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An educational website I hate to love…

image Much has been said elsewhere in the homeschooling world about Starfall.

I’ll start by saying I despise almost everything about the site.  And then add - but the kids love it. 

Naomi adores “guessing” what the word will be as the reading voice sounds it out.  They use kids’ voices throughout, which is very appealing to both children.  They will do almost anything I ask them to do as long as I promise them a “Starfall book.”

We are only five books into the Learn to Read series, but these “books” go much faster than the Bob books and other phonetic readers I’ve seen.  They might not be too helpful without the groundwork we’ve already done in the easy readers, but as a way to both reinforce phonics and introduce new vocabulary… fantastic!

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Comments

  1. Lion of ZionAugust 24, 2010 2:58 PM

    so why do you hate the site?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jennifer in MamaLandAugust 24, 2010 3:30 PM

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Maybe "hate" is too strong a word. How's "fail to adore?" ;-)

    Many of the graphics are insipid and some of the voice-overs are weird, like the flower-planting "game" shown in the picture here.

    It's just so mainstream... I dunno; rubs me the wrong way. But it works!
    (at least for my kid)

    ReplyDelete
  3. FairionAugust 26, 2010 8:15 AM

    Froggy totally taught herself to read with this site. The phonics "rules" that they use gave me phrasing to remind Froggy with as she struggled with a word elsewhere. And just like your kids it was extremely motivating and she would do anything if I promised starfall time in exchange.

    ReplyDelete

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