Literacy Apps
One of my many hats over the years has been tutoring students of all grade levels and languages. The world of opportunities and options has literally opened up in the palm of our hands! The following apps offer hours of affordable to free educational and entertainment value in one!
Flashcards for Toddlers – Flashcards for Toddlers is an easy-to-use app that contains 134 flashcards from six different categories. This is ideal for young kids who are interested in learning very basic words in English, Spanish, or Vietnamese. We have friends who are learning English and they are helping their friends to learn Spanish! Win/win! Available on Windows for ages 1-10. Free.
Phonics Genius – This app covers over 200 phonics patterns (over 200), enabling kids to speak, read and recognize words through phonetic awareness! Once you select a phonics pattern, you see a word that has that pattern highlighted and the app reads that word to you. When you click on the word it goes to the next word. There is also an option for students to record themselves reading the word. Users can mark words as “favorites” if you want to review multiple patterns. Compatible with i-Phone and i-Pad. Free.
Read Me Stories: Learn to Read – Ideal for your child to learn to read, along with the help of Read Me Stories the kiddos start reading at whatever their current reading level is, and at their at their own pace. They experience positively great introduction to reading as they read along as the words are highlighted. They also are entertained as they interact with the words. You and your kids will enjoy reading from a library of over 140 educational children’s stories! Available on Android for grade levels K-3. Free with in-app purchases.
Reading Rainbow –This app is based on the famed PBS show and offers various genres of literature for your child to help build comprehension and prediction skills as well as increase his/her vocabulary. Reading Rainbow offers a library of books to children that are clustered by interests (action adventures, magical tales, etc.). Kids can choose to have a book read aloud to them or to read the book themselves (they might even opt to read with a parent!). To access more than five books, users have to subscribe to the app for a fee, which can be one, six or 12 months. Well worth it, though! Available on Android for all ages. Free with in-app purchases.
Story Time – I love this one! Users get to listen to kids’ favorite stories with narration and enjoy reading stories with text and lovely images. Kids can listen to fables, classics, holiday books and all sorts of growing lists, while also watching an accompanying animation. This is a great “back seat” app for kids that helps them build their love of literature. Available on Windows for grade levels K-3. Free.
What literacy or educational apps do you enjoy! Do share!
