Reading Practice with Starfall
I’m always on the lookout for ways to help my kids with their reading, and one web site that has been a big hit with me and the kids is Starfall.
When my daughter started kindergarten, she didn’t have much computer experience, and I was somewhat reluctant to let her have too much computer time. I’m not big on commercial web sites, etc., and mostly thought it took time away from “real reading.” But we were introduced to a web site by her teacher that I really like. Starfall is a web site where they can practice their computer skills and also work on alphabet and reading-related skills. The kids absolutely love it because of the interactivity and music, and they feel like they are playing computer games.
I like it because I really saw my daughter’s reading improve throughout her kindergarten year, and I can see that my son who is 4 1/2 is progressing in his reading pretty quickly. It allows kids to click on particular words to hear how they sound, or you can listen along to a whole page. In the alphabet section, there are catchy little songs and activities that go along with the sounds for each letter. There are also many “read-along” stories and activities.
The kindergarten teacher kept them in the “alphabet” section of the web site for 2-3 months as they got comfortable navigating through each letter’s activities, and then in the winter she moved them to the second “Learn to read” section with Zac the Rat. She provided the class with the accompanying educational products – print books that the kids cut out and assemble, and their are other products available for purchase, but the web content is free AND advertisement-free, so I can let them sit at the computer by themselves, and can monitor them from across the room – I can see and hear that they are staying within the parameters of this particular web site.
If you’re interested, check it out: http://www.starfall.com
Also, I just got an email about a new educational web site – http://www.learntoreadfree.com
It is sponsored by Montessori, so I thought maybe the Montessori experts out there might be using it already or would be interested in reviewing it 
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