We all want our toddlers to learn to read as early as possible even as they begin to speak. And there are tons of ways on how to teach them in simple yet fast way of learning. One of them is through educational learning apps that are free to download online.
Disclosure: There are some affiliate links below and I may receive a small commission for purchases made through the links in this post, but these are all the apps I highly recommend and proven effective for my baby.
How Did We do It?
When kids begin to recognize letters and sound them out, they are already learning phonics.
It’s an easy process, with good resources, time, and patience, your little one will learn to read in no time.
Mia, my 4 yr. old toddler began to recognize letters and sounds at the age of 1 right when she started to speak and at the age of 2, she started learning phonics. Early at 3 yrs. old, she started to learn blends of letter sounds and sight words.
Now, at 4 yrs. old, she’s able to read kindergarten books and level 2 scholastic books. Resources are limitless nowadays with the internet and technology readily available for everyone to use.
As for the first-time Mommy like me, I take time to find educational apps and games from library websites for my 4-year-old toddler.
These resources helped her a lot in learning how to read at a very young age.
This is the list of resources that worked for me and for my 3 year old toddler. I hope that it would be a great resource for you to use for your little one too.
Educational Mobile/Computer Applications for Toddlers
1. Jolly Phonics
I put this first on the list because my little one started with this app and it really helped her develop her literacy with letter recognition and sounds. I started to introduce this to my toddler when she was almost 2 years old.
It is a free app best for beginner readers learning in entertaining and interactional method by using letter sounds. Phonics is easily learned by being familiar with sounds which is very useful in reading and writing. Features include letters of alphabets to read and write, actions, stories, flashcards of words and songs.
This is not only for parents but also a great tool for teachers to use for their small learners.
Download online in google play and app store. Get more lessons from Jolly Phonics here.
After getting familiar with phonics, my baby started learning about sight words using Endless Reader app by Originator.Inc.
Endless reader offers early reading success by using sight words. Kids get familiar with the words by sight and they learn to read them in context with the adorable monster characters. The characters and the sounds that this app contain are very entertaining for early learners especially for toddler
s. The letters come alive and make sounds forming word puzzles to sentence puzzle. The entertaining animations make it best for kids to learn in fun and interactive way.
Although this is free to download online, know that it only includes a trial lesson of sight words. If you want to get access to more words for your little one to learn, you have to make purchase to unlock more words.
3. Epic
You might have heard about this app. because of its popularity in schools and among teachers. This is one of the favorite app used by educators and parents at home for their littles.
I first discovered Epic when I was doing my research online about the best learning apps to use for my daughter. This app. appeared to be one on the list of most articles I read so I downloaded it for free and upon trying it with my baby, she instantly fell in love with it.
Epic is a learning platform where reading is develop through thousands of books and videos. It offers free download online but you need subscription to be able to access all the resources for your kids.when I was doing my research online about the best learning apps to use for my daughter. This app. appeared to be one on the list of most articles I read so I downloaded it for free and upon trying it with my baby, she instantly fell in love with it.
What I love about epic is that there are wide selection of books from top selling authors. There are also audiobooks and learning videos that your kids can choose whether they are beginner readers or advanced. They can explore their interests in different fields from adventures, crafts or arts to anything there is to explore in the world.
4. ABC Mouse
Also one of the subscription based educational learning platform is ABC Mouse. There are numerous ads about this learning platform that you might see anywhere on the web and so I would assume that you are also familiar with this app.
I started using this app for my toddler just recently when we are transitioning from TK lessons to kindergarten lessons.
ABC Mouse consists of kids learning activities and lessons for ages 2-8 years old. They offer a virtual classroom and a progress tracker which can be used online or offline. Unlike epic which focuses more on reading, this app contains games and other fun activities other than songs and videos. It covers re
Lessons with ABC Mouse are easily learned by early readers like toddlers because they’re simple to understand and the lessons are laid out carefully in a manner of “step by step learning”. The transition between easy to moderate to difficult is slowly applied through the activities. Subjects include reading, language, arts, math, science, health, social studies and music.
These are my top four educational apps that so far have worked for my early reader who is 4 years old right now, and who can read kindergarten books all by herself and writes words and simple sentences.
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Jolly Phonics
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Endless Reader
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Epic
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ABC Mouse
For me personally, the best app to use are those that makes your child learn in any way while they’re on it, either doing games, playing songs or watching videos.
It should be a fun way of learning, interactive and engaging, not distracted or for them to get sleepy or bored.
Choose an educational app where you think your child develops her interests more and connects more on what he/she already knows.
I hope this would give you some ideas what to try for your kids or if you have tried some that are on my list or you have some more recommendations for other parents, feel free to leave it on the comments!
