Are You Ready for Kindergarten?

As one school year comes to a close, your thoughts might already be turning to next fall—especially if you’re the mom of a kid in Pre-K, as I am. If you’re wondering if your child is ready for the next grade of elementary school, Lakeshore Learning offers a new educational game series that gives your child a good time and you peace of mind.

Are You Ready For Kindergarten? is a school assessment in a game show format that you play together at home. For each question about math and language that your preschooler answers correctly, they win play cash that they can spend on prize coupons at the conclusion of the game.

You can write anything you want on the coupons: a new Skylanders figure, a trip to the swimming pool, or whatever is certain to get your geek kid excited to play. For smaller kids like my preschooler, I recommend making it a special prize worth getting excited for each time you play. It takes a while to answer all of the questions, and most preschoolers will lose interest quickly unless there’s a fantastic prize waiting in the end.

As you progress through each game, mark down the answers that your kid missed, and you can enter the incorrect questions on Lakeshore’s web site. The site then provides an assessment for areas you and your kindergartener-to-be can work on over the summer in between your family adventures.

Are You Ready For Kindergarten? is only thinly disguised as a game, and I had a tough time keeping my five-year-old’s interest long enough to make it through an entire card deck. And at a retail price of $29.99, it’s quite an investment for a game that will probably only be played a few times before the next school year starts.

If you are seriously concerned about your preschooler’s readiness for the first year of kindergarten, though, it’s worth the money. (I discovered that she’s more ready to start kindergarten than I am for her to go!) Lakeshore Learning is even offering a special coupon just for GeekMom readers.

To get $10 off any Are You Ready? Game Show, enter code 9141 at checkout or visit the site for a store coupon. The coupon expires 7/31/14.

GeekMom received a promotional copy for review purposes.