There are thousands of beginning reading apps. Many of them are instructional wastelands.
Who has time to vet them all?
No worries, I've done that work for you!
Discover 20 exceptional apps, games, and resources for teaching beginning or struggling readers.
With this quick coaching, you'll discover the most effective ways to use these apps to boost your readers' success.
And a little bonus: a few are especially easy to use for differentiation – sweet!
Ok, let’s go…
Well-Established Favorites
#1 Ready Set Read
Ready Set Read by Lupine Learning is simple and aligns well with the Reading Simplified Streamlined Pathway.
Watch this clip to learn how to use it.
And use this link to download it.
#2 Montessori Crosswords
Montessori Crosswords is the app I’ve used the most in the past several years.
This app appeals to multiple ages and consistently delivers enjoyment to its users.
Watch the following video to see it in action.
Or read about it in depth here.
EBLI Reading Apps – All 3 of Their Apps
EBLI has some of the same roots as Reading Simplified, so their apps align well with the Reading Simplified activities.
Their 3 apps support readers at different stages of development.
#3 EBLI Reading Adventures-EBLI Island
This app incorporates a lot of Build It and handwriting practice, so it's perfect for any child on the first 3 levels of the K Streamlined Pathway.
You can explore the app here.
#4 EBLI Reading Adventures-EBLI Space
Try this app for a little more phonemic difficulty. It begins with CVCC and CCVC and moves to the Advanced Phonics level.
So, it would be appropriate for beginning first-grade level readers or those who’ve made it through the first app.
Unlike Montessori Crosswords and Ready Set Read, you can't tailor the app to a specific vowel sound.
It's better suited to get a child started on it and then let them continue to work through the material at their own pace.
Check-in, of course, but most students can do this app independently.
Here’s a look inside.
#5 The EBLI app, Sight Words Made Easy by EBLI
This app helps kids orthographically mapped high-frequency words with a sound-symbol approach.
A rare find!
Here’s a look at this challenging app.
At first, we want to provide some regularity to the code instruction for our youngest learners, so the first EBLI Island app is perfect for that.
However, if sight words aren't sticking, Sight Words Made Easy by EBLI can be an excellent tool to help the reader who's already gained some confidence with most short vowels.
Find the EBLI apps on the iTunes store here.
#6 What’s Changed?
What's Changed? is a free app that targets advanced phonemic awareness like our Switch It activity.
Great for student-independent practice!
A U.S. and Australian version is available, but be careful only to use the English version, not the “Readable English” setting that uses glyphs.
Look inside.
#7 Starfall
The Starfall Free App is a preferred choice for early readers.
Its “Learn to Read” segment aligns well with most phonics lessons.
Look inside here.
Reading Simplified Sort It and Guided Reading packets recommend how Starfall decodable books can enhance the learning experience in conjunction with the Streamlined Pathways of Reading Simplified.
Here’s a nice review of Starfall.
Newer Speech to Print Apps
#8 Sounds-Write iPad App
Similar to EBLI, Sounds Write shares common origins with Reading Simplified.
The Sounds-Write iPad app is crafted explicitly for early readers, fostering skills such as blending, segmenting, word reading, handwriting, and sentence reading and writing.
It is an excellent supplement to a Reading Simplified lesson plan, especially when students are engaged in the Build It activity.
📸 Watch this video on Facebook
#9 Reading Simplified Switch It Online
Switch It Online, exclusive to members of the Reading Simplified Academy, serves as the ideal instructional tool for online educators and those seeking variety from traditional letter tiles.
“Learning Phonics Quickly with Switch It” offers a fantastic introduction to one of Reading Simplified's fundamental activities for those not yet part of the membership.
Notable features include single-letter tiles with digraphs, the option for blank tiles, and colored tiles for additional scaffolded support if students require it.
Two times a year, current members receive a downloadable version to place on multiple devices in their classrooms.
Most Researched App Out There
#10 GraphoGame
GraphoGame is recognized as the most extensively researched literacy game globally.
Here’s why:
It’s accessible in numerous languages.
It’s tailored for diverse skill levels.
And, it’s validated for aiding children with dyslexia.
It focuses on developing letter-sound knowledge, decoding skills, and word-level fluency.
For a more in-depth exploration of the research, refer to the Haskins Global Literacy Hub.
Although the app may not explicitly cover multiple spellings or adopt a speech-first approach, its evidence base in the realm of learning games is unparalleled.
Take a look inside.
Reading Instructional Programs
#11 Sharpen Reading Program
Crafted with a speech-to-print methodology, the Sharpen Reading Program advocates for systematic and explicit instruction in:
➡️ Phonics
➡️ Advanced phonemic awareness
➡️ Decoding
➡️ Fluency
➡️ Handwriting and spelling
Tailored for parents and caregivers, the Sharpen Reading Program facilitates evidence-based instruction for children in PreK-6 grades.
Operating on dual devices, it features flexible, scripted lessons with video support.
It includes embedded progress monitoring through the Sharpen™ Early Advantage Assessment for personalized guidance.
Additionally, it proves effective for dyslexic students.
This program is an excellent choice for caregivers who have honed their reading knowledge within the Reading Simplified Academy but seek an easy-to-implement system for deploying a speech-to-print approach at home.
Watch this to see how to improve your reading instruction at home.
#12 EarlyBird
Introducing an evidence-based solution that functions both as a screener and a comprehensive early literacy program.
The system is designed for early detection and prevention.
