Parents' Guide to Starfall Learn to Read

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Common Sense Media Review

Cynthia Chiong By Cynthia Chiong , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 4+

Great reading activities fit a range of skill levels.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 4+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

age 4+

Based on 1 parent review

age 3+

Based on 1 kid review

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What's It About?

In STARFALL LEARN TO READ, kids choose from a set of mini-books, each of which includes a cute song and short plot using words with the featured vowel sound. On each page, kids can read a sentence on their own, get help on pronunciation, and hear a sentence read aloud. An illustration sometimes animates or requires kids to interact by tapping on items. When kids finish the book portion, they can play related activities such as fill-in-the-blanks or matching and watch a fun video about print concepts.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say ( 1 ):
Kids say ( 1 ):

Starfall Learn to Read really maximizes on the learning in a fun way. It takes every opportunity to label the letters and letter sounds. Even as kids tap on the "next" arrow, the arrow turns into the target letter and kids can hear the letter sound again. The mini-books have a nice progression when kids read them in order. For each vowel sound, there's a good mix of reading, games, songs, and videos. It would be nice to label each mini-book so that if parents and kids wanted to practice a specific vowel sound, they could easily find the appropriate book. While it's fun to see how they've incorporated some interactive elements into the activities, those who use the website will find few surprises.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Watch along to help your kids read the mini-books. Have them tap on words they are struggling with to hear the pronunciation.

  • Ask your kids what sounds and words they learned and try to point them out in everyday contexts.

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