Starfall

Starfall is a children's website that teaches basic English reading and writing skills. The main demographic is preschoolers and kindergarteners. It teaches children how to read by using games and phonics. Methods used by the website are based on the research of G. Reid Lyon from the National Institutes of Health and Edward J. Kame'enui from the University of Oregon. Established in 2002, the website is free to use and does not use advertising to generate revenue. The cost of running it is instead covered by money from Blue Mountain Arts, as well as the money made from its workbook printouts. History Starfall was founded on August 27, 2002, by Stephen Schutz, his wife Susan Polis Schutz, and their son, Jared Schutz Polis. Starfall arose from Blue Mountain Arts, a publishing house in Boulder, Colorado founded by Stephen Schutz. Starfall received this name because the founders believed that the name "evoked wonder and delight". Stephen Schutz had trouble reading books when he was 9 years old, so he decided to help young readers by creating this website. In 2006, Starfall launched Pumarosa, which helps Spanish speakers learn English. In May 2007, Starfall had 987,000 visitors, which was a 300% increase from the previous year. In 2011, TIME included Starfall on its list of "50 Websites That Make the Web Great".