometimes difficult to decipher with hearing aids. On a positive note, there’s a repeat button and there are no background jingles, unlike other online educational apps we use.

Elijah says his favourite part of Twinkl is Twinkl Go because of the fun games and the mystery workbooks. He has also enjoyed the baking, singing and science experiments which are available."