Montessori Words & Phonics

Parents need to know that the Montessori Words & Phonics App is suitable for children aged 3 to 8 and helps develop their reading, writing and spelling skills. The app uses the Montessori Learning method (Phonemic awareness and Phonics).

The app is easy to use and navigate and once shown to your child they will be able to progress with the app unsupervised. The parent can sign the child in as a user and a user report, which can be locked, can be viewed by an adult to see how far the child has progressed. We love the fact the app has a ‘Parents’ section where you can access the best ways to use the app although it is noted that there are in-app adverts of other Montessori apps. However, this is protected by a parental lock.

The app has a number on in-app settings that can be tailored to the child such as controlling letter appearance, showing solutions and allowing game interaction with words. There are also 13 themes (that’s over 300 words) to choose from and a moveable alphabet where the child can learn the letters and practice the drag and drop method for answering questions. Great for fine motor skills.

The main menu is split into 5 categories:

Simple words with 3 sounds (consonant/vowel/consonant), Words with consonant blends (CCVC & CVCC), words with digraphs, words of any complexity and Focus on one sound or letter cluster.

‘Simple words with 3 sounds (consonant/vowel/consonant)’ – These include words such as red, can, log and many more.

The app displays in-app overlay instructions which is helpful to the parent and child. There is also a clue to help progress, however we would like to see the clue reveal a letter at time rather than the whole word. The letters are in lower case (this can be changed) and they use an English accent. Once the word has been spelt the score is displayed in the top right and in the user report. Once answered the screen moves into an interactive screen where the child can play with shapes and patterns. We are unsure of the educational value of this although it is noted that it can be altered in the Settings section.

‘Words with consonant blends (CCVC & CVCC)’ – These includes words such as wind, crab, desk and many more. The consonants are displayed red and the vowels are blue.

‘Words with digraphs’ – These includes words such as wind, crab, desk and many more.

‘Words of any complexity’ – These includes words such as chips, wheel, mail, boot and many more.

‘Focus on one sound or letter cluster’ – This section enables parents to target areas of weakness such as ‘short a – as in cat’ words, ‘long i– as in five’ words, ‘other vowels sound such as ar – as in car’ and so much more. This is a great help for parents to really tailor the app to the child’s needs.

Overall we really enjoyed using this app and once set up the app can be used independently by the child with little support. The app is bright and simple and creates a fun phonics experience for kids.