more Starfall

Have you seen the more.Starfall.com site yet?  It's lovely.  Well, a better description would be cool, colorful, engaging, fun.

 My two youngest (ages 7 and 5) had been messing around with the free version for a few months.  While they loved what they saw, they were always mad there wasn't more.  And I was too frugal to want to pay $35 for a one year subscription.

Fast forward to me agonizing over school plans for the upcoming year and wondering what to do with my 5-year-old who technically only has 30 minutes of "school" time, in addition to story time.  He usually sits in with us but sometimes (okay, often) gets bored with us and starts to cause problems.  I know MOST 5-year-olds would not do this...he's an unusual child. 

So I sat down and gave the more.Starfall site another look.  Hmm, early phonics and reading.  Games.  MATH!  Colors.  Nursery rhymes.  I took the plunge and bought the subscription and that's when my jaw dropped.

I now have access to HUNDREDS of worksheets.  Now, I'm not a worksheet mom but they do have their place for keeping little hands busy.  These are fun worksheets, cool activities, puzzles, word family printables, handwriting, sorting, coloring and the list goes on.  

AND THEN...I saw the lesson plans.  They have 31 weeks worth of lesson plans (mostly geared to kindergarten) which blends phonics, science, math, reading and all sorts of fun things.  It gives you the teacher prep involved plus lists what you’ll need each day then gives you step-by-step instructions on how to mesh everything together.  I'm not sure this is something I'll use, but it's nice to know it's there!

My two little guys have loved using the full version.  They can easily navigate without my help (the interface is just like regular Starfall).  When I’m teaching the older boys their individual subjects (math, reading, spelling) I let the younger boys explore more.Starfall or work on some of the activities I’ve printed.  I'm so pleased with the variety of tools it provides, not only for the kids, but for me as the teacher/parent.