Reading Critters 4+

I came across an ad for this app, I homeschool a beginning reader (6) and an avid reader (8) and I am always looking for a good free learning app. This app has potential but as of this review it is still self proclaiming being in the beta stage. We completed the first lesson and freed the first animal. My 6 got stressed immediately because, like other apps that listen for accuracy, this app could not tell she was trying her best to say the sound mmmm but she is missing 3 teeth and struggles with self confidence which makes it difficult for her to audibly say sounds accurately enough for AI tech to pick up (not our first experience with this) My 8 was able to take over the app from task 1 to task 7 and happily played through the activities without loosing steam until the last activity (writing) when I handed the device back to my 6 to see how the app viewed her handwriting. No surprise she got 1/3 correct and frustrated handed the device back to my other child who was able to get the lesson to complete but also has proficient handwriting. The AI tech is lagging which was frustrating waiting for the puppy to realize we had completed a stage especially when writing. And while I felt like the lesson lasted a long time my adhd 8 was able to sit and focus on a task he is already skilled in, I’m not sure if he could do it 8 times let alone 99. As a homeschool parent I like that there are no frills and “coins” in this game it’s simple and you rescue the pets by completing the tasks no extra game play distracting kids from the material. But I would not recommend this for anyone with a kid who does not have perfect speech because it is a computer deciphering of the sound is correct or not and for a child who is not yet able to make sounds proficiently this is extremely frustrating and unlike other apps no way to skip past. Another thing I noticed is the app is not immature or geared to toddlers (win) which means it could easily be used for an older set of kids that perhaps did not have a strong phonetic start. This app show potential and while we will not continue to use it I hope someone else out there is able to benefit

We appreciate your detailed review. It's valuable to hear about your children's experience. We acknowledge the concerns you've raised about the AI technology and its sensitivity to speech variations. We're continuously working on improvements. Please keep exploring Reading Critters.

Lesson 1: app could not detect the student saying the correct sound for /m/ and /s/ even though the microphone was working

Lesson 1: app could not detect student wrote m correctly on line then program froze

We're sorry to hear about this issue. Please use the in-app feedback button to report these problems. Thank you for trying Reading Critters.

My child was enthusiastic to read with the app but it didn’t understand her and she became frustrated. I tried it thinking it was just not picking up on her because she is young and it could not understand me either so it’s a definite no from us!

We're sorry to hear about your experience. Please use the in-app feedback button to report this issue. Thank you for trying Reading Critters.