Teach Your Monster to Read Reviews

by Mars1122654

I liked TeachYourMonstertoRead originally but I wish the audio was in standard American English. The characters speak a sort of British/Australian English where I cannot hear the R sound. My child is learning “Noth” instead of “North” and “Huh” instead of “her” and so on. It makes it difficult for my budding reader to do a lesson when words he can usually understand he now cannot and I don’t really want him to pick up speaking with this style of pronunciation as we don’t speak that way here. In combination with the fact that after my child completed the letter sounds the lessons went right into expecting him to fully read sentences (fun with words). I expected a bit more of an explanation to the child or to be guided into blending sounds but you truly are expected to read a sentence and complete the action, after only learning letter sounds. Unfortunately we may no longer use TeachYourMonstertoRead

by ChaneyAlexis

We have been using TeachYourMonstertoRead for a couple of weeks and we love it. My daughter struggles with reading, and her progress with TYMtR has been incredible. She enjoys all the games and is motivated to play. My only complaint is that the “Stat” feature is not working for her profile. On my account I made two student profiles one called “Mom” so I could test TeachYourMonstertoRead out to see if it was worth letting my daughter try it, and one in my daughter’s name. I have no problems accessing the Stats for the “Mom” profile, but for about a week, I have not been able to access my daughter’s stats. I would like to be able to use those stats to help her work on problem areas and to determine if she is progressing too fast through the levels. I emailed tech support, but was told that it may be a server issue with the influx of users and to try at different times of day, but no matter the day or time, the Stats are not available for my daughter’s profile but work fine on the other profile. Fixing this issue would make TeachYourMonstertoRead a solid 5 star review.

by Ashlicita

TeachYourMonstertoRead is “almost” the perfect phonetics game!

Loves:
-My kids want to play it ALL the time.
-It had 3 levels so it adapts to each kids’ ability.
-It is fun, interactive, and very educational.
-My autistic (almost)4yr old is an early reader but late speaker, his pronunciation is getting better after just a few days.
-My 6yr old is now recognizing more blended letters when reading his homework. He was already one of the top readers in his class, he is now blowing me away by home much he is picking up in just a few days of playing.

Cons:
-The British accent is sometimes hard for my American kids to understand what they are being asked to do.
-The volume is not quite right. The main narrator and the music/sound effects are really loud if you want to actually hear the “word speakers”. Example: I the narrator says “to save the bear find the word”, and then someone else says “turn”. The person saying “turn” is so quiet that we have the tablet volume almost all the way up. Then it’s way too loud when the narrator speaks again.
-There are a few instances, in different games, where I wish you could touch letters and they would make the phonetic sound again for kids who have a hard time remembering their task.

Overall we are absolutely in love with this game and I highly recommend it for anyone who wants a good phonetics game!

by 12monthyearoldatheart

Wow. That is the word I would use to describe this amazing game. I have played a lot of different games over my past years of living (My job is living so I do it quite a bit). The clothing outfits are fascinating. I love how you can dress up as whatever you want! The progression behind the game is great as well. The more activities you complete, the faster you can build your spaceship to get home. The plot is a little shaky though. You crash land on this planet and your ship explodes, yet you come out with no injuries what so ever. I think if the game showed a little blood and showed the children how to bandage and clean a wound, that would be a great survival skill to learn. You never know when your spaceship will crash land and you’ll be stuck on a planet with kings that have you learn letters to rebuild your ship. Overall, this game is a pretty good game but it could be better.

by Yesdnyl99

My son loves TeachYourMonstertoRead and has fun as its competitive and very much like any other game app where their player is on a path that needs to jump and make it to the end. The catch is that if they want to correctly finish, they must match the sound to the letter(s). The problem comes about when you’re needing to teach your child according to what they normally hear. Americans say arr for R but the game has an accent and says “ah” which also sounds like “au” or even the soft “a”. Furthermore, for iPad mini 3, TeachYourMonstertoRead doesn’t work well with the speakers. You can hardly hear the instructions by the narrator but you’ll hear a strong voice saying the letters needing matched. Many times they’ll be on top of each other and children can’t understand.
If you’re in America or Canada, TeachYourMonstertoRead may not be the best.

by Carolpdx

My granddaughter figured out how the game works faster than I did! She really loved it, and I saw a lot of progress both in beginning reading and in reading 3-digit numbers. She had come to believe, in school, because the curriculum marched on regardless of whether all the kids were getting it, that she couldn’t read. She just didn’t want to try. But playing the game she did pretty well. Not being on paper was part of it I think. Her eyeballs still seem to just bounce off paper text.

