Hi all! I have a friend who will be homeschooling her kinder age dd in the fall. She needs some ideas for a phonics program and I thought I would come here for some help. The program I use is Spell to Write and Read, and though we love it and it has worked for us, it is not a program I would recommend to a lot of people, especially to my friend who has 2 younger boys that are very ramnbunctious and need a lot of time and attention. so, any ideas on good language arts programs (phonics based) that would not require a lot of teacher prep?
If she has a computer, and can connect to the internet... www.starfall.com is by far my favorite resource for teaching reading. All three of my children learned to read using Starfall. This is a FREE program. And there are downloads/worksheets that can be downloaded to enhance the learning.
I highly Recommend Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. Both my children were reading on a 2nd grade level by 4 years old using that...and there is NO teach prep.
www.headsprout.com I used this for two of my kids. I recommend this to everyone because: * Thorough and effective. See results after only a few lessons. * Keeps their interest. * Minimal parent involvment. You should stay near or sit with the child to help if needed. There are readers and flash cards to print out and practice but its layed out simply online. You would print certain things after completing certain lessons. * Lessons are between 15-30 minutes long. Then practice flash cards and readers for about 10-15 minutes. * Customer service is excellent. They are prompt at returning emails, and will even reset some of the lessons if you feel the child needs it. * Price is reasonable. You can pay for it in full or break into 6 monthly payments (roughly $16 a month for 6 months, no interest). Now, this is not a language arts program. It doesn't contain spelling or grammar. This is phonics only. Feel free to email me with any questions you or your friend might have.
