I could go on and on about the importance of early literacy but since I’ve written so much about it in the past, I’ll just refer you to those posts…
- Early Reading: the Benefits of Starting Early
- Why Our Future Depends on Libraries, Reading and Day Dreaming: The summarised perspective from Neil Gaiman
- Early Literacy – How Important is it to get an Early Start?
- When it Comes to Learning How to Read – Earlier is Better
- Early Literacy: Even More Reasons to Start Early
- Successful Kids have a Strong Foundation in the 3 R’s
…and share this terrific app from Open Reading instead:
Bam Boomerang by Open Reading
Recommended for children aged 3 to 6, Bam Boomerang is a reading app that encourages children to read out loud and offers them effective, one-on-one feedback that they need to practice their basic literacy skills. Best of all, it’s free!
Here’s how it works:
- Students play games, earn points, win virtual prizes and customize their own animated world.
- As they play, the students read letter sounds and words aloud while the app records their voice.
- Student recordings are sent digitally to one of our army of volunteer “Listeners.” Listeners use the app to give feedback on the accuracy and fluency of student recordings using a simple touch interface. Listeners earn virtual rewards and rankings based on amount and quality of feedback.
- The student hears his/her own recorded voice reading aloud while a cartoon character gives the student listener feedback on that recording, earning more points and virtual prizes as a reward.
Privacy and Safety:
Open Reading takes the privacy and safety of children using the app very seriously and have taken specific measures for the app:
- They have partnered with PRIVO, a government-certified Safe Harbor program to oversee their privacy practices.
- Volunteers do not know the name of the students they are listening to.
- Volunteers cannot communicate with students.
- Volunteers can only push buttons to indicate their feedback.
- The feedback from multiple volunteers is combined and compared automatically to ensure that only accurate feedback is sent to students.
Related:
- Brainzy Educational Games for Early Readers
- Oxford Owl: Free Reading and Math Resource Site
- Read Along Storybook Apps for Children
- Literacy Resources: Read Write Inc
- BrillKids: Little Reader
- Quirkles: Exploring Phonics through Science
- Encouraging Literacy at Home with Phonics
- Tips for Helping Children with Reading at Home
Nurture for the Future 