EarlyBird is tailored for children in Pre-K through grade 2.
It's a gamified screener that the team at Earlybird helps schedule and administer.
Children can play and interact in Pip School, which has some pretty cool features including:
- A robust data platform,
- Professional learning resources and
- Continuous support from literacy specialists.
Developed and validated at Boston Children’s Hospital, EarlyBird draws on the extensive literacy and brain science research by Dr. Nadine Gaab from Harvard Graduate School of Education and Dr. Yaacov Petscher from Florida State University.
It holds approval on several state screening lists.
Keep in mind that this is not just a game – it's a comprehensive learning program – so be prepared to spend some money.
What you can expect from this resource.
#13 Reading.com
A recently launched educational app, Reading.com, provides direct instruction through a meticulously crafted 9-part synthetic phonics curriculum.
Designed for caregivers to use while seated beside their child, the app is characterized by its simplicity, engagement, and user-friendly interface.
Each lesson kicks off with an alphabet song video featuring embedded mnemonics, letter names, and sounds, reinforcing associations such as “J” representing the sound /j/ as in “jeep.”
The lesson structure includes:
- A letter review segment prompting students to recall letter sounds,
- The introduction of a new letter through a sound story,
- On-screen letter writing,
- A quick check for new sound attributes,
- Word reading and
- A short decodable book for buddy reading with the parent.
While the app incorporates sound-by-sound blending rather than a blending strategy that incorporates the effectiveness of continuous phonation, there are slide bars (see image below) under words used in the program for easy integration of the Blend as You Read approach, particularly beneficial for practitioners trained in Reading Simplified.
The app also offers additional games for further practice, including one focusing on letter formation with directional arrows.
Completing the package is a placement test for personalized learning.
Take a look.
YouTube Videos
Rather than an app, if you can show YouTube videos at your school or home, your students may enjoy watching mini-videos from places such as Between the Lions and Electric Company that target specific letter sounds.
#14 My Curated Playlist
I find these playlists I've curated for each vowel sound–especially the Advanced Phonics sounds, fun and effective.
One weakness is that the videos usually only show 1 spelling of the target sound, and even if the child watches all of the videos in a given playlist, she will not see every primary spelling of the given sound.
Nevertheless, it's effective as a supplement to Sort It, Search for the Sound, and Guided Reading of targeted text.
Great to use as a reward after a period of hard work!
Or, give your students a link to a specific playlist to watch at home.
You may want to include a short warning that the playlists are still on YouTube, so parental guidance is important.
My YouTube playlists for learning the letter-sound correspondences:
Moving along, I've got two more educational series that I'm really excited to recommend!
#15 Brain Builders
Amplify, in collaboration with Margaret Goldberg, has developed Brain Builders.
This tool aids students in comprehending the cognitive processes involved in reading, supporting the language side of Scarborough’s Rope.
Brain Builders E8: Fluency, and What Stuff Means l Amplify
#16 Reading Buddies
The Reading League's Emmy-nominated series, Reading Buddies, is a captivating foundational television program rooted in the science of reading.
It cleverly imparts essential elements of proficient word reading, including:
- Phonological awareness,
- Letter names and sounds,
- Blending of sounds for word decoding, and
- Vocabulary.
I appreciate the ongoing development of more diverse characters throughout the seasons.
In season three, the inclusion of connected phonation aligns seamlessly with our initial Blending strategy.
It’s a valuable resource for the access it gives to quality reading instruction with two cautions:
- It’s not my preference that the program emphasizes syllable types.
- Anyone who studies with me knows I promote the integration of reading components more than this program offers.
Here’s a newer episode.
Honorable Mention
Finally, these are other good apps that you may find a need for:
#17 Dyslexia Quest
This app is great for building phonological processing and memory.
It’s designed as a gamified screener that needs supervision if you utilize it that way.
For that reason, Dyslexia Quest is very different from other apps but super challenging and fun.
Don't let the name scare you – it's good for anyone learning to read – but it does zero in on the sub-skills that those struggling with reading often lack.
#18 Bob Books
This beginning reader series is great for beginners learning to phonemically segment and the letter-sound correspondences.
Even young preschoolers can get a lot from this and its follow-up apps. But they just target the short vowels and consonants.
Kids can work on learning the top 100 Fry high-frequency words with this app.
It’s great to implement when kids have a sound-symbol approach to decoding–but not before!
This is a more classic game with an objective and threats to winning…and you’ll find most kids like it.
Crafted in alignment with the popular PBS show, this app is designed for children aged 3-7, explicitly emphasizing phonemic awareness.
For practitioners of Reading Simplified, this proves beneficial for preschoolers and early kindergarten learners, serving as short-term support for independent practice in instructing phonemic awareness with letters.
Finally, I have one more recommendation that’s not an app but worth looking at.
Although free, Reading Progress is a valuable teaching tool for monitoring fluency.
While the comprehensive details of this tool are only partially known, Microsoft provides clear explanations here and here.
It comes highly recommended by members of the Reading Simplified Academy actively engaged in classroom settings.
Notably, the Microsoft tech community emphasizes the value of creating recordings to enable educators to regularly assess students' progress, fostering independent completion of reading fluency assignments and keeping the focus on practice and growth rather than performance pressure.
That’s a Wrap!
In conclusion, strategically utilizing apps to enhance early reading abilities can yield remarkable results.
Just be sure to use your judgment on best use –
And cultivate great readers. 
We’d love to hear your experiences and tips with any of the mentioned apps! Comment below:
