Phonics Museum App by Veritas Press - A New TOS Review!!

Even though my youngest is 8, he is still working on his reading skills, probably considered a struggling reader. I was interested in what Veritas Press had to offer through their Phonics Museum program using their new homeschool phonics app. I also know LOTS of mama's that have young ones and I like to keep on top of what's being offered in the homeschooling arena. This app was created primarily for children who are age 3 through 7, or anyone in the learning to read age.

First, you will have to head to iTunes to purchase the Phonics Museum App and then download it to one of your devices that have at least an iOS of 9.1 or higher (so iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch all can handle this app.) You can choose to have a monthly subscription for $9.99 or pay the annual price of $99. But before you buy you can also try it out with their 2 week FREE trial!

Once you have the Phonics Museum App all downloaded (which can take some time -- BE SURE to be connected to WiFi which will make the download faster) you can create your account. You will be able to have up to 3 children on the same account. Next your child (or you) choose an avatar to "be them" while playing in the app. Now you are ready to begin the journey of learning to read. Because this is the main goal, your child will not learn their letters and sounds in alphabetical order. They learn in such a way to get to the goal --- reading --- as quickly as possible. So your child will first learn A, then M, then on to B, P, T and so on. As you can see you now have the combinations to make several words (am, at, bam, Pam, pat, mat, etc.)

Each lesson contains a series of smaller parts which include over 900 games, activities, songs, and writing to help build recognition of the particular letter. A whole lesson takes approximately 45 minutes, but you can stop it at any section. Stopping at the end of a section saves your progress for the next time you begin the app. The lessons are primarily taught by Miss Biddle, who is real at times, and a cartoon at times. Miss Biddle is a lovely, endearing character who is funny, kind, and a little strange. She is assisted (and so is your child's avatar) by Percival -- a walking, talking suit of armor.

In the Game Room

Miss Biddle (live) and Percival

Along the way your student will earn stars for each of the sections and then one trophy for each letter. At 'home' you can choose to go to the 'Game Room' and replay and of the games that have been completed. You can also wander around in the 'Trophy Room' and see all you have accomplished. Also from 'home' is where you will find the elevator to go to all 10 floors of the museum, each floor holding several letters to be learned and studied.

2nd Floor

Elevator Room

The lessons include paintings that you have to 'jump into' to work on the aspects of learning the letters. These paintings are real works of art and you learn about the painting itself and the artist who created it. You also learn about history and nature in the midst of learning your letters. This is not just a "teach me to read" app. Veritas Press has integrated a classical approach to learning to read by their incorporation of these other subjects. They also have kept the app engaging by making the animations cute and lovable.

An Avatar in front of 2 paintings. The grey one is not complete.

Trophy Room

There are some cons that I saw for this app. You must have WiFi to use the app. Even though we do have had our WiFi on while we used the program, it would still get stuck or take a long time to load. My son isn't very patient, so that did annoy him a bit. I would say this would be a problem more for younger children who might not understand WHY they have to wait.

I also noticed it was very repetitive. Both my son and my middle school aged daughter say they wish there was a way to "skip" the alphabet and museum songs, especially when they both are using it throughout the day. However, ALL my kids have been heard singing along with it ... so it must not be that bad to listen to. I think an older, struggling reader, who may have minor issues that need to be corrected to help with their reading would love a way to skip over sections or even whole letters in order to get to a point in the app that they DID need to work on.

I also didn't like the barrage of emails. Each time my students would accomplish something (so close to learning letter A, First letter drawn, Another letter learned, etc.) I would get an email. If you had 3 children working on this app ... that's a LOT of emails.  Maybe at the end of the day you could get one email that detailed all that had been worked on for that day.  At least then you are still getting the progress reports, but all combined so as not to fill up your email inbox.

All in all the Phonics Museum App by Veritas Press is a well-rounded, classically inspired homeschool phonics app that would be a great addition to many households. You can find them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and on Pinterest if you'd like to connect with them.  You can also read more about how others on the Crew used this app in their own homes by clicking on the link below.  And don't forget to come back and let me know what you think of this app if you try it out!