
Do phonics apps actually teach kids to read?
A new university study tested 309 reading apps against what actually teaches phonics. Here's what held up, what didn't, and how to tell the difference.
Where entertainment teaches something real, such as history in a map or math in a strategy layer, and where the educational claim is only marketing.

A new university study tested 309 reading apps against what actually teaches phonics. Here's what held up, what didn't, and how to tell the difference.


Half a century of evidence, from Sesame Street studies to today's co-viewing research, shows content quality and adult company matter more than the hour count.

Children can learn to decode images the way they decode text — through questions, vocabulary, and slow looking, long before they can name a single artist.

Halving recipes, counting cups, and estimating portions give children math practice with immediate, edible feedback — no workbook required.

Stories carry children into the past in a way textbooks can't — and the gaps between story and record become the history lesson itself.