Website #13

http://www.starfall.com/

This site is listed as a free public service to teach children how to read with phonics.  A very exciting and well-developed educational website for preschool, kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade, special education, homeschool, and ELD, ELL, and ESL guided levels.  Also, navigation of online activities prove to be absolutely "kid- friendly."  To begin with, there are four main categories : 1) ABC's 2) Learn to Read 3) It's Fun to Read 4) I'm Reading.   In the first level, early learners are engaged in basic phonemic learning and as they progress and master those skills they advance to a higher level.   Some of the categories they're introduced to are:  About Me, Art Gallery, Magic, Music, Poetry, Tongue Twisters, Bird Riddles, etc.  There are numerous practice activities within each of these categories that help reinforce rudimentary concepts contained in each one.  As the child progresses to each new level there are new and different categories to be exposed to.  For instance, under reading, the child will be exposed to different types of literature such as plays, fiction and nonfiction, comics, folk tales, Greek myths, and Chinese fables.  Many more levels of learning and topics emerge as the student surpasses the previous level before.  Imaginative, interactive, animated ways of teaching new concepts to each grade level are evident in each one.  I  feel parents, teachers, or other educators would be extremely enthusiastic about  including this website as part of their supplemental curriculum.  There is much to choose from that will enhance the current curriculum and prove to be even more fun and exciting for every student that gets to glean from it.