Starfall

Starfallis a Web site that uses phonics and phonemic awareness practice to supportyoung children who are learning to read, including letter recognition, applyingletter sounds to words, basic vocabulary, and building fluency and comprehension.Developed and launched in 2002 by a team of teachers, the free Web site offersa few limited activities. However, a membershipis required to access the full library, which also includes various sing-alongand historical folk songs, as well as customizable teacher resources likepractice worksheets. Starfall’s annual costs range from $35 for a homemembership up to $270 for a school membership. Clasroom and school membershipsare required for students to log in on multiple computers and customize theiravatar, and for teachers to track student activity.

Asthe company tells it, the popularity of the Starfall Web site (usage numbersare unavailable) led Starfall to develop full reading and language artscurricula for pre-K and for kindergarten, with the help of a task force of 150teachers and 5000 students. The pre-K curriculum kit of teacher and studentmaterials costs $395, while the kindergarten curriculum costs about $1000 for aclassroom (and in both cases, Starfall.com membership is sold separately,though the company includes online access in its lower-priced homeschool kits).

Finally, Starfall also offers some of its activities packaged into apps, including Starfall ABCs and Starfall Learn to Read.