Montessorium: Intro to Words

I really like this app! It makes the sound of the letters when the letters are touched. It has a section to build words and breaks them down by sound for kids to start learning how to sound out and build words. It also has a free write area for kids to explore building words on their own by sound.

I wish there was a preview option as I would not have paid for this app for my 8 year olds. This is very Montessori like but I think more towards ages 3-6 than 6-8. If you are looking for younger kids, this will be awesome.

The app has kids spell simple words, choosing letters from a list of all the letters in the alphabet. However, it treats vowel diagraphs (two vowels together that make a single sound) as if they were separate letters. These are all listed at the end of the the standard alphabet. So, when a child is asked to spell the word "boy" they can't choose the letters B-O-Y. Instead the have to first choose B then scroll all the way past the end of the normal alphabet list and find OY from a long list of diagraphs (AI, AY, OO, OI, OY, etc.). It might make sense to a linguist, but it's confusing for a child just learning to spell.