The sentences in the game get progressively longer, while the words are still about the same. As the sentences lengthened, the time she spent with it shortened. It would be nice to be able to choose levels, with variety, so that the learner could have some say in the challenge.

The game definitely has resulted in important progress.

by Marieke Gillis

My 4 year old loves TeachYourMonstertoRead! She has learned a lot of letters and sounds and especially loves customizing the monster.

A few issues I have had with TeachYourMonstertoRead :
- The sounds all have English accents, which generally isn’t a problem but is really confusing on “o” and “r”.
- The games have no tutorial, so the fast games start, give a quick instruction, and take off without giving the child time to figure it out. My daughter still hasn’t figured out the flower or balloon games because they’re just too fast and have very little explanation.
- My main issue is that in the main game, there’s no way to “pause” and pick up later. On an island, if you close TeachYourMonstertoRead , it skips ahead to the next letter and there’s no way to go back. I wish there was the option to continue or stop between each island. We do an island every day and when we stop it skips ahead to the first letter of the next one when we reload the next day, so she misses the beginning and first letter sound of the next island, which is frustrating.

Otherwise this is a great app; lots of fun and really helps my daughter. She begs to do the monster game every day.

by Emp Zog

When my 4 year old daughter began using this game she loved it and didn't want to put it down. When she started she knew all the letters of her alphabet and many sounds. Within the first two months she was reading simple words (CVC). By the fourth month she was reading simple sentences. By 9 months she had completed finished all three levels of the game and could read proficiently at a 2nd grade level (about 550 lexile). I combined this game with Usborne Books & More's Very First Reading Set, which progresses using the same sounds/words as each part of the game.

The only downsides of this game are: as an American some of our pronunciations are different than how they are taught in the game (just a few words, but I enjoy hearing the accents of the narrator and characters), and single sounds/parts of the game cannot be focused on for further practice; the entire level has to be repeated. With my daughter I made up flash cards to practice her sounds and tricky words, but being able to select a letter/letter combination/word to repeat would be a nice feature. Overall, though, I give this game 5 stars for being FUN and very EFFECTIVE. I recommend this to everybody!

by Guardrock

My oldest is in kindergarten and has thoroughly enjoyed learning in TeachYourMonstertoRead! His teacher got her class signed up for this and it has been great for him to do independently while we watch his brother’s swim lesson. His 4 year old brother is typically pretty difficult to get motivated so it can be frustrating to try and work with him, even when trying to play a game. So since we had such good success with one kiddo, I thought we’d see how the other did. Wow!! He’s done great! He enjoys playing, he’s learning new sounds and the letters that make them. I’ve got something to help him learn while his brother is doing his schoolwork!

by FrankieJSilva

I got this for my 4 year old and 7 year old to play. We were already familiar with Usborne books and enjoyed the educational quality and entertaining style.

My 7 year old was already reading close to 2nd grade level so he breezed through the games. He still enjoyed playing even though it wasn't a challenge.

My 4 year old had just begun reading CVC words and sounding out letters. Within a couple of weeks her reading had improved dramatically. She ended up completing the first level quickly but wasn't quite ready for the second so started playing on "my" account for extra practice. She has now completed level 2 on both her and my account and is doing well on level 3. (This is after having TeachYourMonstertoRead a few months and very sporadic and limited screen time.)

