Writing Wizard for Kids

Purpose & Target Audience The Writing Wizard-Kids Learn to Write Letters & Words app is a free downloadable app for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, and any android device. The app is designed to help young children learn to write letters, shapes, and basic words (i.e. cat, dog, book). The app gives an outline drawing of the letter or shape step-by-step, and then the person who is playing the game will trace the outline of the letter or shape with their finger or stylus on the touchscreen. The app has features that allow for the parent or educator to track the child’s progress, add a word list for the child, determine the size(s) of letters, and track the accuracy of the child’s tracing skills of the letters and shapes. Writing Wizard also uses fun patterns and colors to help the child stay engaged with the material. The app is easy to use and is a good app to use for kids ages 4-6 or grades pre-k to first grade. Teachers and parents could use this app in conjunction with teaching. Parents could use this app when they sit down with the child to play on the tablet or touchscreen device together. The app has recommendations for parents of when to use the app and when not when starting to teach your child letters and shapes. Also, teachers could use this in a Kindergarten or first-grade classroom as “fun practice” time or game time since the app is on a touchscreen device. However, even though the app is free the device needed in order to use the app isn’t. This could be a potential barrier for parents or educators who don’t have access to these devices. Research Support & Goals The main goal of this app is to help young children learn how to start forming letters, shapes, and eventually recognize words along with their meaning. In the app, the makes the claim that the games in the app in conjunction with co-learning with educators or parents will help children learn how to write and recognize letters and their sounds. They further claim that this ability will help children eventually be able to write words. The research early childhood learning of letters and their sounds supports these claims. A study published by Reading Research Quarterly (Ehri et al 2001), found that early practice with phonics helps young children learn how to recognize the sounds of letters and pronunciation of words. Additionally, a study that published in the Journal of Research on Technology in Education (Couse & Chuen 2014), found that using tablets (or touchscreen devices) can help young learners develop writing letter skills, along with helping them become more engaged in the material. This research helps support Writing Wizard’s goals and claims. This app also has an excellent privacy policy that will fulfill the needs of both educators and parents. The privacy policy is comprehensive and easy for parents and educators to understand. The Writing Wizard app says that it will not collect any data on the user of the app nor does it require you to make an account to use the app. Further, the app will doesn’t contain any ads or in-app purchases.This app also has an excellent child lock feature. To access any setting features, you have to be able to enter the correct the number to the addition question. Bottomline This is a good app for young children for both at home and in the classroom. Parents and educators can utilize the app to help young children learn letters and shapes. The app however, could be boring for older children (7+) but could still offer additional support if the child was struggling to learn how to write letters and shapes. The app is free and has an awesome privacy policy which would also be a plus for both parents and educators. I do recommend this app to be used in the classroom and at home.

We got this app for my 5 year old who has grapho-motor skill development issues that are effecting her self esteem around early literacy. Taking the stress of holding a pencil out of the picture this app has reinforced her self-confidence in a fun and easy way. She now feels like she "knows" how to write and that holding a pencil is a minor obstacle that has nothing to do with how smart and capable she is. I couldn't have asked for more!