14 apps for developing children’s reading and writing skills from pre-K through high school

Though many parents lament the distractions that electronic devices can present, much of what makes tablet and smartphone content so engaging and addicting—interactive games, visually rich graphics—can help students develop the skills and enthusiasm necessary for success as readers and writers. To help you sort through all that’s on the market, we turned to Dr. Emily Levy, the founder of EBL Coaching—a local, one-on-one tutoring program for K-12 students—to share some of her favorite reading and writing apps.

READING

Montessori Crosswords (Pre-K-Kindergarten) 

This app helps students develop their decoding, spelling, and writing skills by teaching them to build words with different phonics patterns. Students start by building basic CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words, then move into words with blends, digraphs, silent Es, vowel teams, and other combinations. Students are initially given a picture (like “bag” or “kid”) and are asked to drag letters from the alphabet at the bottom of the screen to spell the displayed word. Later, students spell words following specific phonics patterns in the form of crosswords. Students can also choose themes for the activities, like animals, food, clothes, and more. $2.99, iTunes, Google Play &amazon.com

Short Vowel Word Study (Grades K-1)

This is a great app for reinforcing basic word decoding at a Kindergarten/grade 1 level. The app contains three main sections: Word families, short vowels, and longer words. The first game is “Sort It,” where the child must sort a word into its proper vowel category: I, U, or A. In the “Find It” game, the child must find the “oddball” word that doesn’t belong in the same vowel family, and drag it to the bottom of the screen. The “Spell It” game reinforces spelling by displaying an image (like a hat) and the child must drag letters to spell the word. The “Write It” game teaches students to trace and then independently write words. Other related fun and engaging reading games are also integrated into this app. $2.99, iTunes &Google Play

Super Why! (Pre-K)

This app is a great one for building reading, spelling, writing, and phonemic awareness skills. It includes four games, each led by a different character: Alpha Pig, Princess Pesto, Wonder Red, and Super Why. In the Alpha Pig game, students find letters on a path to form different words. In the Princess Pesto game, students practice writing letters to form words that are first modeled by Princess Pesto’s magic wand. In Wonder Red’s game, students identify rhyming words, and in Super Why’s game, students build their reading comprehension skills by identifying words that complete sentences in a given story. $2.99, iTunes, Google Play & pbskids.org 

MeeGenius (Ages 2-8)

For a wide selection of interactive, digital story books, MeeGenius is a great app that provides access to more than 700 children’s e-books for children up to age 8, which are accessible on iOS, Android, Windows 8, Amazon, Nook, and online. Free,meegenius.com 

Reading Comprehension at the Paragraph Level (Middle School)

With this app, students read a series of stories on stimulating topics and are then asked various types of comprehension questions, including identifying the main idea and important details and making inferences. At the end of each story, an open-ended question is included to generate discussion. With practice using this app, students will develop critical thinking, reading comprehension, attention to detail, and memory skills. $3.99, iTunes

iAnnotate (High School)

This app helps high school students develop active reading and note-taking skills by reading, highlighting, underlining, striking out, and annotating text to create effective study guides and improve overall comprehension. Students can import Word, Power Point, and PDF documents and use the app’s built-in tools to engage with the text while reading. $9.99, iTunes; Free, Google Play & amazon.com

SAT Vocab By MindSnacks (High School)

This app is a great one for learning SAT-level vocab words or for simply developing vocabulary skills. Students learn definitions, antonyms, and the proper spelling of words by first reviewing a set of words and then playing nine different colorful, uniquely-illustrated games. The app includes 25 levels and more than 500 words, and tracks students’ overall progress. Free, iTunes

WRITING

iWriteWords (Pre-K-Kindergarten)

This app is helpful for developing handwriting and fine motor skills for preschool and Kindergarten students. Students choose from numbers, lowercase, or uppercase letters, and practice writing with their fingers using proper formation. They help Mr. Crab “collect” numbers in order to properly form each letter or number. Students are rewarded with a colorful picture at the end of each segment. $2.99, iTunes

StoryBuilder (Grades 1-2) 

This app gives students practice creating their own stories using picture prompts. Students are asked a series of questions about a picture. Aided by an initial written phrase, they must answer each question in a full sentence while being recorded, creating a well-sequenced narrative. After each exercise, students can listen to themselves telling the story and can then email it to anyone who’d like to hear it. Using this app, students strengthen higher level comprehension skills (including inferencing), sequencing, paragraph formation, and storytelling abilities. $7.99, iTunes

Sentence Builder (Grades K-5) 

This app teaches elementary school students to form well-written sentences in “slot machine” format. To play, students select words to form a sentence that best describes a whimsical picture presented at the bottom of the screen. Through these exercises, students build grammar, punctuation, and pronunciation skills, starting with shorter sentences and gradually moving into more complex ones. $5.99, iTunes & Google Play

Kidspiration Maps (Grades K-8) 

This app is a great one for brainstorming, prewriting, and helping elementary and middle school students organize their ideas. Students create visual diagrams using shapes, symbols, and images that they can connect together in a web-like format to organize their ideas—a great first step before writing! Students can also work on reading and writing, social studies, science, and math skills using pre-set activities. This app develops many skills, including critical thinking, creativity, verbal expression, written expression, and organization. $9.99, iTunes 

Writing Challenge for Kids (Grades 5-7) 

