The Archives
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03.19.13The Word Monsters want to teach kids to read on iPadThere are an increasing number of impressive phonics and early-reading apps on iPad, with The Word Monsters: Learn to Read shaping up as one of the best we've seen. Released this week for iPad, it's the work of developer MindConnex Learning – the company behind the excellent Shakespeare In Bits apps for older students. Here, the target audience is much younger: children learning to read. The app takes the form of a series of digital books starring five fun monster characters, with accessible stories and voice narration backed up by interactive activities. Continue Reading...
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02.07.13Endless Alphabet might just be our favourite ABC kids’ app everWe wrote about iOS app Endless Alphabet when it came out last month. Since then, our two children have been hammering it on our iPad, so we thought we'd write about it again. It deserves it. As we said then, the app is published by Callaway Digital Arts, and features a bunch of colourful monsters teaching phonics and words, with a different word for every letter of the alphabet. They're not the obvious ones either: Bellow, Hilarious, Juggle, Portrait, Rainstorm and Yodel are all in there. The main activity involves dragging individual letters into place in each word, with the fun being that ...
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01.28.13Mini-U: ZOO Alphabet is a visual delightThere are lots of alphabet apps available – and many use animals to provide a visual cue for letter recognition. Mini-U: Zoo Alphabet caught our eye because the illustrations are a cut above some of the poorer quality photo apps. Containing 29 game cards, each illustrated with a letter and a corresponding animal, the app aims to help your kids learn by including mini-games or animation on each card. The letters and animal names are also narrated, and there is a quiz section where your kids can see what they have learnt. Continue Reading...
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01.24.13Endless Alphabet app gives kids monstery letter-lessonsMonsters? Good. Teaching your children the alphabet? Equally good. Both together? Marvellous. And that's the idea behind Endless Alphabet. It's the work of publisher Callaway Digital Arts, which previously made the Monster at the End of This Book and Another Monster at the End of This Book apps for Sesame Street. They clearly have a liking for monsters. In this case, a collection of colourful monsters are teaching phonics and words through a series of puzzles and animations, with more words to be added over time in updates to the app. Continue Reading...
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01.03.13Hooked on Phonics: Learn to Read gets an iOS appHooked on Phonics is one of the more famous educational brands in the US, which has appeared in books, flash cards and games among other media. Now there's an app for that. Released on the App Store this week, it promises a digital reading programme mixing songs, games and stories, all based on the basics of phonics learning. This app is actually just the first unit of the programme, with three lessons focused on the first steps into reading. We're guessing more units will follow, although it's unclear at this point whether they'll be delivered through separate apps, or in-app purchases in ...
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12.07.12Duck Duck Moose gets bookish with Kindergarten Reading appThis is probably one more for our US readers: an app called Kindergarten Reading that teaches phonics for young children, tying in with the American Common Core State Standards educational system. It looks very good though: nine word and letter-based activities helping children to learn their phonics while playing with colourful zoo characters, led by a meerkat named Milo. More than 200 words are included to practise with, and there's a parental reports section so you can sneak a nosy look at how your children are progressing. Continue Reading...
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09.03.12Ladybird: I’m Ready for Phonics (iPhone / iPad review)We're nearing the end of the summer holidays, and we can tell our five year-old is missing his school. Why? He keeps asking for his "letter sounds and tricky words" at bedtime to practise. Yes, phonics. An established part of the UK curriculum for children learning to read, and a discipline that's given our son a proud sense of progression and achievement. Which makes us think he's going to love Ladybird: I'm Ready For Phonics. It's the latest iPhone and iPad app from Penguin Books, based on its longstanding Ladybird brand. It's aiming to be "the perfect way to support your child’s ...
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08.30.12Penguin launches Ladybird: I’m Ready for Phonics appAs the parent of a five year-old, phonics remain a thing of wonder to me. One minute, letters are alien beings to my son; the next, he's reading signs left, right and centre, and demanding to know what 'No Smoking' means. Much of his learning comes from square bits of paper with "letter sounds" printed on, supplied by his school. As his geekparent, I'm firmly in the market for a decent phonics app. The problem: there are hundreds of rubbish ones. Perhaps Ladybird: I'm Ready for Phonics is the answer. It comes from a trusted source, Penguin Books, with a £4.99 price ...
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06.17.12Gilbert Gas Adventure app teaches science and phonicsHere's an idea: teaching children about science and phonics through 26 characters, each with their own book. That's The Quirkles, a set of books published by US firm Creative 3. Now one of them has been turned into an app. It's called A Gilbert Gas Adventure, and is available as a universal app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. In it, Gilbert and his friend Gary Goat learn all about carbon dioxide, with a story, puzzles, matching games and colouring sections. Your child can record their own voice on each page of the story, and the app suggests two science experiments to ...
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05.29.12Pearson Education launches Check Your Phonics iOS appIt's been an education for us seeing how our five year-old is learning to read and write using phonics. We suspect a lot of parents, like us, are building on the materials provided by schools with phonics apps at home. The trouble being there are hundreds available, many of which are pish. That certainly can't be said of Check Your Phonics, a new iPhone and iPad app that's the work of Learn at Home – a division of respected book publisher Pearson Education. Continue Reading...
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