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28/08/2025 11:07 下午
As a mother of three who has lived in North America for over a decade, I always assumed my children would naturally excel in English since they’re growing up in an English-speaking environment. But when my fourth-grader struggled to focus his argumentative essays and my second-grader couldn’t articulate the author’s message after reading a story, I realised: everyday conversational English and academic English are two completely different things. After trying both Cambly Kids and WuKong ELA, I’d like to share my honest experience to help other local parents who are also concerned about their children’s English literacy.
Cambly Kids: A "Fun Classroom"for Oral Interaction, But Limited Academic Progress
I was initially drawn to Cambly Kids because of its one-on-one, real-time interaction with native English-speaking tutors. During the trial lesson, the teacher engaged my younger child with a dinosaur-themed session—using flashcards, playing word games—and he was so excited that he kept raising his hand throughout the 25-minute class. Afterward, he even asked, “When can I talk to Teacher Emma about T-rex again?”
Its strengths are obvious: all tutors are native speakers with natural pronunciation, and they’re great at motivating kids. The lessons revolve entirely around the child’s interests, whether it’s cartoon characters or weekend camping trips—the teacher always finds a way to get them talking. If your child is introverted, hesitant to speak up in class, or needs to improve everyday spoken fluency, Cambly Kids can quickly build their confidence. After just three sessions, my older child started initiating small talk with the supermarket cashier about the weather.
However, the downside is equally clear: there’s a lack of systematic academic training. The content depends too much on the tutor’s personal style—one day it’s "marine animal vocabulary," the next it’s "summer holiday plans"—with no coherent knowledge structure. The teachers feel more like "chatting partners"; while they correct grammar mistakes, they don’t teach skills like "how to make sentences more vivid" or "how to analyse the central idea of a passage." After three months, my kids became more fluent in speaking, but my older one’s writing was still disorganised, and the younger one still couldn’t explain "why the character in the story acted that way." For families focused on improving academic English, it feels more like a "conversation-based interest class"than a "reading and writing accelerator."
WuKong ELA: "Fun with Depth" to Tackle Core Challenges in Academic English
After much hesitation, I tried WuKong ELA based on a neighbour’s recommendation. I was initially worried that "a non-local institution might not understand the North American education system,"but the trial lesson completely changed my mind—this is the program that truly helps children overcome academic bottlenecks.
Strength 1: Aligned with North American Standards, Precisely Meeting School Needs
What reassured me most was that WuKong ELA strictly follows the U.S. CCSS standards. The course consultant showed me the curriculum outline, which covers everything from "story element analysis" in Grade 1 to "argumentative essay structure" in Grade 5, each lesson closely matching school requirements. For example, my older child always struggled with writing topic sentences. Instead of providing templates, the teacher used a "central idea game" to help them compare: "Which sentence works better as an opening—'I like pizza'or 'Pizza is the most popular food at parties'?"By analysing examples from texts, my child quickly grasped that "a topic sentence must present a clear point of view."
Strength 2: Teaching Core Literacy Skills in a Child-Friendly Way
This is where WuKong won me over. It embedding boring reading and writing knowledge into engaging themes: learning "cause and effect" by analysing "why bees are important to gardens," practicing "detail description" by writing "social media posts" for pets. My younger one used to hate memorising vocabulary, but in a "forest adventure" themed lesson, he voluntarily learned words like "fluffy" and "swift" to describe animals he "encountered," and even started using "not only…but also…" in sentences. Instead of forcing rote memorisation, teachers let children acquire knowledge naturally when they need it—a far more effective approach.
Strength 3: Teaching Not Just "How to Write," But "How to Think"
Unlike Cambly Kids' "chat-based learning," WuKong ELA integrates critical thinking training throughout. In a lesson on "the impact of electronic devices on children," the teacher had the students debate in groups before guiding them to write an "opinion essay." At first, my older child could only say, "Phones are bad because they distract from studying." But with the teacher’s probing questions, he learned to add, "But if you use them to look up information, they can be good tools." The essay he eventually wrote was even used as a model in class. This ability to "think before expressing" is exactly the kind of academic skill North American schools value most.
The Final Choice: WuKong ELA—Not Just Improving Grades, But Cultivating Learning Ability
To be fair, Cambly Kids does well in oral language initiation and interest cultivation, making it suitable for younger children who need to improve everyday communication skills. But for school-aged children, the core of academic English is "literacy skills + logical thinking," and that’s where WuKong ELA excels.
Three months later, my older child’s writing is no longer rambling—he can now express his ideas clearly. My younger one, after reading a story, will proactively say, "This character is brave because she didn’t give up when things were hard." Even more surprisingly, they’ve started asking questions like, "Mum, how can I use this word more accurately?" and "What does the author want us to learn from this book?"—this sensitivity to language and habit of thinking is more precious than any test score.
If you’re also worried about your child’s academic English—concerned that they "can speak but not write, can read but not comprehend"—I sincerely recommend trying WuKong ELA. It showed me that good English education isn’t about forcing children to memorise vocabulary and write sentences; it’s about helping them genuinely fall in love with using language to express their thoughts. 🌟
28/08/2025 11:15 下午
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