Many students have trouble beginning the writing process. This app is a great one for combating that challenge—it helps students begin their writing and keep their creative juices flowing. After pressing “Start,” students are given a prompt, such as: “Start writing a story that takes place in an evil river. Include the word rabbit.” After every minute (or whatever time is set), the student is given another prompt for adding details, characters, and other ideas to help them form a more elaborate story. $1.99,iTunes & Google Play

Writer’s Studio (Grades 6-12) 

This app is useful for aiding middle and high school students in creating eBooks and presentations. Students can import graphics, photos, music, and clip art, and can also add drawings and paint to their text to create innovative visual stories and presentations. Students strengthen their writing skills while “bringing stories to life” with creativity and color. $4.99, iTunes

Inspiration Maps (Grades 6-12) 

As the “higher level” counterpart to Kidspiration Maps, this app helps middle and high school students plan, organize, and brainstorm their ideas before writing. Students can take notes in a web-like format while integrating icons and different bubbles, and can easily translate their web into outline form. $9.99, iTunes

The post Top Tech Tools to Help Kids Read, Write, and Learn appeared first on EBL Coaching.

It’s a typical Thursday evening. You’re exhausted from a long day at work and are ready to settle in with a glass of wine and Netflix. Instead, you’re acting as the ringmaster at a circus—at least that’s what it feels like. Preparing a healthy dinner for your kids is no easy feat when the five-year-old has decided to give herself a haircut and your preschooler is creating an artistic masterpiece with permanent marker on his own pants.

You know it’s not good to let your kids stare at the TV for hours each day, but sometimes a half hour here or there is all you need to get dinner on the table and keep your sanity intact. TheAmerican Academy of Pediatrics approves of limited screen time for children over age two as long as they’re viewing “high-quality content.”

But what is “high-quality” content? How do you know which children’s TV shows are educational? Don’t let your kids watch just anything. We connected with industry expert Dr. Emily Levy, director of specialized tutoring program EBL Coaching, to find out which children’s TV shows make the grade.

6 entertaining & educational children’s TV shows

1. Sesame Street

What it is: Everyone’s favorite Muppets gather on Sesame Street to send positive messages to kids, introduce children to other cultures and encourage early learning skills in math, literacy and science.

Why it’s great: “There’s a reason this show has been around since 1969!” Levy says. “Research indicates that Sesame Street has a positive impact on children’s learning, including cognitive development, understanding the world and building social skills.”

Where to watch: Sesame Street still airs regularly on PBS Kids—click here to find listings near you. Your kids can also get their Sesame Street fix on their YouTube channel or streaming on Hulu.

2. Super WHY!

What it is: Four friends solve problems in their daily lives using each of their unique literacy superpowers: Alphabet power, word power, spelling power and reading power.

Why it’s great: “This program is great for building phonemic awareness and early reading skills. Through watching the characters’ adventures, children strengthen their vocabulary, decoding, spelling and comprehension skills,” Levy explains.

Where to watch: You can find Super WHY! on PBS Kids. Episodes are also available to purchase and stream through Amazon Instant Video.

3. Sid the Science Kid

What it is: Sid and his friends investigate scientific problems, like “Why do bananas get mushy?” and “Why are my shoes shrinking?” Your little ones will love laughing along with Sid as he uses humor to pique their interest in science.

Why it’s great: “Sid engages children in the world of science, presenting content in story form that’s enjoyable and easy to understand for preschool-aged children,” Levy says. Parents can build on the show’s science themes through discussions and books.

Where to watch: Catch full episodes and short clips at PBS.com, or check your local listings for air times.

4. WordWorld

What it is: Seven WordFriends—animals whose bodies are made up of the letters that form their names—experience adventures in WordWorld, solving problems along the way.

Why it’s great: WordWorld “helps children visually connect letters with words and pictures” while also introducing kids to important social skills like honesty and respect, according to Levy.

Where to watch: WordWorld is no longer airing new episodes, but you can find out when reruns are airing here. It’s also available for streaming on Hulu and Amazon Prime.

5. Dora the Explorer

What it is: This show chronicles the adventures of the bilingual Dora and her monkey pal, Boots, as they solve problems and achieve goals.

Why it’s great: “The show integrates educational concepts including counting, riddles and puzzles, along with Spanish vocabulary words and customs,” Levy says. Dora isn’t just about classroom knowledge; it also teaches children how to care for and respect others.

Where to watch: Check this schedule to see when Dora is airing on Nick Jr. It’s also available to stream for Amazon Prime members.

6. Animal Planet L!ve

What it is: Animal Planet’s live animal cameras aren’t technically TV shows, but they’re educational and fun for kids nonetheless! Your little ones can watch live footage of everything from sharks, sea otters and fish in the Pacific reef, to sloths, calves and ants.

Why it’s great: These live feeds are a great way to introduce kids to the way their favorite animals live in the wild—especially the more exotic species they may not be familiar with otherwise. Animal Planet also hosts live chats for kids to submit their questions. Parents can supplement their kids’ learning with books or a trip to the zoo.

Where to watch: Head to Animal Planet L!ve to see their live schedules or watch highlight reels from past live camera feeds.

Now playing: Educational children’s TV shows

It’s time to ditch the circus and make your evenings run more smoothly for everyone in the family. These educational children’s TV shows will give your kids plenty of opportunities to learn while you take some much-needed time for yourself—guilt free. Check out these top educational apps for even more ways your kids can learn using technology!

The fact that you’re so invested in your child’s development may be a sign you should be leveraging that passion for other children. Check out the 9 signs you should be teaching preschool!

The post The Ultimate Guide to Educational Children’s TV Shows appeared first on EBL Coaching.