French Words for Kids with Dictée Muette

French Words for Kids with Dictée Muette
Created by L’Escapadou

Learn to pronounce and write French words with an app called French Words.   

This fun little app will help your child to discover the French language and 240 combinations of word-picture-audio which will teach them to spell and pronounce the words.   I’ll admit that I am French.   And since we are homeschooling in both official languages, I am always on the lookout for apps that will strengthen the French language.    This app is wonderful for kids who are learning from Kindergarten to about grade 2 or 3 depending of their ability of learning.

You will find three levels of difficulty which is based on the phonetic difficulty of the words.    Practicing the words often will improve the spelling ability of the kids.   When you touch a specific letter, you will hear the sound associated with it.  I find this to be a fun way to learn the French language.   And if you are not fluent in French, you could learn the phonetic with your kids by using this cute little app!

The letters and words in French are read by a native French speaker while the English of each words are spoken by an American speaker.   I applause this decision to include a French native speaker because the kids will get the proper pronunciation and phonetic while listening to the audio.

This app is based on a popular spelling activity from the Montessori method called Movable Alphabet.   In a nutshell, it allows the child to spell words of increasing difficulty by associating the phonetic sounds of letters with their written symbol.    I find this is a wonderful way to learn.    Also, there are three types of lettering available on this app; cursive, lowercase and capital print.    What a wonderful way to introduce cursive letters to a child.   I would start with the lowercase lettering and slowly incorporate the capital print.   When the child is comfortable with these two, I would introduce the cursive letters so that by grade 3, the child has assimilated the cursive writing and will have more facility to write it on his/her own.

Even though it is a great learning tool for learners of French as a foreign language, I find it is also beneficial for French speaking kids who are learning to read and write in French.

French Words for Kids is available for 3.99$ on iTunes.  This is an universal app which means it will work on the iPad and iPhone. 

Disclaimer: I received the app for review purposes. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.

Montessori Crosswords

Montessori Crosswords
Created by L’Escapadou

About the App

Based on the proven Montessori learning method, this app is in fact a fun game to develop spelling, reading and writing skills using a Movable Alphabet and letter sounds.  You will find more than 300 word-image-audio combinations to help practice the sounds (phonics) of the letters.    Three word series of increasing difficulty is included in this app.   Each level of difficulty has been created as defined in the Montessori method according to the phonetic difficulty of each word.  Level 1 (corresponding to the simplest word series) displays only one simple word to make the game easier for beginner writers/readers while  level 2 and 3 will bring you child to crosswords which are created randomly to offer tens of thousands of different combinations (exactly 93 696 for level 3!).

Activities you will share with your kids - or they perform on their own - depend on their current knowledge of letters and their phonetic sounds, so there is no strict age range for this game. You can start playing with letters with your 3 year-old and have a lot of fun - that’s also what our movable alphabet is made for! -, while your 10 year-old will enjoy solving the most difficult crosswords on her own, thus building up her spelling skills. All our crosswords are self-corrective, so that kids can play and enjoy the game whether they are beginners or fluent readers.

My Thoughts

I think this app is well done and deserve a greater attention from homeschooling families.   Not only it will help you child to discover the sound of each letters but it will introduce spelling while making crosswords.

My son, Dominic – age 7, has tested this app with me sitting next to him.   Dominic is a bright child but he struggles a little with his reading.   So I was curious to see how well he would do.   He started with the first level in the app which introduce simple word with 3 sounds.    He quickly found this too easy for him and decided voluntarily to go to a harder level.  So he went to the 2nd level which introduce 2 words with consonant blend.    He had some difficulties with some of the words but he excelled nevertheless.   I found that it was nice to have the sound of the letter being pronounced when he selected the letter before dragging it into the crossword.    Each time the child gets the crossword, an animation happens and you can interact with it.   The child can also have the word be repeated simply by clicking on the image.   Finally, the word’s spelling is hiding on the side so that if the child has trouble with it, he/she could discover how to spell it properly.

Dominic said that he liked this app which sort of surprised me because he had problems with his reading ability.  But recently, I realize that he is getting more comfortable in reading and I see some improvements.   I think he loves the fact that he can interact with the animation when he completes a crossword.   For him it is some sort of reward.

Personally, I think that the rewards are always the same (even though the colours change) and I would like to see different types of rewards.  

Nevertheless, this app is fabulous and I highly recommend it to help you child to discover the spelling world (as well as the fun of doing crosswords…)!

The Montessori Crosswords app is available on iTunes for the price of 1.99$ either for the iPhone or the iPad.   A French version is also available which I will review in the days to come.

Disclaimer: I received the app for review purposes. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way.  All opinions expressed here are only my own.