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Backyard Ballistics: Build Potato Cannons, Paper Match Rockets, Cincinnati Fire Kites, Tennis Ball M by William Gurstelle
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Review: Headsprout.com
Headsprout Early Reading is an online series of phonics-based reading lessons for kids from Kindergarten to grade 2.
David just finished the first 40 episodes, which makes him able to read about 500 words.
The episodes are just the right length — most of them last about 15 minutes — and are fun and engaging enough that David didn’t lose interest half way through.
There’s enough repetition that after a new sound or word is learned, it sticks.
The map and books add additional incentives. After each episode David LOVES adding a new sticker to his map. On the down-side, the stickers were horrid, and by episode 30 we were using glue stick to put them on the map.
David was also thrilled that he could read his very first book after just five episodes. Not only did we read the book, but he printed the coloring pages, pasted them on his wall, and wrote the words out over and over. He was totally proud of the first book he could read all by himself.
After about 28 episodes, we needed a little more motivation than just a sticker, so I added a prize after each new “book” episode he finished. That got him moving incredibly quickly through the next 12 episodes.
My main complaints are that you can’t go back to earlier episodes for review, and those darn stickers didn’t stick.
Despite those two minor problems, I would highly recommend Headsprout Early Reading for kids who are too eager to read to wait for school, or for kids in school who are having difficulty mastering the early stages of reading.
The program is not inexpensive. For $99 you can purchase the first or second set of 40 episodes. $179 will get you all 80 episodes in one shot.
You can see the site and view some sample episodes at http://www.headsprout.com
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3 Responses to “Review: Headsprout.com”
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March 9th, 2007 at 11:56 am
We’re glad David has enjoyed the program so much and, of course, that it has worked so well for him. I am sorry to hear about your problem with our stickers. Please send us an email at info@headsprout.com with your contact information (referencing that you posted this article) and we will get a new set of stickers out to you immediately. We haven’t heard other complaints about our stickers, so it’s possible you received a bad batch.
At Headsprout, we appreciate feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of our product. Our Early Reading product continues to improve based on the feedback we receive from our learners and their parents. Thanks again.
Denise Mamaril
VP, Operations & Finance
Headsprout
March 11th, 2007 at 7:44 pm
Thanks! I’ll do that. We’re going to wait a week or so before starting the next section of episodes since the weather is finally warming up, and David’s spending ALL his time outdoors. He had a touch cabin fever after staying indoors during the cold snap. Once he works himself out of it, we’ll be ready for more stickers.
June 16th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
A quick comment about your feedback that you can’t go back and do episodes over… You can! You just send an email to the Headsprout team and ask them to restart your child at a certain episode and they will gladly help you out. I have done this with my child who started the program before he was ready and needed to repeat parts. This program is phenomenal and, in my experience, it creates amazingly confident readers whose reading levels jump to well-beyond their peers. For anyone interested in supplementing your child’s classroom experience, Headsprout is the way to go!