For a busy parent, any gadget that can keep your kids busy is a blessing. This is especially so if your child is an active little darling who just won’t sit still. Learning apps are a great way to keep junior occupied, although finding the right one can be tricky. There are so many apps available that you may need to spend a little time yourself looking through the list to find something suitable for your tot.
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ABCs in your pocket
A key recommendation is the abcPocketPhonics. This iPhone app has many functions to help children learn more about phonics. It is designed to encourage learning through tracing the letters, listening to letter sounds and recognising sounds. Your child will eventually be able to mouth simple words through this sound recognition exercise before moving on to the reading app.
There are other features in reading apps, such as letters, sounds, writing and word games. With these learning apps, your child should be able to reach, at least the rudimentary level of learning how to write, recognise letter sounds and blend the sounds according to the letters, without any supervision from you.
Literacy and parental involvement
These learning apps also allow for some level of parent involvement. You can choose between UK and US pronunciation and also which medium you think is suitable for your little one. You will also be able to monitor the progress your child makes on his or her writing skills, according to how well your child traces on the given lines.
The interactive style of learning apps helps to give a lot of encouragement to your child. This frees you from having to lavish praise on your child every few minutes. As your child develops his or her phonics skills, moving on to the reading app will be easier and certainly provide many fun filled hours of entertainment.
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On how to use abcPocketPhonics, watch this video:
Reading at reasonable prices
By comparison, these learning apps, particularly the abcPocketPhonics is very reasonably priced. For less than S$3.80 your child will be able to have fun and learn at the same time. Eventually, progressing to the reading apps will be a breeze once your child has mastered the abcPocketPhonics. Another plus for you as the parent, is that your child can do all this by using your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad.
You would not have to invest in a separate gadget for you child, thus saving costs and having to cart around less gadgets is helpful. However, there are many mixed ratings about these learning apps, although most reviews are quite positive.
Either way, only you can make the decision on what is best for your child, but most would agree that with all the modern tools available for learning, starting them young on these apps is the way to go.
Tell us what your thoughts are on learning apps for literacy!