As a reading tutor, I have been looking for ways to use the iPad to teach kids to read. I recently received a review copy of The Singing Alphabet. Here's my take on this one:
- It's great for learning the sounds of the alphabet. The music is upbeat and will definitely keep kids attention. You must be aware, though, that it only teaches one sound for each letter. So, y is "yuh" as in yellow not "e" as in Nancy and c is "kuh" as in cuddle not "ss" as in lace.
- As for spelling out names and words, again, this can be a lot of fun; however, it has to be simple words with short vowel sounds like cat, dog, and man. It won't do double letters and, again, it will only use certain sounds for each letter. When I tried to write out Tammy, it does "Tuh" "Ah" "mmmm" "yuh." But cat is "kuh" "ah" "tuh".
- For $ .99, it's a great buy and an app you will have fun with. But until the developer makes it a bit more flexible, I can't give it five stars.