Lately, my 5 year old has been very interested in actually doing school each day to try and keep up with his older siblings. I’m glad to give him work, and really try to mainly just focus on math, phonics, and handwriting. Lucky for me, Starfall Education Foundation gave us a complimentary review copy of The Starfall Home Membership to try with him over the past several weeks. It’s been cool to see what he gravitates toward each time he gets on, because the website is full of fun activities.
The Starfall Home Membership
My family has used Starfall for many years. My oldest kids still have fond memories of using the site when they were preschoolers, so they usually hang around to watch my 5 year old play on there. The regular website is great, but membership offers plenty of extra content for kids at a pre-k through 2nd grade level. The Home Membership is just $35 per year and gives access to all of the content to everyone in your household and immediate family (including grandparents). If you’ve got several young children, this is a no-brainer. Even if you only have one that could use it, consider the great songs, math practice, and phonics instruction that your child will get to do while they are playing and having fun!
Starfall is very colorful and interactive. I like that kids are able to listen to the words on the screen, and they are highlighted as they are said so that emerging and confident readers can easily read along. Then, when they are expected to do something, the graphics are very encouraging and give hints on what to do, such as showing an example of placing the correct letters in the correct basket, or having the “next” arrow on the bottom right blink of shimmer.
When you get the membership, all of your child’s favorite content from the free version of the website is still there and conveniently located on the new dashboard that you will be logged into. My kids have all been obsessed with the game pictured below. There are several different mini activities on this one, and the one below is called “Where do I sleep?” Charlie loves customizing his little kid and picking from many choices leading up to the child going to bed.
Beyond the great Pre-K and Kindergarten context, the membership goes further with math and reading for 1st grade. Your first grader has a lot of choices. My son is almost to this level and likes choosing some of the books to try and read them on his own. The math games are a lot of fun to play, too.
Is your child ready for even more of a challenge? Believe it or not, the membership includes 2nd grade math, including multiplication for beginners. They can also work on adding and subtracting larger numbers and place value. During all of these activities, they will still be able to enjoy themselves with the highly entertaining, colorful, and interactive format from the lower level games. early elementary kids just want to have fun, right?!
I’m impressed by the extra content with the membership. The cost seems to be a good value, especially considering you get an entire year’s access to it for everyone in your family.
If you’re interested in taking what your child is learning offline, there’s a huge Parent-Teacher Center area on the website. You can check out a guide to using the website, check out their FAQ, and download and print supplemental worksheets and handouts. These work to reinforce what your child has been learning while on the computer and can be perfect for handwriting and penmanship practice, too.
I would recommend this resource from Starfall Education Foundation to other parents, whether you are homeschooling your children or not. The content is engaging and educational. It encourages kids to do their best and gives them a lot of freedom to choose activities and games that appeal to them so they really grasp the content and get it down. Definitely look into The Starfall Home Membership as a smart addition to your preschool through second-grader’s day.
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