Free Applications FOR LEARNING

Eight vendors that offer free literacy applications, including  detailed descriptions, program features, and pricing information when available to help you decide the best tool for your family.

STARFALL

The Starfall Education Foundation, a nonprofit entity, offers both an app and a website for its Starfall program.  Designed to promote learning through positive reinforcement, this program caters to students from prekindergarten (PreK) through Grade 5. Starfall enables students to learn by engaging their sense of sight, hearing, and touch. Activities are designed to foster exploration and play, creating an engaging and enjoyable experience for children. These activities are grounded in research and emphasize “phonemic awareness, systematic sequential phonics, and common sight words” along with audiovisual interactivity. This approach ensures  that activities are efficient for all students, including those facing learning challenges and English Language  Learners (ELL).

Parents and educators can explore Starfall’s Parent-Teacher Center, where they can find resources to  enhance their child’s or student’s education. This includes worksheets, books, music, projectable content, and  curriculum, all organized into four categories: pre-k through Grade 1, Grade 2 and 3, Grades 4 and 5, and reading with Starfall. All the digital content, including Starfall’s comprehensive curriculum and supplementary materials for Pre-K, Math, and English Language Arts, is available for free download. Additionally, the Starfall app provides mobile access to a majority of the activities  featured on the website

PRICING 

Although Starfall offers a range of free educational content, users have the option to buy a membership to access extra activities, songs, and reading or math materials for Pre-K through Grade 3. Starfall provides four types of memberships: home, teacher’s, classroom, and school. Each membership is valid for a full year, with the home membership extending to all members of the household.

PBS

PBS Kids and PBS LearningMedia are two member stations extending from Public Broadcasting System (PBS) and both aim to expand children minds through educational media. PBS provides free content on station websites and has developed various apps that families can download that promote learning through play. PBS Kids is accessible without the need for any registration, whereas PBS  LearningMedia necessitates creating an account to access its full range of content. Nonetheless, both  teachers and students can use the educational materials provided by these platforms entirely for free.

PBSKIDS  

PBS Kids utilizes its curriculum-based entertainment platforms to aid students in developing “knowledge,  critical thinking, imagination, and curiosity.” The initiative includes television series, websites, and apps, all designed to empower and educate children. Through engaging gameplay and informative videos, PBS Kids  fosters a learning environment for young minds. As a result of the wide array of content available across various media channels, parents and students can easily access specific subjects like literacy or math by  downloading apps or visiting the PBS Kids website.

LITERACY CONTENT 

Parents or students can access the PBS Kids website or download numerous games to enhance their or their  child’s knowledge through interactive gameplay and videos. Given the extensive scope of PBS Kids, it offers  a broad spectrum of topics and subjects for parents and children to explore.

All games on the platform enable students to read along, which aids in enhancing their reading abilities. Specifically, children concentrate on topics like reading, storytelling, rhyming, Spanish, ABCs, and vocabulary  topics to further develop their literacy skills in both English and Spanish. For example, reading games such as  “Operation Ice Cream,” engage children by allowing them to follow the story and then assess their  understanding with an entertaining quiz at the story's conclusion. Similarly, in games like "Sandbox Search,"  children engage in a virtual hunt for objects starting with certain letters while practicing phonics. Additionally,  "Crossroads" is a game that helps students expand their Spanish vocabulary through an interactive  adventure. PBS Kids not only provides games that are both fun and educational, thereby transforming  learning into an enjoyable activity, but it also offers a variety of games based on popular children’s TV shows,  giving kids the opportunity to interact with their favorite characters within the games.13 

PBS KIDS FOR PARENTS 

Parents also have the option to discover activities for their children or activities to do together by accessing  the PBS Kids for Parents website. On this platform, parents can specify their child’s age range, choose a topic,  select shows their children enjoy, and filter by types of activities. Parents can access coloring pages and printables, crafts and experiments, games and apps, birthday parties, and recipes focused on a variety of topics.

PBS LEARNINGMEDIA 

PBS LearningMedia offers both educators and students free and accessible educational content and  resources. Both content and resources are crafted to complement classroom curricula, while also being responsive to current events and needs of diverse communities. The content adheres to six fundamental principles: interdependence, accuracy, fairness, transparency, inclusiveness, and accountability. PBS LearningMedia is for students from Pre-K through Grade  12.

PBS LearningMedia provides resources aligned with educational standards for every subject, catering to  students of all grade levels. These resources encompass interactive lessons, videos, documents, audio files, and media galleries. Additionally, students have the option to explore resource collections or conduct advanced searches to focus on developing specific skills. For instance, students in Grades 9 to 12 interested in English Language Arts might explore collections such as “No Nonsense Grammar”.

