Tuesday 17 May 2011

abc PocketPhonics app















I had the opportunity recently to review a phonics product called PocketPhonics, and I have to say I was impressed.






PocketPhonics is an educational app that works with both the iPhone and iPad and is designed to teach children:

  • letter sounds
  • how to write letters
  • how to blend letter sounds together to read simple words

The app mainly covers the 'simple alphabetic code' (the most common spelling for each of the 44 phonemes or letter sounds) plus a few alternative spelling variations:

s, a, t, p, i, n

m, d, g, o, c, k

ck, e, u, r, h, b

f, ff, l, ll, ss, j

v, w, x, y, z, zz

qu, ch, sh, th, th, ng

ai, ee, igh, oa, oo, oo

ar, or, ur, ow, oi, ear

air, ure, er, ou, ue, ay

ou, wh, ir, ph, ie, ew

ea, aw, oe, au

What is really clever about this app, is that the parent / teacher can set the level so that the child can progress through the sounds at their own individual pace. The word games they play are based on the sounds they have already learnt.

The sounds are very pure and there are various fonts and writing styles to choose from (including upper and lower case letters).

There is also a free guide that can be requested that explains very clearly why children should learn to read with synthetic phonics.

A lot of research and thought has gone into producing PocketPhonics - if you are looking for a way to help your child learn their letter sounds in a fun and engaging way (and you happen to own either an iPhone or an iPad) then I think this is a great app to go for.

This video gives more information - note that the sounds are given using the American English accent - a British English option is also available on the app.