Red Apple Reading Level C1 - Island Adventures

The idea behind Island Adventures is amazing. The island maps out a route with 5 different units which build on each other and 25 lessons in between. The idea is that as you work your way through the lessons, you are working your way through the island. Along the way you encounter animated explanations, word games, puzzles and tests! The teaching and learning is all done in a very fun way and kids will absolutely adore the illustrations and characters that they encounter.

The app is done in a US accent, so if some parents are sensitive about this, it is important to note. However, if your kids are old enough to know the alphabet and can read by themselves this should prove to be no problem.

The map is split into phonics and sight word lessons. To begin with, it starts off with basic vowel sounds. However, it quickly progresses to consonant blends, long vowel patterns, r-controlled vowels, and suffixes. These are split amongst the sight word lessons so that there is always a change to learn something and then practice the concept.

Each unit has a separate story so that users can practice their reading skills.

Our favourite part of the app is that you are able to play and interact with very engaging characters and illustrations. For example, in one of the games we were asked to match the written words on illustrations of funny crabs to the shells. When you match the correct shell to the correct crab (you are practicing your reading and spelling at this point), the crabs scuttle about and go inside the shell. This is such a lovely touch and is very representative of the general style of the app. There are always surprises within the illustrations, the games and the story-lines to keep you coming back for more.

You can also include different players to the app (up to 3) so that you can share the app amongst 3 kids/pupils in a classroom (value for money!).

Another fantastic thing about the app is that builds from alphabet understanding to phonics to spellings, grammar and then sentence structure. The app may be £5 but it is value-for-money because you can use it time and time again to build on concepts. There are also 2 follow-up Island Adventure apps (#2 and #3) that continue the journey with more advanced phonics skills, prefixes, suffixes, syllables, vocabulary, and reading comprehension.

We love this app because it teaches, it tests, it engages and also picks up incorrect/correct answers and amends its tests in accordance to the level that it perceives. That is the mark of an educational app that all other educational apps should benchmark against.