Apps are a great way to help supplement and enhance your child’s reading skills. Many schools are already using apps such as reading apps in the classroom. You can get the same help reading apps provide in the classroom at home by simply downloading the best reading apps to your child’s tablet.

However, not all reading apps are created equal. Many reading apps are created to target specific reading skills such as reading comprehension or vocabulary building. Finding the right way to use an app can make a big difference in your child’s reading progress.

Here are some tips and tricks to make the most out of your favorite reading apps: 

• Using reading apps to diagnose 

The huge variety of reading apps can be overwhelming to sort through. Finding the right app for your child really depends on the areas that your child struggles with most.

One way to find out where your child is struggling with reading is to actually use an app like Readability. Readability is a reading app meant to help children improve their reading skills, but you can also use it as a diagnostic tool.

The app uses A.I. and speech-recognition technology to provide error correction and progress reports for your child. You can use this information to help figure out the specific reading skills that need improvement. 

• Don’t use it every day

Using the same reading app every day can actually cause some tech burn out in your child. You should provide a variety of reading activities that can help improve their skills and keep them having fun and enjoying reading.

To keep them motivated and interested in using the app, you should give them some tech breaks and switch off between reading physical books and using reading apps. 

• Use it to supplement school work

Your child is likely getting lots of reading homework already, but using a reading app can be a great way to supplement school work if your child needs extra practice.

Their homework might be addressing reading skills as a whole, but your child might need more specialized work. A reading app can help provide specific practice in areas such as vocabulary building or increasing reading speed. 

• Don’t force it on your child

In order to get the best impact from reading apps, you have to let your child enjoy them.

Forcing your child to practice more on a reading app will probably make them hate using them. It will just turn into another form of daily homework to them.

Remember, reading apps should supplement your child’s school work<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>, not be another assignment they have to finish.

• Be a student

Use a reading app to get your child to teach you the reading skills they are working on. You have probably spent a lot of time trying to teach your child to read at home but now let them actually do the teaching.

You can both use the reading app together and they can help you through the different exercises. When children are showing you and explaining something to you, they are learning at the same time. 

• Use it for multisensory learning 

Reading is often seen as a very one-dimensional skill, so it is often taught only in one way. However, with reading apps, your child now can learn to read in ways that might work better for them.

Multisensory learning means using several senses all at once to learn new concepts. Reading apps can now incorporate different listening, touching, and speaking into the process of learning to read.

• Reward with screen time

Your child might be hesitant to read because they don’t see it as something that they find fun or something that they associate only with homework and school.

Again instead of forcing them to practice with a reading app, you can use the reading app as a reward. Whenever your child finishes their chores or does well in school, offer them some screen time on their tablet as a reward but only have educational apps such as reading apps available to them.

 Limiting the use of screen time means that they get excited and actually want to play the games and practice on a reading app.

• Use it as a private tutor 

Another way to truly get the help reading apps provide is to use it in place of a private reading tutor.

A private tutor can be extremely expensive as some tutors can cost up to $100 per hour. Even if your child is only meeting with their tutor once a week, it will cost you a minimum of $400 a month.

Instead of hiring a reading tutor, you can use a reading app such as Readability to give your child the additional reading support they need at home.

Readability, specifically, works like a private tutor because it actually listens to your child as they read aloud and gives them error correction and feedback to improve their reading skills.

Reading apps can be great tools to help your child improve their reading skills. A reading app such as Readability can help supplement your child’s reading practice if they are not getting the individualized help they need at school. But, reading apps only work if you use them in effective ways and prevent your child from having burn out from using them.