Starfall.com is an interactive educational website that helps children learn how to read – starting with basic pre-reading skills such as knowing the ABC’s and the letter sounds (or phonics), and advancing on to higher levels where the child can read plays, non-fiction, comics and more.

I first heard of Starfall from another “Teacher Mama”, fellow homeschooling mommy blogger Monica Poliquit. Upon her recommendation, we started using it for our then 3.8 year old son Tim. He loved it right from the beginning! (And so did his Papa and I!) Here are the top six reasons why we do:

1.    It’s 100% free of charge! During my online research for online educational resources for our preschooler, I have discovered some learning websites that ask you to pay a membership fee, or have limited free resources. This is not the case with Starfall. Despite it being a complete learning resource, with four different sections (ABC’s, Learn to Read, It’s Fun to Read and I’m Reading) with over 30 lessons, it is totally free! It is also nice to note that despite being free, there are no pop-ups or pop-under advertising and the site is free of outside advertising. It has a separate section for advertising its own curriculum and materials. For parents like me who want and need to be frugal with our finances, free sites like Starfall are truly, as its name implies, sent down from heaven.

 

2.    Kids learn through play. Our preschooler is currently being homeschooled, or as I have come to term it “some kind of unschooled” since we are not following any formal curriculum as of now. (We are leaning towards Dr. Raymond and Dorothy Moore’s educational philosophy – “that parents should wait until their children are *ready* to learn to read and write” and “No formal study is required until age 8 to 10 or 12.”) Therefore, I am always on the lookout for activities where he can learn through play. Starfall has proven to be quite effective in teaching Tim his letter sounds, and after only a few months of on and off usage (he doesn’t play every day), he can now read some three-letter words (with no coaching or formal lessons from me!). He just learned through playing games, watching videos and listening to the songs on Starfall! That’s why I’ve started recommending the site to other moms with young kids. Of course, like everything else electronic media-related, we should set limits on our children’s internet time. Every child needs to have time for outdoor and indoor play that will help develop his gross motor, fine motor and imaginative skills.

Click here to learn more reasons why Teachermama Tina recommends Starfall.com.