If you have a child that loves to play with your iPad, a parent or care giver who wants to promote reading, or are learning how to read as a second language, the following apps are considered the best for getting started:
The ABC PocketPhonics app for iPad is $2.99 and allows early readers to develop skills in letter sounds and learning how to write their first words. Independent research was done that shows this apps helps readers learn faster than in a classroom setting.
The Play & Sing iPad app is free and encourages reading, teaches colors, letters, shapes, and even animals. Users are able to trace numbers and letters to memorize them pick out colors, shapes, animals, and pick out what’s next in a sequence.
The Booksy app for iPad are free and designed to help kindergarten through second grade learn to read in this free platform. Books that help improve comprehension can be downloaded and progress can be tracked with detailed user stats in order to celebrate successes.
The My Word Wall iPad app is $1.99 and allows students to hear, visualize, vocally repeat, and write down letters and learn new words. It has a variety of educational activities that are geared to help all learning styles with fun games and structure learning activities.
The Letter Lab app for iPad is $0.99 and helps students recognize and write the alphabet. Students can trace uppercase and lower letters and has an audio component to hear letters as well.
The Story Patch iPad app is $2.99 and helps students create stores and picture books. It’s includes customizable characters, hundreds of illustrations, and built-in story themes to help make story writing fun while boosting reading skills.
The Learn to Read! app for iPad is $1.99 and created for students in Kindergarten through second grade. It has a flash card deck of sight words to help students develop reading skills. There are example, voice prompts and easy to read text.
The Phonics Easy Reader iPad app is $1.99 and has short vowel sounds, combinations, memory words and more. Students can choose to have stories read aloud to them and can tap on words if they are reading alone when they need help sounding them out.
The ABC Alphabet Phonics app for iPad is free and teaches the alphabet by teaching phonics through sight, sound and touch. This app is even useful in infant stage for getting a super early head start on learning how to read.
The Reading Raven iPad app is $3.99 and is designed like a game that is a fun reading adventure. It has full sentences and print skills to keep students entertained and learning at the same time.
The SUPER WHY! app for iPad is also $3.99 and is based on the popular Super Why TV show. There are vocabulary, reading, and writing skills activities including letter hunts, tracing letters, rhyming, and completing sentences.
The K-3 Sight Words iPad app is $0.99 and helps students learn to read by memorizing words by sight.
The Find the Words app for iPad is free and has word searches to help students learn how to read. There are different backgrounds and themes to keep it engaging.
The Aesop’s Quest iPad app is $0.99 Aesop is an ant that reads stories and reveals clues that help students move him along through his quest. Students must remember important elements of each story to complete the activities that offer fun and a way to developed reading comprehension and cognitive reading skills.
The Read Me Stories app for iPad is free and offers a brand new book every day to help students develop good reading habits. Students can highlight text as its read and touch characters to explore story lines.
The Scholastic Reading Timer iPad app is free and helps build daily reading habits by including a timer to help keep track of minutes spent being read.
The Kids Can Spell app for iPad is free and uses animal images to help students learn how to spell. There are a variety of different animals with sounds and spelling lessons including dragging and dropping letters to create words. The timed version adds an additional challenge for more advanced users.
The Reading for Details iPad app is $3.99 and is a great app to help kids build their reading comprehension skills by helping to understand who, what, why, when, and where of each reading that is offered. There are three different levels to accommodate higher skills.
The Word Magic app for iPad is $0.99 and was created by the parents of a five year old that wanted to have something specific for their child to be able to identify photos and learn to read. It has bright colors, a simple design and lots of positive reinforcement.