Starfall Observed

James has been coming home saying things like "Q and U stick like glue" and "B ... OA ... T. That spells 'boat'," and "T ... tiger ... whatya doing, tiger?" I knew it came from a program at school, but did not think too much of it.

This past weekend, James started asking me to go type a word on my computer. The word was "Starfall." I asked him what it was. "Go to Starfall, Mommy. I want to see Starfall."

This is what I found:

I very fun and well-rounded explorations of letters: the sounds they make, and words that use them. Presented, sounded, used in words, and stories, with a little kinetic action along the way.

James was excited and I let him play with reading online for a while, After I got my computer back, I looked at other sections. This site covers materials from pre-K through second grade reading levels.

James loves plays and puppets; this is awesome.

Very cool and inviting, just like our real library!

They even had a small selection of childrens' audio books, a section on music, and holiday-themed activitied, all tied in with their phonetic system. The organization and dedication involved in all this boggles me. I am not a teacher, but I was struck how well everything was laid out and coordinated. It's an incredibly well thought-out site and program.

There is an app! Actually, there are 2. Of course I downloaded them. He's playing Starfall almost as much as Minion Rush, which amazes and pleases me.

Starfall has apps at both the Apple Store for iPhone and iPad and Google Play for Droid phones.

The Starfall website is completely free!

So, some disclaimers: This is not a solicited or paid post. I forked over $2.99 per app that came from our household account. I am not a professional educator. I am a mom learning to parent an autistic child with developmental delays as best I can.