If you’re interested in subscribing to Night Zookeeper to help your kids with their reading and writing skills, then check out my honest review of this program…
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Writing has always been a bit of a problem area when it comes to teaching in my homeschool. Even though I spend most of my day doing it for work, teaching and critiquing writing isn’t always easy.
This is why I was really excited when I came across Night Zookeeper. I usually enjoy making my own curricula for my children, but in the case of writing (and sometimes reading), I was ready to give an outside source a try.
First off, let me tell you a little about this site. Its zoo theme is super cute and fun for all ages. Through a series of magical storybooks, it teaches about reading, spelling, grammar, drawing, and writing.
In order to expand your child’s skills, the site uses maps, stories, games, and writing prompts to engage, entertain, and educate. There are tutors who review their work and offer constructive feedback, too.
My kids immediately wanted to get to work after seeing the Night Zookeeper intro. This was a good sign in my book!
What I liked about Night Zookeeper
I am a big fan of programs that can be used across multiple ages. With my kids currently ranging from 6-13, it’s really important for my sanity that I am not juggling 5 different writing programs. But this one worked great for all of them. Even my teenager was excited to use it each day.
The progress reporting was easy to use and I could simply and quickly pull up info on each child from a parent dashboard. My kids could also log into their own account and navigate the program easily (even the 6 year old).
I liked the themes and stories that were used. My kids responded well to them, too, including the children with ADHD and autism (they can be a tough crowd). The tutoring team reviewed their work so I could see their progress and note improvements.
This site is very customizable and also very safe. With the internet being a dark hole sometimes, I felt this was a program that created a safe and secure environment for my kids to learn in.
What didn’t I like about Night Zookeeper
Honestly, I haven’t come across anything I didn’t like or couldn’t live with yet. I do wish that I could have downloaded a Night Zookeeper app so we could learn on the go with my smartphone, but other than that, we haven’t had any complaints to report.
There are days when the kids don’t feel like doing this program, but that has more to do with general school malaise than gripes with the site.
I love that Night Zookeeper offers a 7-day free trial, but it’s possible that other families might prefer a little more time to decide if they want to make the commitment with a subscription. We were fine with this time frame though.
Another small thing is the British accents, which some young children may struggle understanding until they get used to them. But we found that it just took some adjustment for my little ones to get the hang of it.
Finally, there was no test to set the level of difficulty. As homeschool parents know, age doesn’t always correlate to skill, and we had to make adjustments to find what worked best for some of our kids. But again, this was an easy fix and I’m really just grasping at straws.
Prices
The regular price for Night Zookeeper is $12.99 per month, or $11.33 per month for a 3-month plan, or $118.99 for the year. All prices are paid upfront.
The good news is that there is a 50% discount if you click on this link. This brings the annual membership cost down to $59.99 for your child.
*Keep in mind that the price increases with each additional child. These prices are all for one child.
As I mentioned above, you can check out Night Zookeeper during a 7-day Free Trial. This will give you an idea of what to expect and what your child thinks of it.
Final thoughts on Night Zookeeper
This program has so far worked great for my kids. They enjoy it, they learn from it, and I can easily track the progress they make. The price is competitive compared to other similar programs and it’s well-tailored to the homeschool family.
I hope this review has helped you! Check out the Night Zookeeper site for more information so you can make an informed decision about how this program will help grow your child’s reading and writing skills!
Have you used Night Zookeeper with your kids? What did you all think? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the site!
Looking for more on homeschooling resources? Check out these popular posts:
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[Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a commission, at no additional cost to you. All opinions are my own and I never recommend anything I haven’t used myself and loved.]
We used this software for a while during homeschool and I loved it! It was more fun than worksheets…said my kids. I thought they did a great job encouraging creativity and teaching writing skills in a way that my kids didn’t protest against.
Totally agree! It’s been a real help with language arts and encouraging writing with my kids. So glad you found success with it, too!
Hi, I’m wondering if Night Zookeeper would be suitable for EFL learning. Most of my students are Chinese kids of between 9 – 14 and most of the current EFL books really don’t have much focus on actual writing. Instead they just have to write single words on ‘fill the blanks’ exercises. As a result even the students that appear to be quite fluent fall apart when they have to write full sentences.
Hi Peter. Based off my experience with the site, I think that this would be a great site for EFL learning. If they have a decent understanding of English thus far, then they should be able to work the site and spend time crafting creative writing that will increase their grasp of the language. I hope that helps and please reach out if you have any other questions.
Hi Peter
I used it for the length of it’s free trial (I’m an ESL teacher) and found it very useful indeed. I’d just be careful when setting up a child’s profile as it may be a little too difficult for some of them. It’d be worthwhile taking a look around and creating a test account or two to check out the difficulty level.
Johnny
Did you use this exclusively, or did you also have another Language Arts curriculum in addition to NightZookeeper?
Hi Maria. I also use Spectrum workbooks to hone language arts, reading, and writing skills as well. That has worked well for me so far. I hope that helps! Thanks for reading!
Hi Rebecca! Thanks for the review! I think I’m convinced I will use Night Zookeeper for my 9 year old. She loves to read, but struggles with writing. What do you use for the core language arts? I was thinking I would use NZK to supplement Worldly Wise, Analytical Grammar, and Differentiated Teaching.
I see in your profile you are a writer! My 12 year old daughter is an exceptional writer. IEW and EIW were too slow and boring for her. She has begun writing a science fiction novel and the writing quality would shock you. However, I have no idea what to use to make sure she has the fundamentals down for the different types of essays she would need to write in higher level classes. Do you have any thoughts?
Many thanks!
Hi Matthew. I’m glad to hear that you decided to give Night Zookeeper a try. My family is still very happy with it and I’d love to hear how your daughter is getting on with it. We use Spectrum workbooks for language arts and then I have the kids write essays and such that I grade. It sounds like you have a pretty robust curriculum, which is wonderful. I love writing and it’s wonderful to hear your 12-year-old is a writer, too. Science fiction is very challenging because of the world building that sometimes goes into it so congrats to her for taking on the challenge! She sounds exceptional. I think the best way to make a good writer is by being a good reader. Make sure she reads often and a varied assortment of books to make her comfortable with different types of writing, from fiction to memoirs to persuasive essays. I hope this advice helps. Thanks so much for reading and commenting!