A Guide to Apps That Read to You

December 2, 2020

A Guide to Apps That Read to You

A child’s early years are critical in helping them develop the reading skills that they need to achieve academic and professional success. But unfortunately, many children struggle with reading at an early age.

If your child is struggling to read, it’s important to get them help as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the harder it will be for your child to catch up to their peers. There are many resources that you can use to help your child outside of the classroom. But the most effective tools are apps that read to you, which are designed to help struggling readers improve their reading skills.

What Are the Benefits of Using Apps That Read to You?

There are countless reading apps available for download on smartphones and tablets, but it’s important to look for one that is designed to read aloud to your child. These apps will read stories aloud to your child while they follow along with the text on the smartphone or tablet screen.

Numerous studies have shown that reading aloud is one of the best things that parents and teachers can do to help children become better readers. Research has shown that reading aloud to children can improve their language and cognitive skills and broaden their vocabulary. Reading aloud to kids can also increase their standardized test scores in math, reading, and science.

Listening to someone read can also help your child improve their reading comprehension skills. This is especially true if your child is an audio learner, which means they learn by listening. It is easier for audio learners to understand what is happening in a story if they listen to someone read it instead of reading it themselves.

Reading aloud to your child can improve fluency skills, too. Fluency is defined as the ability to read text at an appropriate pace and with the proper expression. If your child is struggling with these skills, listening to someone read aloud can help your child learn how to master the appropriate speed, tone, and expression. This strategy is referred to as “modeling.”

These are some of the many benefits of reading aloud to children. Because reading aloud plays such an important part in helping struggling readers, apps that read to your child are the most effective tools that parents can use to help their children improve their reading skills.

A Guide to Apps That Read to You

What Are the Best Apps That Read to You?

Now that you know how these apps can help, it’s time to find the right app for your child. Here are some of the best apps that will read aloud to your child:

  • Readability: After reading a passage aloud to your child, the app will instruct your child to read the same passage aloud on their own. It will listen for pronunciation errors as your child reads and immediately correct their errors to help them learn from their mistakes. Kids can access a wide variety of content on this app, so they’ll never tire of listening to their new digital tutor read to them.
  • Tales2Go: This app provides struggling readers with access to over 10,000 audio books and stories. It is currently used in school districts across the country to help students become better readers.
  • MeeGenius: This app is designed to help early and new readers improve their reading skills. Each word is highlighted on the screen to help your child follow along with the text as a narrator reads the story aloud.
  • Hop on Pop: This app brings the best-selling Dr. Seuss book Hop on Pop to life with colorful illustrations and fun activities. Kids can listen to the narrator read the story aloud or read it on their own—it’s their choice. If they encounter a word they aren’t familiar with, they can simply tap on it to find out what it means. The app’s playful animations will keep kids engaged. However, this app does not allow children to listen to any other story besides the Dr. Seuss classic.
  • Reading A-Z: This program will not read stories aloud to kids. But if your child comes across a new word while reading, they can ask the app to read the specific word aloud. This feature will help kids improve their decoding skills and broaden their vocabulary.

What is the Best App to Teach A Child to Read?

All reading apps are not created equal. Readability is the only smart reading and comprehension app that your child can access anytime, anywhere. It is designed to help struggling readers improve their decoding, fluency, and comprehension skills. Plus, parents can track their child’s progress on the user-friendly dashboard to see how far they’ve come with the Readability app.

Don’t wait any longer to get your child the help they need to succeed. Download the Readability app on your smartphone or tablet to start your free 7-day trial today.