Dear Families,
A few parents have asked us about Apps that will appeal to children and help
educationally. We have compiled a list of ones we think are useful, this list is by no
means exhaustive but we hope you find it helpful.
Liz Langlands
DHT
Developing Concepts of Print and Phonemic Awareness
As children listen to stories and learn to read, they learn subtle information about how
print works. Concepts of print includes an understanding of letters and sounds, the
left-to-right nature of reading, front to back, turning pages one at a time and
recognising that print differs from pictures. Helping young children develop print
knowledge can help them learn other literacy skills. (While these Apps are fabulous
nothing can beat reading and talking about a real story book.)
ABC Spy HD
£1.49
ABC Spy challenges children to create their own ABC
experience by taking photos for each letter of the alphabet
— take a photo, choose a frame, give it a name. Then
make a movie of all your photos to share with friends and
family! (Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad)
Me Books
£1.99
Me Books offers a wide selection of interactive stories
for
ranging from traditional Ladybird titles such as
each
Rumpelstiltskin and Cinderella to Peppa Pig and Charlie
book
and Lola. Children can have the stories read to them, can
read the stories independently and record their own
reading, illustrations are interactive, pages can be turned .
. . . lots of fun! (Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch,
and iPad)
Phonics
Phonics instruction helps children learn the relationships between the letters of written
language and the sounds of spoken language. These apps will help children recognise
letters and the sounds they make and how letters “stick” together to make words.
ABC Pocket
£1.99
ABC Pocket Phonics introduces children to the sounds
Phonics
each letter (or letters) makes, demonstrates how to form
letters correctly, asks the child to “write” the letter over
the template and then “builds” words. This app supports
synthetic phonics which is the approach we use in school.
(Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad)
Montessori
£1.49
Montessori Crosswords encourages children to “build”
Crosswords
words using a moveable talking alphabet. There are three
levels: 3 letter words, 4 letter words and words of any
complexity. (Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and
iPad)
Alpha Writer,
£2.99
Alpha Writer encourages children to “build” words using a
by
moveable alphabet. There is an “I Spy” section and a
Montessorium
section which lets children use letters and images
to write their own story. Stories can be saved.
(Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad)
Reading
As well as being able to read regular words (words that are spelled the way they
sound) using phonic skills children have to be able to read irregular words (words that
are not spelled the way they sound) e.g. the. The strategies children use are complex
but it helps if children are given lots of opportunities to practise reading these tricky
words. There are a variety of apps to support this; many of these apps can also help
older children with spelling.
Word Bingo
£1.99
Word Bingo reads words for the children to identify on a
Bingo grid. The words are ordered into levels (American
school levels). This app also has a spelling section.
(Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad)
Sight Words
£1.99
Sight Words has lists and lists of words ordered in a
variety of ways e.g. most frequently used in writing.
Children are expected to read the word, then tap on it for it
to be read to them and then record their success using
smiley faces. To move to the next level each word has to
be read correctly three times. This app requires some
adult supervision for the children to use it really
effectively. (Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and
iPad)
Spelling
There are lots of good apps available to make spelling more exciting!
Word Bingo
My Spelling
£1.99
Children can create their own spelling tests by typing
Test
words and recording themselves saying the words. Scores
are recorded. (Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and
iPad)
Comprehension
The ultimate goal of reading is good comprehension. There is a range of reading
comprehension apps but many of them are very similar to the paper and pencil
activities we do in school. We want to encourage the children to enjoy reading,
whether it is a real book or using an electronic device, and too many follow-up
reading activities could switch them off from reading – which we definitely don’t
want to do!
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics in USA has produced a number of
really interesting apps, many of which are free. (These are all compatible with
iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad )
Math
Free
Either on his or her own, or against a friend, children are
Concentration
asked to match whole numbers, shapes, fractions, or
multiplication facts to equivalent representations. This
app is really good fun.
Deep Sea Duel Free
Children are challenged to collect cards with a specified
sum. The level of complexity can be changed and
numbers can either be whole or decimals.
Pick-a-Path
Free
This app asks children to find their way through a maze by
completing puzzles which will test your understanding of
addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, negative
numbers, fractions, decimals and more. Suitable for
children aged 8 and over.
Equivalent
Free
This app allows children to make equivalent fractions by
Fractions
dividing and shading shapes, and matching to a number
line. The instructions are quite complicated and it is fiddly
to use and not very exciting.
Protractor Tool £0.69
This app allows the children to measure and understand
the relationship between different objects and varying
angles. It is recommended for ages 8 to 99!
Fraction Tool
£0.69
This app will visually represent a fraction as a decimal on
a pie chart. It is recommended for ages 8 to 99!
Classroom Focused Software – These Apps complement the work we do in school;
though for them to be effective the child would need to work alongside an adult.
Line ‘em Up
Free
Practise ordering number tiles– can be set for numbers
from 0 to over 100
10 Frame Fill
Free
Helps develop counting and a deep understanding of
numbers to 10. Really useful app for children in early
primary.
Number Line
£0.69
Helps develop a child’s ability to use a number line to
Math
solve addition and subtraction problems. The Options
menu allows you to choose the types of problems as well
as the range of numbers to be used. Useful for children in
early and middle primary years.
Pattern Color
£0.69
Allows children to complete different repeating patters.
and Shape
(Many other Apps contain similar activities.)
Count Sort
Free
Helps children to count items “one at a time,” recognise
numerals, identify sets with more or less, count sets of
items and use a ten frame (something we use a lot in
school). This App would appeal to children in nursery and
early primary.
Pattern Sets
£0.69
Helps children recognise the number of items in groups
which is a really important numerical skill. This App has
What’s
Hiding?
£0.69
Fact Triangles
£0.69
Just the Facts
£0.69
Ah Chute
£0.69
benefits for children in nursery, early and middle primary
years.
This App helps with counting and addition and subtraction
skills. This App has benefits for children in nursery, early
and middle primary years.
This App helps cement knowledge of addition,
subtraction, multiplication and division facts. The Options
menu allows you to choose the operations and the range of
numbers to be used.
This App helps cement knowledge of number facts. This
App has benefits for children throughout the primary
school.
This App helps with basic counting and numeral
recognition and is best suited to children in nursery or very
early primary.
Games based Apps really appeal to children and lots of them are really good.
However the mathematical problems in many can get really difficult really quickly.
Pop Math
£0.69
This App helps cement knowledge of number facts.
Children are asked to “pop” a balloon with an answer to
its’ corresponding operations balloon. As you progress
through the levels new operations are introduced and
numbers increase. This App has benefits for children
throughout the primary school.
First Grade
Free to Games based challenges, but linked to American school
Maths: Splash
£6.99
levels.
Maths
...Second
Grade
...Third Grade
... Fourth
Grade
… Fifth Grade
Math Bingo
£1.99
Very like Word Bingo. Types of operations can be
specified as well as three levels of difficulty.