When the Princess entered her Senior Nursery year, I had one big fear in mind: how in the world will I teach my daughter how to read. I’ve heard from parents of older kids in her school that the Senior Nursery year is when the girls will be taught how to read.
My daughter’s school has always been amazing at teaching our girls, but they also stress the importance of home-school partnership so parents are encouraged to become the kids’ teachers at home. I’ve said it before: Although I come from a family of teachers, I’m not the best teacher around. I swear, I struggle every time I have to help my daughter answer her home activity or study for her Student-Teacher Encounter. That’s why I always look for resources that can help both my little girl and I during study time.
While the Princess and I were going around the book fair held in her school last week, I saw Mommy Tin, one of our co-parents and owner of The Learning Wagon, with her daughter. I was surprised at how fast her daughter can read! I had to ask how they did it. She recommended some books at the book fair that we can use for reading practice and also shared a website that she swears by. Thanks to Mommy Tin, we discovered Starfall, a learn to read website developed by Starfall Education Foundation that helps kindergarteners learn to read with phonics.
The Princess and I tried it one afternoon…all we can say is, amazeballs! We love the colorful graphics and the fun stories on the website. The Princess enjoyed it so much, she didn’t notice she’s been reading short stories for half an hour already. My daughter can read prior to using the website. However, with the help of Starfall, she became a faster reader. I’m definitely going to use this website for the Little Man since he’s starting to read simple words as well!
The learn to read program of Starfall is free. However, if you want to have access to more activities, you can purchase programs from their website. They have a Kindergarten Curriculum, Pre-K Curriculum and lots of other activity books and sheets. Parents, teachers and schools may also purchase memberships from them.
Aside from online resources, parents can opt to get the services of a tutor for their children. The Learning Wagon offers tutorial services for preschool to college students in Antipolo City. Tutors are deployed to students’ homes, making tutorial sessions super convenient! To know more about their services, please contact Tin Nuguid at 0927-314-7958 or 512-8129.
