

- #STARFALL 2 ALL ABOUT ME FOR FREE#
- #STARFALL 2 ALL ABOUT ME UPDATE#
- #STARFALL 2 ALL ABOUT ME FULL#
- #STARFALL 2 ALL ABOUT ME FREE#
We want our children to enjoy learning to read, through a set of fun and interactive games. When teaching reading, variety is key to keep a child’s interest. When you look at the Starfall reading program, it is made up of a lot of repeating activities with very little variation. See what I mean……old fashioned and lacking innovation for this day and age.
#STARFALL 2 ALL ABOUT ME UPDATE#
An update is desperately needed in this department, but I understand they may not have the resources as a non-profit organization. Unfortunately, Starfall is still following the old ‘bright colors for children’ rule and have implemented way too many garish bright colors, coupled with a design that has come straight out of the early 2000s when this website was first created. However, research has shown that too many bright colors can be overstimulating for a child and come across as ‘too busy’ for their eyes to take in.
#STARFALL 2 ALL ABOUT ME FULL#
The problem here is that a lot of adults have this idea that anything designed for children needs to be full of colors to stimulate and excite the child. Design of Appįrankly, the design of the Starfall app and its associated website is awful. Maybe twenty years ago people thought this was fine, but not any more. This is not the only example, I don’t agree with the order they teach quite a few elements at Starfall. That’s a lot of phonic sounds to learn in a big clump! Most modern systems teach a smaller set of phonic sounds at a time, accompanied by some games to turn these phonic sounds into simple words. For example, they encourage you to learn all phonic sounds in traditional alphabetical order at the very start. There are elements of the Starfall phonic/ reading teaching that are quite outdated by modern standards. What don’t we like about Starfall? Not up to Modern Standards

So it is great that Starfall do offer a physical store where you can buy resources such as phonic readers to use with your child. You don’t want your child glued to a computer screen or tablet for any more than this realistically. When teaching young children reading online, you are limited to around ten minutes a day.
#STARFALL 2 ALL ABOUT ME FREE#
It is totally feasible to teach your child using only the free option, and you won’t feel forced into paying for the $35 a year membership. The main reading program is fully available in the free version of the Starfall app. Starfall has been around for a long time now (for online companies anyway), so they have been able to build up a lot of content over time.
#STARFALL 2 ALL ABOUT ME FOR FREE#
The base content you get for free is decent, but with the $35 a year membership you will have all the reading materials you would ever need. The basic information you need to teach reading is offered in the free tier, you simply get more of this content when paying for the paid membership.Īs Starfall is a non-profit organization, paying the membership fee is also a way to support them in creating more content for their service, and maintaining what they currently have.Īs parents, you will only be concerned with the home membership, which is a single account for $35 a year.īeing a non profit organization, there is a decent amount of content available for free and, if you do decide to sign up for the membership, it’s still a nominal fee compared to a lot of similar reading programs. Starfall has a free tier, and a paid tier. Look below, as a parent is it easy for you to find this flow?Īlso, they have a CVC word reading game at the bottom of this flow, whereas it should really be nearer the top after the child has learned single sounds. It’s just a shame that this is not highlighted more clearly for parents amongst the other activities available on this page. When you first enter the website and click on the ‘Kindergarten’ option, you can see the main guts of the reading program laid out. However, this review will be solely focused on the learning to read part of Starfall. More recently, Starfall added a Math element to its service. Stephen Schutz, who had issues learning to read as a child (due to dyslexia) and wanted to create something to support others in reading. The organisation behind Starfall is called Starfall Education Foundation, which currently identifies as a non-profit organization. Starfall started out as a free reading program in 2002, delivered mainly through their website.
