Starfall is an online educational resource, and now their ABC section is available as an app for the iPhone and iPad.

When you tap on a letter, a screen shows the upper- and lower-case letter while a voice announces the letter. Each screen also includes a word that begins with the letter, which the voice narrates as well. Lively music, pictures, and animation accompanies each screen. The app also features mazes and puzzle games, and each vowel includes a song for learning the sounds. There is also an animation for learning the sign language for each letter of the alphabet.

Through this app, children learn how to:

• Learn and recognize letters
• Develop early literacy and reading skills
• Develop visual and auditory understanding of letters and words

The Starfall ABCs app is appropriate for all children, especially those learning how to read. The pictures and animations are bright and fun, which is a great motivator for children. For individuals with special needs, playing the games and perusing the screens will help reinforce the language skills they learn in school. You can even begin using this app well before pre-school or Kindergarten to help instill knowledge of the alphabet and reading.

Starfall's systematic phonics approach teaches phonemic awareness and is appropriate for English language learners. This app is a good buy for children who struggle with words and reading, and it helps bring them up to the level of their peers.