Bottom Line: This app provides a lot of phonics practice in a simple format, covering identification of beginning, middle and ending sounds. The reading section features five early phonics readers as well. However, the interface is not fancy and there are a few content errors, and the $2.99 price is high.
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I’m always willing to try out an app for early phonics, as they are often useful in my speech therapy. Montessori Kindergarten Kids Hooked on Phonics, from developer Arni Solutions, definitely provides a lot of content for early phonics practice.
This app does not teach the sounds associated with the letters, assuming prior knowledge. Therefore, it’s best used by students who already have a solid understanding of sound/letter correspondence.
There are two sections to this app: a learn-to-read section to help children identify the sounds at the beginning, middle and end of words, and a section featuring five early reader books, one for each short vowel sound. The learn-to-read section also includes a matching game, to match pictures with corresponding CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words.
Montessori Kindergarten Kids Hooked on Phonics uses a computer-generated voice for all instructions, picture naming and even in the read-aloud for the books. Nearly all apps currently developed use real voice-over, especially in a phonics app where clear enunciation is really key. Still, most words were clearly understood. (“Owl” and “yacht” were my most notable exceptions — without a picture, I would not have known what the voice said.) A computer-generated voice may be preferrable over an accented voice, though, especially for those in other countries.
The interface is very simple — again, especially compared to what we’ve come to expect from high-quality apps. In the beginning sound game, a picture is shown with four letters underneath. The computer voice instructs the user to “tap on the letter that the picture begins with.” The pictures are cartoon or colored drawings, and very clearly match the intended word. Tap the picture to repeat the word.
The second and third games are similar, presenting one large picture. However, both games have just three letter choices, and include the other letters in the word with a blank for the missing letter. I did like the inclusion of the fill-in-the-blank — it’s a good task to help students develop literacy.
There were a few words that seemed poorly chosen for an early phonics app. I would expect all words to feature short vowel sounds in the middle and single sounds in the initial and final word positions. However, there were words such as “ear” (uses a long sound), “star” (targeting initial position, and the initial sound is a blend) and “car” (for final position, where the final sound is really a vocalic /r/). There were several instances of vowels using a long sound. Though it’s not inappropriate to teach long vowel sounds to kindergarten-aged students, this app doesn’t seem to have enough support to mix them in without any other explanation.
The books are typical early reader in style, with lines like “Rob is a frog,” and “Ted and Ben get wet.” The content is appropriate, but there was absolutely no punctuation, something that is important even for early readers. Also, the computer-generated voice doesn’t allow for appropriate phrasing, an important feature for beginning readers to hear. The words are not highlighted when read, either, but each word is repeated if it's tapped.
The only interactive element in the entire app is the matching words to pictures game in the learn-to-read section, where the reader draws a line from the picture to the word. The rewards in the other parts of this section are not interactive. In one, after a certain number of correct responses, race cars drive across the screen. Another reward features candles dropping from the sky to a birthday cake, eventually resulting in a balloon drop and the Happy Birthday song.
This app isn’t bad, aside from a few words that aren’t perfect choices for early phonics learners. The interface runs smoothly, but it lacks interactive and engaging elements. There is a lot of content, however, and those who work with kindergarten students may appreciate Montessori Kindergarten Kids Hooked on Phonics to provide additional practice on very important phonics concepts. It's also a good choice for those who want an app with very few distracting elements to simply practice the concept.
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Heather H. is on vacation this week and is VERY happy about it. SmartAppsForKids.com was paid a priority review fee to complete this review in an expedited manner.
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