Montessori Letter Sounds HD

By Les Trois Elles Interactive

Applicable2U has reviewed several apps whose educational purpose or method is built around the Montessori method. Although we are not a family that follows their methods of teaching, their educational apps are still applicable to many families and schools. From the developers of Les Trois Elles Interactives, come play with their adorable friends, Tam & Tao as they explore through the Montessori Letter Sounds HD app. Designed for your iPad device running iOS 4.3 or later, parents and educators will be amazed at the various activities that each colored pencil has in store as well as an interactive sandbox toolkit. Montessori Letter Sounds HD is an ideal educational app for children ages 3-7 as it provides an interactive, progressive approach to reading.

Upon entering the application, we immediately noticed the “sticky note” to parents in the bottom right hand corner. To best understand how my son should use this application or how as a teacher/parent I can guide him, I chose to begin our explore here. According to the founder of the Montessori method, Maria Montessori. She states that “to get children ready for reading, they need to be taught a great deal more than just their ABC’s. She believed that to learn how to read, it happened in four steps.” Les Trois Elles Interactives has taken these four steps: vocabulary enrichment, phonetic games, letter sounds and blends, writing phonetically with moveable pieces and blended it into one big book. There are a number of assistive components that the developers have included that Applicable2U likes to see incorporated: a multitude of writing activity formats, an app that enables all learning styles and reinforces and encourages young readers along the way. Games are designed to teach and reinforce academic skills as there are two modes of play: exploration and implementation.

I Spy: Designed for children ages three and up. Come play a familiar childhood game, I Spy in order to develop ones vocabulary. Before one begins to spy, browse through the graphic flashcards, as players can spin the wheel, tap the cards, and record their voice. Along the way, building a broader vocabulary while building ones self confidence. A game built with three progressive levels of play. Level 1 – I spy….beginning with, Level 2 – I spy….with the sound and Level 3 – I spy….ending with. With each correct answer, players will earn marbles. If an incorrect answer is chosen, not to worry. Players may choose to hear the “I Spy” clue one more time by simply tapping the microphone icon in the upper right hand corner.

Letter Sounds: Designed for four year olds looking to play with letters in a variety of ways. As they explore Letter Sounds, players will learn to form all the letters of the alphabet correctly by tracing and playing in the sand. While learning to form the letters correctly, they will also be encouraged to hear the sounds that each letter makes prior game play. Letter Sounds has three appropriate levels of game play. Level 1 implements vowels only, Level 2 combines both vowels and consonants and finally Level 3 progresses to vowels, consonants and phonograms. Players can use the recording feature to self correct their learning along the way as a way to build their self confidence.

There are two locked modes, Mix & Match and Sound It Out. Mix and Match will be unlocked after successfully collecting marbles from the first two games. As players mix and match, children will be building their awareness that letter sounds can be used at the beginning, middle and end of words. See newly learned vocabulary in a variety of written formats: script/lower case, cursive, and upper case, a nice added touch. Now that players have come to the end of the book, it’s time to Sound It Out. Equipped with your chalkboard, magnetic letters and letter place holders, players will learn to spell words with 3 or 4 letters and words that have blends. Need some spelling support? Tap the chalk and Tam will magically appear with her word flag for your viewing. But be sure to look quick, she won’t stay up long.

Montessori Letter Sounds HD is jam packed with the tools necessary to get young learners ready to read. Keep the reinforcement coming by putting down your colored activity pencil and tap the bookmark icon. Here users can experiment with letters and sounds in a multitude of ways as they interact with a phonetic alphabet, a notebook, and sand. Overall, we were very impressed with Montessori Letter Sounds HD. It is important to note that when exploring the educational app store, not to shy away from an app designed with a Montessori method. Although Applicable2U does not teach in a Montessori school, the concepts that Les Trois Elles Interactives have integrated are useful in any educational setting. To learn more about Les Trois Elles Interactive, please visit their website here. If you have children as young as three or who need support along the road to reading and writing, then begin downloading Montessori Letter Sounds HD to your iTunes library for $4.99 by clicking here.