No, they’re not a waste of time. Not the good ones, anyway. Used judiciously, and as a complement to physical books, good reading apps can help kids learn to read and practice reading. And they’re convenient for busy families who want to encourage reading engagement on the go.
“The advantage of using a device for reading is that it easily fits into modern families’ busy schedules so kids can read anywhere,” explains Beth Chang of iGameMom.
There are many reading apps out there, though, and they’re not all created equal. We cut through the noise to find you the best reading apps for your kids.
Learning to Read Apps
- Learning to read apps should include phonics, sight words, as well as reading words and sentences.
1. Starfall Learn to Read
The popular Starfall curriculum starts with the alphabet in Learn to Read and continues with vowel sounds and comprehension in two other Starfall apps: It’s Fun to Read and I’m Reading. iOS and Android2. Homer
This top-rated, research-backed app motivates kids ages 2 to 8 to love reading by building on what they already know and tapping into the topics that most interest them. iOS and Web3. Bob Books Reading Magic
Two apps, Reading Magic and Reading Magic 2, help children learn to read with phonics-based books and games. iOS and Android4. Hooked on Phonics
Based on the sequential Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read program, these apps offer a library of books rated for difficulty as well as lessons for beginning readers learning to read. Best electronic music software for mac. iOS and Android5. Reading Eggs
Reading Eggs has 120 game-like lessons for children learning to read. iOS and Android6. Reading Raven
Download chrome to macbook air. The interactive reading games in Reading Raven cover a phonics-based reading curriculum starting with recognizing letters and moving to identifying words, reading words, and reading sentences. iOS only
AceReader is one of the leading solutions in the category of Best Speed Reading. This free program was originally produced by njcrawford. The file size of the latest downloadable installation package is 1.1 MB. The software lies within Photo & Graphics Tools, more precisely Viewers & Editors. This free PC program can be installed on Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10 environment, 32-bit version.
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Practice Reading Apps
- There are a lot of individual story apps, but economically it’s to your advantage to use an app with storybooks within it. Generally these subscriptions are in the $10-a-month range. Also, unlike single story apps, most of these reading apps show the reading levels so you know your child is reading a just-right book.
1. MeeGenius
MeeGenius offers children over 700 interactive eBooks including some familiar books with “Sesame Street” characters. iOS and Android2. Epic! Books for Kids
The thousands of eBooks available with Epic! are popular titles from top publishers such as Scaredy Squirrel, Batman vs. Catwoman, and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Reading logs, personalization, and rewards are offered to support developing readers. iOS and Android3. FarFaria
Download one free story daily or subscribe for unlimited stories in the FarFaria app. All books are leveled. Kids can read to themselves or choose the read-to-me option. iOS and Android4. SNAP Learning
Aligned with Common Core, SNAP Learning has a library of 500 leveled reading K-12 books in English and Spanish including paired fiction and nonfiction thematic books and guided reading lessons. Contact SNAP Learning for download information.5. Reading Rainbow
A subscription-based eBook library of books with topics such as animals, family, friends, science, music, and space. iOS and Android
Reading on a device is so much better than playing mindless games. Plus, books on your mobile or table make this Chinese proverb even truer: A book is like a garden, carried in the pocket.
Sound Reading software uses over 30 activity types to strengthen and enhance a students’ fundamental reading skills. All our programs are designed to develop strong auditory processing, fluency and reading comprehension.
Changing the Way the Brain Reads
Sound Reading Programs tackle the heart of reading difficulties by activating three areas of the brain. These areas of the brain are often well developed in natural readers, however, struggling readers prove to be deficit in these areas causing a need for additional support. Sound Reading Programs train the brain to approach reading from a new perspective and help develop essential reading skills along the way. The three main areas Sound Reading addresses include:
Accuracy Areas – Struggling readers often mispronounce words. This is because accuracy depends on a very well-honed sense of speech and the ability to interpret written words as spoken words. By focusing on developing auditory skills, phonemic awareness, and fluency, Sound Reading Programs will quickly have your child reading with astounding degrees of accuracy. Due to the unique design of our software even students that have struggled with the whole-word, phonics or balanced approach in the past have shown great success when using our program.
Automaticity Areas – Accurate reading that is strenuous rarely results in motivated and meaningful reading. Natural readers have the ability to hear and process the sounds of words in their head automatically whereas struggling readers often are not able to hear the needed sounds to decode unfamiliar words. This is where Sound Reading helps struggling readers develop their automaticity by helping individuals first develop their ability to hear and process sounds, then properly match the sounds to letters and words. Sound Reading’s Flash Fluency practice is to effectively teach reading fluency using activities such as: automatic naming and oral recall.
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Comprehension Areas – Comprehension reading is reading with complete understanding of text. It involves knowledge of vocabulary, understanding of sentence structure and the ability to interpret the intentions of the author. When the brain lacks “reading comprehension skills” it relies on the half of the brain devoted to listening comprehension. Knowing the science behind reading, Sound Reading uses activities that tightly link reading and listening comprehension, resulting in significant gains in both understanding and meaning.
Phoneme Manipulation
Students change blocks to represent sound changes in words. Best usb c external hard drive for macbook. This activity develops auditory processing skills by training the brain to hear, process and manipulate sounds without attaching the sound to a letter. By doing this learners are developing their memory skills and their ability to distinguish sounds and word patterns, which leads to improved word recognition and fluency.
Word Recognition / Automaticity
Word Recognition and Automaticity (fluency) refers to an individual’s ability to see a word and associate it with a meaning. Often individuals learning a new language are most likely novices in word recognition and can only recognize a select number of words. Adults and native speakers most likely have a highly developed capacity for word recognition. In order to automatically recognize words fluently learners must become familiar with the word so that it becomes stored in the brain and upon site the meaning becomes automatic. Sound Reading’s Word Recognition/Automaticity activities help individuals become familiar with new words eventually making them automatically recognizable.
Listening Comprehension
Listening Comprehension is best described as a person’s ability to listen and understand what they hear. Developing listening comprehension is an essential reading skill that also helps develop auditory discrimination. Sound Reading’s activities help learners improve their listening comprehension which leads to better understanding and overall improved reading skills.
Solving a Mystery
Free Reading Computer Software
As a student progresses through each level, a picture is uncovered that helps to answer a question. shown on the bottom of the screen. The student can hover over the question to hear it.
Badges
Motivational badges from each level are displayed, and the student can click on them to see and hear the questions and answers from their completed levels.