Apps for Early Literacy

Apps for Early Literacy

Letter School

LetterSchool makes handwriting incredibly easy to unravel. Just pick a letter, kick back, and enjoy the show. As a bonus, you’ll learn the letter’s name and its sound, as well as a word to go with it. But the fun’s just beginning! There are three steps to learn letters and numbers: tap, trace, and write on your own.

LetterSchool comes with two sets of letters—uppercase and lowercase—and a set of numbers from 1 to 10. As an advanced feature, the app also lets you choose from three of the most popular typefaces used in handwriting education.

UPSIDE:
- Step by step play with increasing difficulty
- Incorporates phonics into letter writing
- Distractions are few

DOWNSIDE:
- Only available on Apple devices

Hideout

Hideout teaches kids how to read using a small series of fun phonics activities. These games emphasize letter-sound association and word family repetition. Kids will have fun blending common vowel and consonant combinations such as map, cap, tap, and zap.

These interactive games showcase the individual parts of phonics. The challenge increases as the games progress.

UPSIDE:
- Lots of repetition
- Play elements build on one another
- The Price!

DOWNSIDE:
- Currently this app only offers 3 letter sound families to play
with. Hopefully more will be added in the future.
- Only available on Apple devices
- Background music can be distracting

Rory’s Story Cubes

With 9 cubes, 54 images, and over 10,000 million combinations, the possibilities are endless. Shake the dice and let your imagination take flight in this easy to play storytelling game.
There is no wrong way to play, and no possible way to lose in this delightful literacy game. Children learn to tell stories, use their imaginations, and connect real life images into words with Rory’s Story Cubes. Whether you prefer the game at home on the kitchen table or in this handy on the go app version, it is endless hours of family fun!

UPSIDE:
- Encourages freeplay and imaginative learning
- Hundreds of ways to play
- Available on both Apple and Android Devices
- Encourages storytelling

DOWNSIDE:
- Expansions available to add more cubes. Packets include actions,
voyages, enchanted places and more, but at additional cost of $1.99 each

PBS Parents Play and Learn

This App was designed specifically for parents. It is full of games that parents can play with their children. Each game is themed around a familiar location such as the park, grocery store, kitchen, and more.

Each activity also lists simple at home activities that parents can do with kids, plus literacy tips for those everyday teachable moments. This app is designed to inspire interactive play and conversations between children and their caregivers.

UPSIDE:
- Simple activities with two levels of difficulty
- Literacy & learning tips embedded right in the app
- The Price!
- Available on both Apple and Android Devices

DOWNSIDE:
- Not a lot of variety in each individual game within the app

D is for Doodle

Doodling has always been a favorite way to pass the time
for young and old alike. Now your child can doodle and learn
at the same time! Using upper and lower case letters as the
starting point, children are guided through creating a wide
variety of characters and objects with easy-to-follow,
step-by-step directions.

D is for Doodle helps build letter recognition skills that are
essential to reading and writing. Each letter name, form, and
sound is further reinforced through the beautifully illustrated
coloring pages where your child can color each creative doodle
in their own imaginative way.

UPSIDE:
- Encourages free play and doodling
- Both upper and lowercase letters offer unique pictures
- A coloring-only option for younger learners

DOWNSIDE:
- Only available on Apple devices
- No phonics connection

Story Wheel

Let your child's imagination run wild as they create their own unique story with Story Wheel!
Story Wheel is an interactive game that improves a child’s cognitive abilities. Story Wheel helps develop an understanding of story composition, strengthens imagination, and improves oral language skills.
1-4 players can create a story. Start by spinning the wheel to get a picture. Next, record your voice as you develop a story with that picture. Each player will build upon the story with a new picture.
When done, you can listen to your stories and share them with
your family and friends.
UPSIDE:
- Four story themes to choose from
- Encourages storytelling
- Encourages free play and imaginative learning
- Supports multiple language learning

DOWNSIDE:
- Only available on Apple devices
- Time limits in individual recording panels

Intro to Letters

Intro to Letters teaches children to trace, read, write, and record letter sounds, names, and phonograms. Based on the proven methodology of Montessori, Intro to Letters is an excellent primer to the world of language. Helpful tips for parents and caregivers are included throughout the app to guide you as you help your child. Each tip pops up at the beginning of its corresponding activity and fades in the background when activated.

UPSIDE:
- Incorporates phonics
- Both upper and lowercase letters as well as common letter combos
- Simple design
- Practice and challenge modes

DOWNSIDE:
- Only available on Apple devices
- The Price!

