Learning to read, with the help of a tablet

I learned long ago that the iPad’s game and video apps cast a magical spell over my children, but this summer I’ve also been pleased by how much they have learned while using their tablets. This is important, as my 4-year-old is going to ‘real’ school for the first time. His reading skills, in particular, have been helped by some great apps. These have helped him move from knowing shapes and sounds of letters to actually reading words.



One of the most comprehensive apps for teaching reading is a free iPad app called Learn with Homer. It’s a set of lessons and games presented with bright cartoon graphics and amusing sounds.[break]



Using animations and spoken guidance, the app leads children to sound letters that appear on the screen and shows how letters make words, using examples like ‘alligator’ and ‘ant’. The app’s learning sections are interspersed with game sections, and there’s a listening section where children read and hear stories. Completing a lesson or story is rewarded with the chance to draw something on the screen or to record an answer to a question about the story. The app’s best feature is that it keeps these pictures and recordings, because it is fun to look back on them.



The app’s interface feels child-friendly and is easy to use thanks to on-screen cues and spoken instructions. Children could most likely use it on their own, though an adult may need to lend a hand with some controls, like the drawing interface. The app also has great attention to detail.



For a simpler reading app, the free Kids Reading (Preschool) app on Android is a great option. The app’s first section helps children learn to blend letter sounds into full words, through a cute game with a tortoise. The game animates the tortoise walking along slowly, sounding out each letter in a short word as he moves.



Montessori Crosswords, $3 on iOS, is more sophisticated. This app’s main feature is a game in which children drag letters from an alphabet list onto a very simple crossword grid. Each word on the grid is accompanied by a picture hint. Tapping on this makes the app say the word aloud. Depending on the settings, words can be made of fewer or, if you choose, more sounds, which makes the puzzles more challenging. To keep children interested, getting words right delivers an interactive graphic, like one of shooting stars, that reacts to screen touches.



Remember, your enthusiasm for reading can be an important example for your children — so why not play with these apps alongside them?

nytimes.com

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