Beginning Reading Apps for Kids Ages 4 to 8
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Beginning readers need practice with strategies, phonics, and books at a just-right reading level. While I wouldn’t say all these reading apps for kids will actually teach your child to read, they will provide reading materials and practice. However, some reading apps include active teaching. So, here are a variety of reading apps for your beginning reader with an explanation and reviews.
Go here for phonics and sight word apps.
Reading Apps for Kids
Duolingo ABC FREE
Watch children grow as readers with three levels and 300 bite-sized activities that teach the alphabet, phonics, and sight words. Children work independently and progress through the sequential curriculum.
Hooked on Phonics FREE + in app purchases (Android)
With music, games, lessons, and stories, HOOKED ON PHONICS: LEARN TO READ is the simplest, most effective and most fun way to learn to read.
Starfall I’m Reading $1.99 (Android)
The stories in this app contain a controlled vocabulary set, using the words most frequently encountered in print. The stories and activities reinforce high-frequency words, also called “sight words,” in sentences rather than in isolation.
Starfall Learn to Read $2.99 (Android)
Each numbered section features a vowel sound and its related spelling. Your child will hear, touch, read and eventually master this sound-spelling through a variety of engaging activities, movies, and songs.
Kids A – Z FREE (subscription) (Android)
Raz-Kids gives you hundreds of interactive, leveled books spanning 27 levels of difficulty, covering a wide range of subjects. In addition to engaging kids at their reading level and in their area of interest, this award-winning website gives kids 24/7 Web access to the practice they need to become better, more confident readers.
ABCMouse FREEABCmouse (subscription) (Android)
ABCmouse’s app teaches reading through a variety of interactive learning activities including games, books, songs, art activities, puzzles and offline printables.
Monkey Word School $1.99 (Android)
Join Monkey and his jungle friends in this exciting reading app as they explore a fun-filled world of letters, sight words, phonics and spelling.
uKloo FREE
uKloo Early Reader App is a fun seek-and-find reading game for ages four and up. It encourages kids to look up word clues, search the play screen, and discover surprises along the way!
Bob Books #1 Reading Magic (Learning Touch) $2.99
I really like this reading app and so does JJ. Each page shows a sentence plus a black and white drawing. Then, the child must spell the individual word. When she clicks on the letter, the letter and sound are spoken. Then, when the word is spelled, the letters, sounds, and word are all repeated out loud again and the object gets colored in. If you spell all the words, the whole page turns a color. Great for beginning readers!
Word Wagon HD $1.99
Word Wagon is a fun, award-winning app learn to read app that teaching letters, phonics and spelling. Based on Common Core State Standards kids will learn letter names, sounds and spelling of 4 and 6 letter words.
Red Apple Readers FREE (Android $1.99)
Practice reading skills anywhere with 10 fun and interactive 3D pop-up phonics readers.
I like that in all these fun games, kids can choose upper case or lower case letters! Then, watch classic Super Why videos and decorate a place in the Phonics Fair. A great quality learn to read app for kids based on a favorite PBS show.
Learn with Homer FREE
Covers 50+ reading skills with an easy-to-use program gets children READY for pre-K, Kindergarten + 1st grade.
Fitzroy Readers Books 1 to 10 $9.99
The Fitzroy Readers is a set of graded reading books which employ the Fitzroy Method – a phonic approach to reading developed over the last 3 decades. The first Reader, A Fat Cat, uses only 13 letters. This makes it easy for small children to start reading without delay.
Learn what READING STRATEGIES you can teach your child for better comprehension.
Also see: first grade book list for summer reading and second grade book list for summer reading
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