Learn By Playing Through SmartyCard This Summer

Today my colleagues and I waved goodbye as busses pulled away carrying off our students for the summer. As teachers, I welcome the start of summer but as a parent, I want to be sure that I’m striking a balance between the having fun, spending time being lazy, and learning. Many parents face the challenge of having their kids spend time maintaining their academic skills in a fun way.

One site that is great for students in elementary school and older is SmartyCard. Launched this March, SmartyCard is a site that allows children ages 7 and up to learn while they earn points for their play. It is an innovative multimedia site that integrates learning in a fun way and is a great way for kids to practice skills in math, science, and social studies. All content is developed through a partnership with leading online educational content providers such as Learning.com, Ignite Learning, and LearnStar to ensure the games engage kids in a learning experience that encourages imaginative thinking outside the classroom.

Kids can play educational games through SmartyCard and then earn points to redeem for popular real-world (books, Wii games, skateboards) and virtual-world prizes (iTunes, Club Penguin, Webkinz). Starting today, tweens can unlock and redeem SmartyCard points for the popular kajeet Samsung m300 pay-as-you-go mobile phone from the SmartyCard mall of rewards. SmartyCard and kajeet now offer parents a new way to encourage responsibility and underscore the importance of education before giving mobile privileges to their kids. The phone allows parents and kids to access kajeet’s unique suite of parental controls and kid-appropriate services. Tweens who choose the kajeet phone will be granted free shipping and $5 airtime toward the use of their phone.

This summer SmartyCard is offering Tech Savvy Mama readers a 2,500 point bonus when they sign up for the site. Just visit the SmartyCard site and enter the code “TechSavvyMama.”

For more information, read my full review that I wrote when SmartyCard first launched in March.

Disclaimer: I have loved SmartyCard since I first receive a demo of their site prior to their March launch and have promoted their service without compensation in the past because it is a website that I think helps to motivate kids to learn and helps motivate reluctant and struggling students. However, SmartyCard recently agreed to sponsor my trip to BlogHer if I can find a conference pass.