Learning to read is a rite of passage. A whole new world is unlocked just by cracking the pages of a book or reading them on a tablet screen. When your child picks up his or her first book, you’ll definitely want to foster this newfound love. These attention-grabbing apps for readers are perfect for practicing reading skills on an iPhone.
Super Reader’s Little Monster Adventures
This game focuses on learning the Dolch sight words, which are essential building blocks in the beginning stages of learning to read. Your child will join Little Monster in 10 vocabulary-focused stories. The app can even grow along with your child’s reading ability and automatically highlight words while narrating. You can even record your child’s voice reading the story, which is one of the best functions of this app. Hearing their own voice reading the story back will leave your little reader feeling proud and empowered.
Boat Adventure: Short Vowel Sounds
You can’t get very far without A, E, I, O, and U when reading and writing. This adventure game features two lead characters that teach children about long and short vowels through colorful stories and games. A sticker is awarded at the completion of each game, and little students will love collecting them all in an online sticker book. More challenging levels are unlocked as children become better readers.
There’s something about learning the alphabet with the help of funny zoo characters that makes the whole process more fun than work. Alphabet Aquarium teaches children the entire alphabet with phonics lessons on each letter. There are four different puzzles that help children practice word, letter and number recognition. Children can use their fingers to drag and drop puzzle pieces, trace letters and activate special features like sounds and animation.
“Cat in the Hat” Interactive Book
You’re probably already very familiar with “The Cat in the Hat” by Dr. Seuss. This app brings the story into the 21st century with an interactive edge. Each page is brought to life with new games and lessons. Readers can tap individual words and pictures for fun surprises like sound effects and animation. Highlighted narration encourages literacy skills, and new vocabulary words are introduced in fun and exciting ways.
If you’re a child of the 80s, you will most likely remember this public access television show that inspired the love of reading in thousands of young children. Now the show has a second life in a new app, which lets users browse through a virtual library filled with hundreds of books arranged by reading level, or watch dozens of field trip videos hosted by LeVar Burton himself. Games motivate children to move to the next reading level, while “read to me” or “read alone” settings offer flexibility.
There are so many apps for beginning readers that it’s hard to know where to begin. Why not start with a sampling of the best that the app marketplace has to offer? And if you don’t yet have a reading device for your child, Gazelle Certified pre-owned has your tablet and smartphone needs covered.
Moms, what are your favorite iPhone apps for readers who are still learning?
Image courtesy of Flickr
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