Websites for Learning to Read
When you’d like a change of pace from regular books for your
little beginning reader, there are some very good websites out there for
teaching early reading and phonics. There are probably many more than I will
list here, but these are the ones we have used and enjoyed.
Starfall.com – I list
this one first because it has y far been the favorite of both of my kids when
they were learning to read. It has a few sections, beginning with learning
letters and letter sounds, then beginning phonics, and on to more advanced
early reading stories. AS the child tries to read a story, if there is a word
they are stuck on they can click on it and the site will sound the word out for
them. There are also worksheets that can be printed out to go along with the
online stories. In addition to the stories, there are a few games and videos
that teach letter sounds or other reading rules.
Reading Eggs – This is
a subscription site, and we have not used it very much. I signed my youngest up
for the free trial, and she said she liked it a lot, but whenever we decided to
do some reading on the computer, she would always ask for starfall. That may be
mostly out of habit; however since that’s what she started with. They offer
several levels of reading instruction as well, so you can personalize it to
your child’s needs. On many of the parenting and homeschooling groups I follow,
there are many families who rave about Reading Eggs, and since they offer the
free trial, it is at least worth checking out.
While preschool television associated websites like PBSkids.org, and NickJr.com,
do have some educational games and content, I haven’t found them very focused
on learning to read. They can be fun for other things.
If your family enjoys a learning to read website that I
haven’t mentioned, please leave a comment and tell us about it. I’m sure there
are many other great websites out there that help kids learn to read that we
haven’t tried yet.
