Posted in My Homeschool FAQs

I know I have mentioned http://www.starfall.com before, but now that my daughter is really reading she is happily playing the final level on the website!  Of course much to her little brother's delight (And Mom's since she is reviewing!) she has decided to use the levels she has already completed to teach him to read!

If you are not familiar with starfall it is amazing!  My daughter started playing on it several years ago learning her ABC's and has spent many happy hours there!

It is set up with 4 levels:

ABC's
Learn To Read
It's Fun To Read
I'm Reading Now

Within each level there is so much more than just phonics being taught!  Some of our favorites right now are the calendar, famous artists & famous composers.  My kids also really like the Who Am I section where they can design a computer version of themselves. There is a lot to explore at starfall!  One of the things I have recently found are the FREE printables that go along with what they are learning online.  There are ABC printouts, mini books, reading and writing journals and much much more!  Want to learn your ABC's in sign language?  They have that too!  This is truly a complete phonics program and you could easily use it as your curriculum for teaching phonics. 

If you are curious why this wonderful site is FREE you can go to the About Us section to find out. 

Here is what my 6 year old had to say about Starfall:

I like Starfall because...It has the most amazing things.  I like this one part that has a BIG bubble and  a girl next to it a shows you how to make the letter in sign language. There are also lot of videos you can click on to watch.  You can go there just for fun, but most of all it is to learn to read!

¤ Post A Comment! ¤ Send to a Friend!

Comments

Posted by briarwren

That is an awesome site. Both of my boys spend a lot of time there. Of course, they both have memorized the letter songs and James sings the A song incessantly but it's a small price to pay. I love the graphics and how interactive it is. And it's so easy. While Charles is content with just the alphabet section, James has started branching out into the beginner reading and he's really enjoying it. I'm so glad that this is free and I just wish there were more free resources as good as this one out there that both the child and the parent enjoy. Thanks for posting this. Some of that, such as the "Who Am I", I didn't even realize was there.

Edited by briarwren on Jun. 12, 2007 at 12:16 AM

¤ Permanent Link

Posted by Anonymous

My dd LOVED starfall when she was learning to read. In fact, I'm sure she'd still love to read some of the interactive stories. I think we'll have to re-visit it.
Dana, www.alexml.blogspot.com

¤ Permanent Link

Posted by sherrydhoneycutt

We used Starfall a lot at the beginning of the year and it was one of Em's favorite websites. I totally forgot about the artist and composer area -- we will have to go back and read all of those!

Sherry

¤ Permanent Link

Posted by Leigharev2

Thank you for the reminder of this precious site. I underutilize it and need to incorporate it into my day more.

¤ Permanent Link

Posted by Malgomaj

... and they don't know any english at all...
/Malgomaj

¤ Permanent Link

Posted by Anonymous

I love Starfall.
My 18 month old daughter learnt all her letters and phonics from it.
At 23 months old she can now read.
She also speaks Swedish.
My wife and 2 daughters are a happy family of atheists.

¤ Permanent Link