DUCK DUCK MOOSE

Duck Duck Moose (DDM) operates under the umbrella of Khan Academy, a nonprofit organization dedicated to offering free educational resources. Both entities collaborate to present a variety of free, award-winning applications and resources dedicated to fostering positive learning experiences for students. The Duck Duck  Moose webpage features apps designed for curriculum, nursery rhymes, creative expression, and play. While all DDM apps encourage educational development, those focused on curriculum are particularly beneficial for young learners working on literacy and mathematic skills. The apps are designed with children in mind, ensuring ease of use for young users. Furthermore, Khan Academy Kids is available for children aged two to eight, providing a comprehensive, free learning experience without ads or subscriptions.

DUCK DUCK MOOSE READING 

Duck Duck Moose Reading is a free downloadable app available on Google Play, iTunes, and Amazon for children five and under. Designed for children aged three to seven, this app features nine engaging activities tailored for young students. It encourages learning by taking children on educational adventures through the zoo and can track the progress of up to three students. The app includes reporting features that allow parents to monitor their children's progress, with each  "Working On" section displaying a percentage that indicates the students' advancement with each letter and sound.

This app has proven particularly effective in kindergarten classroom trials, offering students the chance to  acquire skills like letter sounds, recognition, and spelling. Parents can monitor their children's advancement using the in-app reporting feature, view lesson plans that spotlight other educational apps, and customize  settings to suit their child's needs.

READWORKS

For more than ten years, ReadWorks, a non-profit organization, has dedicated itself to enhancing students' reading comprehension skills and narrowing the achievement gap. With a strategic focus on providing high quality reading resources and instruction, ReadWorks  aims to foster deep understanding in young readers.

ReadWorks delivers a suite of tools and functionalities designed to offer learners a tailored experience that  encourages ongoing development in reading comprehension. Parents have the option to create an account, granting them digital access to captivating  content. Through this account, they can offer their children access to a digital library filled with a diverse  selection of nonfiction and fiction books catering to various interests. ReadWorks further assists parents by  providing tips and suggestions on how to foster a love for reading.

PRICING

ReadWorks is completely free for parents to sign-up. Creating an account provides access to  all reading resources and content. ReadWorks partners with “museums, cultural institutions, and other experts” to offer students the best content possible. Students have the option to select from a wide range of content areas, including science, nonfiction, fiction, or social and emotional learning.

BLENDING BOARD

Blending Board is a valuable resource for parents to aid dyslexic learners or students learning phonics in enhancing their literacy skills. The app enables children to create a set of phonemes for blending exercises and aids users in deciphering words. Moreover, students have the option to share their custom decks with other Blending Board users by sharing QR codes.

PRICING

This app can be downloaded for free onto electronic devices from Google Play or iTunes. Parents have the option to either select items for the new deck or modify items from the three  columns to tailor a more personalized experience.

ANIMAL ANTICS

Animal Antics is a free early-literacy application aimed at involving family members in supporting pre-elementary school children's learning. It fosters interactive learning by encouraging dialogue and interaction between parents and their children, thereby providing a platform for practicing early literacy skills. The app offers various scenarios where parents and children can engage in role-play as animal characters from any story featured. During these activities, they alternate making appropriate facial expressions and recording  dialogues that align with the story's context. Once recorded, families can playback their story, enhancing the child's learning experience in pre-literacy skills such as reading, expression, conversation, and media  engagement. Animal Antics is accessible for download on iTunes and Google Play.

SORTEGORIES

Sortegories, available as both an app and a website, serves as a resource for families to aid students in enhancing their reading skills. Through nine engaging activities, the program assists students in developing literacy skills by covering aspects such as "phonemic, phonological, semantic, morphological, and syntactic  elements." It allows students to progress through various levels at their own pace, offering unlimited practice opportunities and independent learning while providing feedback. Sortegories features two user levels, each  encompassing nine distinct activities.

PRICING

Sortegories is completely free to use and users can download modules from both Level A and Level B to practice different skills as needed or desired.

QUILL

Quill is a non-profit entity that offers writing instruction to learners via its free and open-source digital platform. The organization's mission is to help learners "become proficient writers, readers, and critical  thinkers." Users of Quill have access to a range of resources, including independent practice activities, diagnostic assessments, collaborative lessons, activity reports, and diagnostic reports. The platform also includes features for rostering and professional development. While Quill primarily targets content for  Grades 1-12, it also caters to English Language Learning (ELL) students.

Through Quill's free version, students have the opportunity to explore a wide array of reading materials and activities aimed at enhancing language skills. Materials can be filtered by grade level, allowing for academic support that matches the student's current abilities while promoting skill development. Additionally, users can explore free activity packs across five curriculum areas, each comprising various activities that leverage the learning tools provided to both students and educators in the premium version. 

PRICING 

All content is free to students and teachers; however, Quill offers a premium model for schools looking for specific Quill tools for teachers, training, guided onboarding, or professional development sessions.

OTHER RESOURCES FOR FAMILIES

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