More Starfall!

We've been using a free educational website, www.starfall.com for over a year. The boys love it. The lessons are all interactive flash animations with catchy music. They start with individual letter sounds and work all the way up to reading. It is very easy for kids to use. In fact, it was because of this program that Thomas learned to use a mouse. 

 

I have been on the lookout for something similar for math. Other people have been too, because when I googled "like Starfall for math" I came up with several people asking the same question but no answers. Finally it's here! Starfall added a new section with more lessons, including counting and basic math. This new section requires a paid subscription, $35 per year - totally worth it, in my opinion. We signed up today and both boys have been glued to it all evening.

The game they are playing here is called the "short O machine." The machine spells a three letter word with O in the middle and then sounds it out. Click the buttons on either side and it changes the first or last letter. There are "machines" for each of the vowels. In just one day, Thomas has gotten to the point where he can sound out most of the words before the computer does. Jacob just copies whatever he hears Thomas saying most of the time, but he has surprised me a few times with the correct answer all on his own.