Top 5 Reading Apps
Is it just my kids, or do most kids spend a lot of time on the computer, tablet, phone? My girls spend so much time on their computers. Yes this has a great deal to do with the fact that they go to an online school, it makes most of their day online. But it feels like they are always plugged into something. My two youngest girls, love their tablets. Once they are done with school for the day, the run and grab the tablets.
They use to play a lot of games and it got me thinking. If they are going to be spending so much on these devices, there has to be a way for them to also be learning. On the hunt I went. I picked reading (stay tuned for the best math apps too) and started to search the apps. To say there are a lot of reading apps, is not anywhere close to what I found. There are hundreds of reading apps. Now not all apps are created equal. Some are really great, some are lacking; some are free and some cost as much as $12 a month. It was crazy the variety that was out there.
Below are my top 5 apps. They had to be affordable (no $12 a month here, thank you very much), they had to have lots of books to choose from, they had to reach a broad reading range, and last but certainly most important, the girls had to want to play them without my prompting. Good criteria I think. Thoughts? Did I miss any? (These are in no order)
This is my favorite one. The girls love it, you can pick the level that they are reading at based on the common core levels. (Yes some of you will hate it just because of that, but it really makes finding the right level and the rest of the books in that level super easy to find. Even the girls can find their own books). You can read the stories, it can read them to you, and it even has a quiz at the end of each book to make sure that not only can they read it but your kid can UNDERSTAND what they read. Plus it is totally free. The only downside is it has to be through your school, so all you homeschool mama’s call and complain about it.
This one is the girls favorite. It opens to a Neverland type map, and you select the location that you want to go to; Bedtime Buffs, Fairytale Falls, Mt Make Believe and a lot more. Everything is very colorful and detailed. Like Raz-Kids, you can read the story or have it read it to you. It has two versions of the app, a free app and a paid. The free app, you can read one book a day; with the paid you get unlimited.
Homer
We all love Homer. There is no free version, so that is a bummer. But it is only $7.99 a month, not to terribly expensive. It has a ton of activities: it can read you the story, you can read them, you can record you reading them, it has exercises that work with sounds of letters, and so much more. Baby (age 3) would spend all day on this app if you let her. She loves playing with it and listening to the engaging stories. Plus her reading ability is growing by leaps and bounds, since she spends a good deal of time with the pre-reading activities. Saying that she is doing “school”. Anything that gives a positive spin to school work is good in my book.
Reading Rainbow
Was any other parent excited to have Reading Rainbow back? I know that I was. Growing up I loved this show, and I was thrilled that the app was coming out. My girls would see how great it was too. They liked it, but for the free version they were only allowed to pick 5 books. After a day, they were done with it. It is a really great start up app, that being said, it is $10 a month. With all the money that they raised, it seems like they could have offered this at a much lower price point.
What a great app, even the free version is robust. What I like about this particular app, and what separates it from the other reading apps, it starts spelling. It has lots of activities that will say the word “CAT” and give you the letters. Then you have to put the letters in the correct order. While it is very easy, it certainly helps with letter sounds and the visual letter.
So those are my top 5 reading apps. Do you let your kids use a tablet, phone, laptop? What apps do you like?
15 Comments
Tanya @ Mom's Small Victories
I was interested in reading apps for my soon to be kindergartener. Thanks for sharing these with Merry Monday.
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Kat Ryan
My littlest likes Homer the best, and it has worked really well getting her ready to read. Thanks so much for popping over.
Ashleigh
Thank you for sharing these great reading apps. I will have to get some for my son!! xx ashleigh
Kat Ryan
Let me know how you like them!! Thanks for stopping by
Kim R @ 1200 Miles Away
I love your list! My 11yo daughter is a HUGE veracious reader. I’m a big fan of Overdrive and both her school district and our local library provide access to it. That way, she can download kindle books and audiobooks to her kindle and keep on reading.
Thanks for providing these other apps! I, too, am opposed to paying $12/mo just for access!
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Kat Ryan
So lucky that your daughter is a big reader. I have not heard about Overdrive. We might have to look into that. Thanks for saying hi!
annabelt - geeks diet
My son used to do raz-kids and we thought it was really good till we realised he’d figured out how to cheat the system!
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Kat Ryan
How funny is that!! Smart boy there. Thanks for stopping by
Jess
Such a great idea post! 🙂
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Kat Ryan
Thank you!! It was a fun one to write 🙂
Erlene
My kids are too old for these apps, but I sure wish these were around when they were younger. I’m always amazed at how much kids can do on their tablets/phones nowadays.
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Kat Ryan
Me too!! It seems like they can do so much on those things. So while I hate that they spend time on them, at least I know that they are learning something. Thanks for saying hi
Vee
Thanks for the list. I’ll check these out. Too bad there isn’t a minecraft reading app. LOL
Kat Ryan
I am with you!! Someone needs to develop a minecraft reading app. Like ASAP!! Thanks for popping in
Lou Lou Girls
Great post. Pinned and tweeted. Please join us on Monday at 7 pm and party with us! It is so super fun to see what you have been working on! Lou Lou Girls
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