It would be nice if there were American pronunciations of a few words but with just the UK pronunciations it gives us a chance to talk about other cultures and regions so that's a different kind of benefit.

by NuMacUser

Just downloaded yesterday but my first grader loved it right away. One glitch for my ESL girl was figuring out how to get the “magnet machine tool”...do not know what it should be called ...to lift the blank sound blocks as visible clues are what she looks for first. Because she has had trouble hearing and recognizing initial letter sounds, the lack of a visual clue made her listen more closely which was good. After frustration about figuring out what action was needed, she happily went on to make progress. She was so excited, she wanted to use TeachYourMonstertoRead again today on her lunch break. Today her almost 5 year and sister whined for me to put it in my phone so she could do it also. If early excitement and learning continues, I will be happy. A couple of other apos that I have tried the younger sister on before have yielded a “no, I don’t want that!” response. So it clearly got both over TeachYourMonstertoRead avoidance test!

by Catqueen0904

I used to play this game when I was five years old and now I’m eight and still play it!!! This is the best game ever I have no complaints and love TeachYourMonstertoRead sooo much. I’m sure kids around the world like it too. I am so going to teach my almost three year old sister this awesome game. The British accent is not a problem at all because I already taught her the alphabet and she can pronounce them correctly. For other people who have complained about the British accent I have something to say: do your kids know the alphabet? If not, TEACH them!! Try to solve the problem. So this game was awesome !!!!!!! So yeah keep it up!!😃😃

by ShellyStevens

From my Facebook share of TeachYourMonstertoRead -

Preschool parent friends - Our #1 goal this summer is to learn to read before Kindergarten starts. TeachYourMonstertoRead is $4.99 but SO fun, my 5 year old loves it. It is divided into 3 sections of learning to read - sounds, site words, and sentences all with super fun games. I especially like that her answer only has to be near where it has to go instead of EXACTLY on the squares. TeachYourMonstertoRead is made by Usbourne Books, which is a trusted book company that we loved before I found this and now Love even more!

I get nothing for telling you this, I was just incredibly impressed plain and simple And I think THATS worth sharing!

by Rwllama

My 5 year old son has been very stubborn about not wanting to read. Then one day he decided he wanted to learn how to write his own video games. My husband, the programmer, broke the news that he has to be able to read first. This started several days of him angrily trying to sound words out he wouldn’t quit, but he hated every minute of it. So, I splurged on the game. Next thing I know, our little “monster” has blazed through the entire first section and is spelling and reading words with blends! Thank you for making phonics fun for him!!

by Feesmister

My daughter loves this. Its incredible how well this teaches phonetic (and sight) reading. It definitely requires parental guidance though; do not send kids off to play this by themselves. This program builds up new skills and sight words FAST, often using sight words that the student hasn’t seen as the answer (it’s a good thing; students figure them out by process of elimination and are never shown two new words at once and are required to recall or sound out multiple previously seen words ). By comparison, ABCmouse seems galacially paced. Most kids will do better if an adult is there to help them walk through the words when they forget a skill or get confused.

by Ktlouie875

My son started playing this game the summer before he began kindergarten, about 15-20 minutes a day. At that time he could identify all of his letters but had no practice with sounding out words. I am AMAZED how fast this game helped him learn to read. At his first parent-teacher conference, his teacher estimated he was reading at a 2nd or 3rd grade level, after only a few months of playing the game. My only criticism would be that since we are American, it was odd to hear him read in an English accent sometimes, so I felt the need to play with him at first to make sure he knew some of the differences in how we pronounce words. He rarely plays anymore but now he can read nearly all the books on his bookshelf.

by Newmum23

I am a homeschooling momma and my 6 year old daughter is loving TeachYourMonstertoRead. She keeps telling me how much fun it is. I have noticed her using the sounds she learns during the game, later during story time and lessons. One concern was the limited practice for each sound but the new added practice material is fantastic. I love the ability to pick any 1-6 sounds she needs to work on.
I only have 2 issues: 1. is the level of background noise compared to the sound of the letters. Some are difficult to hear. And turns it into a guessing game. And 2. I wish there was a spot to press for them to repeat the word or sound being asked for. I like to try out the game and noticed the third level has this feature but level 2 does not.

by Smorkle

My 5 year old loves designing her monster. Actually, she’s obsessed! She’s a bit addicted to playing so she can gather more stars to dress her monster up. She plays the game as if she’s secretly gotten away with doing something. I feel like in the 2 days she’s played, she’s learned lore about phonics and letter recognition than a whole year of being in school. I absolutely recommend this game for preschoolers and kindergarteners.

