Common Sense Media Review
By Amanda Bindel
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Cute monkey guides kids through six early-reading games.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 5+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
Monkey Word School Adventure
What's It About?
MONKEY WORD SCHOOL ADVENTURE takes kids through six phonics and word group activities to help kids master early-reading skills. Kids enter or select their name, and the app guides them seamlessly through the activities. Kids trace letters, go through a rhyming maze, find letters or sight words in flying objects, spell words (with or without hints), and find words in a word search. After each round, kids choose a plant or an animal to add to their terrarium. Up to three kids can have accounts. Good early-reading practice with fun rewards.
Is It Any Good?
Each activity on Monkey Word School Adventure is short and moves automatically to the next challenge, so kids won't likely get bored. What really sets this early-reading app apart, though, is the increasing challenge based on prior performance. If kids master finding letters in the dropping gems, the next round will give them words. If they master three-letter words, they'll quickly move to blends and digraphs. The six games may get repetitive, but the customized adjustments in difficulty should keep kids interested. Parents can manually adjust the challenge level and turn off certain games in the settings if they want kids to focus on specific skills.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Read to kids from a variety of text formats so they can be familiar with letters and words written different ways: in print, by hand, on logos, or on a screen.
Play rhyming games wherein kids contribute words that rhyme or end with the same sound, such as pig, big, wig, jig, and dig.
App Details
- Devices : iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android
- Subjects : Language & Reading : letter or word recognition , writing
- Skills : Thinking & Reasoning : memorization , part-whole relationships
- Pricing structure : Paid
- Release date : April 16, 2013
- Genre : Education
- Publisher : THUP Games
- Version : 1.38
- Minimum software requirements : iOS 8.0 or later; Android varies with device
- Last updated : November 11, 2020
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