Program Information

Developer and contact

Developed and distributed by Headsprout^®. Address: 127 Broadway Ave E., Suite #200, Seattle, WA 98102. Email: schoolinfo@headsprout.com. Web: www.headsprout.com/school/products/basics.cfm. Telephone: (206) 329-3660.

Scope of use

Headsprout^® Early Reading was developed in 1999 and is currently being used by school districts in almost every state across the country, as well as numerous locations overseas.

Teaching

Headsprout^® Early Reading is a supplemental early literacy curriculum accessed via the Internet. The prekindergarten curriculum—which emphasizes phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension—is made up of forty 20-minute animated episodes (the first half of the 80 episode K-2 curriculum), 30 stories, and 100 printable flashcards. Animated cartoon characters guide children through interactive episodes in locations such as outer space, under the sea, or the land of the dinosaurs. Children use the mouse to navigate through the episode; for example, helping a worm get home by identifying, from among four pairs of letters, the letters that represent a sound they learned. The worm moves closer to his hole with each correct answer. The curriculum provides individualized, adaptive instruction, and children work through the lessons at their own pace. The program responds to a child’s pattern of errors with tutorials and reviews to provide extra assistance to children struggling to comprehend the material. Children must meet specific performance criteria in order to progress to the next lesson. Cumulative review is built into the curriculum to help ensure retention. Printed versions of stories in the episodes are found in six Headsprout^® Readers. The stories only contain material that children have learned up to that point in the curriculum. The Readers serve to reinforce the skills taught during the series and provide children with the opportunity to practice basic reading. The program generates performance reports, allowing teachers to monitor their students’ progress.

Cost

A subscription must be purchased for each student and can be carried over into the following year until the student completes the entire program. Discounts are available for larger purchases. No other cost information was provided.

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