Side note, for those in the US, as other reviews have mentioned, some, maybe just a few, of the phonics are different sounding. When she comes across those, I let her know how different countries/places pronounce things differently and I try to help her find the correct letter and move on. Gives me a chance to review it with her.

by Pregnant Falsely

This has hands down been one of our best apps. My son is 4 and on the 3rd level/game. There are a few items I think could be tweaked....the running game....my son was too young to time jumps when it came along. You can just wait and eventually you will win. ><
There are constant updates and added content. The only thing I would like to see added is writing. A moveable alphabet to practice and writing with a stylus or finger. One comment on level 3, I notice my kid guessing a lot. He knows what parts he can “cheat”. He’s a little too smart. If you let kids progress when guessing the point won’t hit home. I know practice exists but I would love if he could see his scores on phonemes and go back to practice. This would also be great insight for our teacher. He is in a US Montessori school.

by Lilliepad25

I am special education teacher and mother. My kids at home school love TeachYourMonstertoRead. It’s fun, academic and truly free. The game is centered on each child’s needs and does not progress until they have mastered a skill. Even when they’re slow to master a skill game doesn’t get boring or less challenging he continues to push the child in different ways the kids get prizes to decorate their monster for finishing challenges in the game. This game is not just for the lower level kids but for upper level elementary too. My daughter is in third fourth and fifth enjoy it for the reading comprehension and center structure. It has a great little Cavaleri and reinforces what your teachers are teaching. It’s colorful bright and I have yet to have any bug issues with his app. I use it on the computer on my whiteboard and also on my Apple products

by Gaulb49

I love the concept but I don’t love that my child can guess her way through the game. I would love to see something put into place that forces her to actually learn the material such as making her redo the level if she makes too many errors. But now she’s at such a high level that I don’t know how to get her back to where she should be without wiping her account and making her start back over at the beginning as she’s past letters and sounds. I’ll probably just stick to better reading programs like Reading Eggs because I know that she can’t guess her way through (she has to repeat if she makes too many errors while just guessing to see what works).

by Margo_

My kids love this game and play it first whenever they earn screen-time. However, my 5 y/o daughter has gotten increasingly frustrated with the choices of prizes for the monster. She wants her monster to be a girl— like her. However, the majority of clothing is masculine (neck ties, top hats, etc). Of course I have sold my bill of goods regarding gendered clothing; however, there are NO clothes that are typically gendered female. Clearly, TeachYourMonstertoRead makers have done their research regarding methods of pedagogy. They also need to do research regarding the importance of children seeing themselves in learning, and step into 2018. This could be a really easy fix.

by Natj2818

My four year old son loves TeachYourMonstertoRead and before using it he didn't know many letter sounds. After just a couple times of use he is already reading simple words!

My only complaint is when you are racing down the track and jumping to touch the flowers to make the letter sounds, it's very difficult to time getting to the top ramp. If the letter sound points to the top it takes my son several tries to get up there even though he knows that's where he needs to go.

Fun little app overall and I've seen significant learning since he's been using it.

by IncoherentDream

My son (whom just turned 5) has a Kindle Fire with FreeTime Unlimited and he found this game there. For days he was playing it and telling everyone how it was his new favorite game. I watched him play it and was shocked at the level of education it provided as, sadly, educational games rarely hold my son’s interest. I’m currently setting up an old iPad Mini 2 to swap him away from the Kindle and when I saw this game, there wasn’t any questions, I immediately downloaded it! I highly, highly recommend you add this game to add to you child’s learning library.

by Lirreia2012

I used this in my kinder classroom for two years. I have moved onto a different grade, but should I ever go back to kindergarten I will use TeachYourMonstertoRead again. I still recommend it to friends with kinder-age kiddos! The games are fun, I could see the data, and it was an asset for my kids to learn sounds. The British accent did make some sounds a bit harder to hear/understand, but as it was used as one of many tools it didn’t affect the students. Love that they could do sight words too! Plus simple sentences. Overall a fabulous app!