If you are having trouble getting the homeschool interactive Session Reviews to work on your computer, it may be that a recent change to your web browser is affecting how the games operate. In order to run properly, the Session Reviews require the Adobe Flash Player plugin to be installed for your browser. If you were previously able to play the games, but they have suddenly stopped working, you may need to install or upgrade either your web browser or the Adobe Flash Plugin or both!
To install or upgrade the Adobe Flash Player plugin on your desktop/laptop computer, go to https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ and follow the instructions on the screen. Be sure to UNCHECK any boxes with promotional offers from McAfee or Intel if you do not wish to install these additional software packages on your computer.
Select one of the following options for additional help:
Help with Chrome Browser
Help with Safari Browser
Stand Alone Option
Android Option
Email Option
For the Chrome browser: (tested & works)
After a recent update to the Chrome browser, the Adobe Flash Player plug-in may be installed but disabled. To correct this, please do the following:
Click the three vertical dots at the top right of your chrome browser window
Click Settings, then Show Advanced Settings
Under Privacy click Content Settings
In the pop-up window, scroll to the Flash section
Click the radio button Allow sites to run Flash
If this doesn’t fix the problem, Google has a dedicated support page with more detailed instructions on what to do when Adobe Flash isn’t working in Chrome:
https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/6258784?hl=en
For the Safari browser: (not tested – if it works, let me know!)
There have been issues where the plugin is installed but is turned off. To see if this applies, launch Safari, then at the top of the page go to: SAFARI / PREFERENCES and then to the security section. At the bottom of the window turn on allow plugins and then click plugin settings. You should see Adobe Flash Player in the left column. Select it and then select allow always from the menu on the right side.
Stand Alone Option: (Windows 10 version tested & works; Mac version not tested)
In addition to the browser plugin, Adobe also has stand alone versions of their flash player for both Windows 10 and Mac computers. I have not been able to test the Mac version, but the Windows 10 version works. I uploaded both versions to our DropBox account. To download one, click on the appropriate link below and then click the download button from DropBox to save the file to your computer.
Windows 10 Version – Adobe(Win).exe
Mac Version – Adobe(Mac).app.zip
For Windows 10, the file does not require any additional installation beyond downloading it to your desktop or to a folder on your computer. Simply click the filename on your desktop or in the folder to open the Flash Player window. However, to load a game, you must copy & paste the game’s link address into the “location” box in the flash player. Here’s how to do that:
- Open your browser and navigate to the homeschool page for your child
- Find the Session Review you want and Right-Click on its link to open a menu option box
- Select the “copy link address” option to copy the link address to your clipboard. You may now close or minimize your browser window.
- Go to where you have the “Adobe(Win)” file downloaded on your computer and click the filename – this will launch the Flash Player window
- Click “File” and then “Open”.
- Paste the link address into the Location box and click OK.
If you are connected to the internet, the game should load immediately in the window. You can change the size of the window (e.g., make it larger) by clicking and dragging the sides or corner. The game should work the same as it does through your browser.
NEW! – Android Option & Review
If you have an Android phone or tablet, you can get the games to play on it by installing a flash supported browser. I tried a browser called “FlashFox” that can be downloaded from the Google Play store. It comes in a free version with ads or for $2.99 you can get the “pro” version without ads. I tried the free version on my phone and it worked, but the ads were distracting, so I paid the $2.99 to get rid of them.
My phone has a 5-inch screen, which wasn’t too bad for the multiple choice questions, but it was harder to type in the fill-in-the-blank questions. When I tapped the box to start typing, my keyboard popped up and the game screen became very small. It was better when I held the phone vertically (portrait orientation), but when I typed, the individual letters didn’t appear in the boxes. However, the auto-correct on the phone knew what I was typing and offered suggestions – so I tapped the correct one and it worked (ping!).
Since my eyes are old and tired, I decided to try installing the FlashFox browser on my 9-inch Android tablet. This worked much better and the fill-in-the-blank questions worked the same as they do on my computer. If you would like to try it for yourself, here are the links to the FlashFox app on the Google Play Store.
FlashFox (Free With Ads)
FlashFox (Pro No Ads – $2.99)
Email Option (pdf files)
If none of these options work for you, please let me know and I will email you pdf copies of the Session Reviews with the answer keys for you and your child. Not as much fun as ping! but perhaps more reliable.
All the best,
Marina