Collins Big Cat Interactive Reading Apps

Collins Big Cat apps from Harper Collins help to aid language achievement with an individual animated book title that includes audio narration and sound effects.

Each book (my personal favorite is It Was a Cold, Dark Night by Tim Hopgood) makes reading an interactive experience for children. There are opportunities to record their own narration and play it back as they read the book or to become the author and create their own brand new tale with the pictures from the original story.

Every App also contains great tips for getting more out of
reading for parents too!

UPSIDE:
- Incorporates phonics
- Storytelling elements
- Simple design
- 3 modes, “Read to Me”, “Read by Myself”, and “Story Creator”
- Tons of titles to choose from
- The Price!

DOWNSIDE:
- Only available on Apple devices
- Each title needs an individual download

What to look for when choosing apps for kids:

·  Apps should be easy and intuitive for your pre-reader to navigate.

·  Buttons and pagination should flow without confusion.

·  Individual apps should encourage the development of multiple literacies (print, visual, digital, etc.)

·  Apps should encourage active, rather than passive, participation.

·  Book-based apps should strike a balance between interactive features and story moments. Look for apps that require kids to complete story pieces before allowing playtime.

·  Avoid apps that are too distracting. Too many things to click on, always-on background music, and games that move attention away from a story can cause confusion and defeat the purpose.

·  Look for apps that utilize repetitive activities, real world images and sounds that capture attention, and use child, rather than adult, voices for the characters.

·  Look for apps that have a creation element. Free play and stimulating the imagination are often overlooked elements of early literacy.

App advice for caregivers

Experts recommend waiting to introduce digital devices to children until they are ready for preschool. Children under two learn best from real-world experiences and interactions.

Experts recommend parents be very involved in their child’s experience with electronic devices, especially at a young age. Parents can help children get more out of digital devices when they share in the experience. It is important to ask engaging questions and to point out additional aspects of the app.

Model the behavior. Parent’s actions speak louder than words and though we are all embracing the great aspects of digital devices in our daily lives, it is important to strike a balance. Turning off smartphones, tablets, and other digital media to spend real time with children is very important. Real world experiences help children develop cognitive, social and language skills.

Parents can look for an appropriate age ranges listed on the app. This information parents and caregivers find the right apps for what their kids can handle.

Remember, as parents we already know the answers to the questions being posed to our little ones. It is more important for little hands to explore for correct answers rather than having we as grownups pushing the button for them. No matter how many times it takes, let children be in the driver’s seat when navigating through their own apps (and try to keep the backseat driving to a minimum) J.

Be on the lookout for apps labeled “lite”. These are often an attempt to get your interested in a free, truncated version of an app that might contain links that require you to download additional purchasable content. Read all the fine print on “free” apps to make sure you are getting what you are expecting.

Bibliography

Apple iTunes Store Reviews. Web. 27 Sept. 2013. <http://www.apple.com/itunes/?cid=wwa-us-kwg-itunes-10001>.

Brown, Laura L. "When to Introduce Your Child to a Smartphone or Tablet." PBS Parents. Web. 26 Sept. 2013. <http://www.pbs.org/parents/childrenandmedia/article-when-introduce-child-smartphone-tablet.html>.

"Children and Media." PBS Parents. Web. 27 Sept. 2013. <http://www.pbs.org/parents/childrenandmedia/article-6-tips-for-buying-children's-apps.html>.

Letter School. Web. 27 Sept. 2013. <http://letterschool.com/>.

Miller, Carolyn, Kathryn Zickuhr, Lee Rainie and Kristen Purcell. "Parents, Children, Libaries, and Reading." www.pewresearch.org. 13 Apr. . Web. 27 Sept. 2013. <http://libraries.pewinternet.org/files/legacy-pdf/PIP_Library_Services_Parents_PDF.pdf>.

PBS Parents Learn & Play. Web. 27 Sept. 2013. <http://pbskids.org/mobile/pbs-parents-play--learn.html>.

Strickland, Dorothy S and Shannon Riley-Ayers. "Early Literacy:Policy and Practice in the Preschool Years." NIEER. NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR, Web. 27 Sept. 2013. <http://nieer.org/resources/policybriefs/10.pdf>.

Created by:

Lisa Campbell
Youth Services Department – Children’s Coordinator
Mid-Continent Public Library

Phone 816.521.7223
Mid-Continent Public Library http://www.mymcpl.org