Very nice educational game family. #2 was on Amazon FreeTime, but too hard for my 4 year old so we purchased #1 so she could start at the beginning. It's a very simple concept, basically an electronic workbook. The phonic under focus is read in four words, then several pages of worksheets where the child has to select the correct phonic from the choices, sometimes by clicking, sometimes by dragging, sometimes by waiting until it scrolls by, and at least once using the correct phonic to complete spelling a word. The narrator reads the instructions on every screen, so you hear the sound repeated regularly and no reading is required to play. At the end of the lesson is a larger test game, which varies between whack a mole types, target shooting, running a race, and matching cards. A path of lessons makes up every island, and at the end of the path you have a review lesson, which tests all the phonics you learned on the island, culminating in unlocking a treasure chest by spelling 3 words using provided letters which you've just covered (as opposed to just filling in one predictable letter).
#1-2 are sold as separate games, but they really are 2 halves of one game. This one covers all of the short vowels and single consonants, and some blends but not all. #2 covers all the vowel combos and the remaining blends, with no repetition that I can see. It simply picks up where this leaves off. If your child just knows the sounds the alphabet letters makes and nothing else, like mine did, you can't just skip to #2, as basic necessary blends like ck, qu, ch, sh, th, ng, etc. will be assumed already known in game #2. (But for some reason unknowable to me, wh isn't covered til game 2.)
#3 is different in that it apparently reviews 1 and 2 quickly before moving on to sight words and using written instructions instead of verbal prompts. I haven't purchased that one yet, but I intend to very soon. I may even try to start #3 before she starts #2. Now that she's got the hang of this reading thing at last, I'd like her to get more actual sentence practice more than wanting to continue focusing on more complex phonics so much.
Do be aware, this is a British company, and the narrator speaks with a UK accent, same as all their other games. Some of the spellings may also look off because it uses the British spellings, but that's not a humongous problem at the kindergarten vocabulary level. And we went through 3 years of Peppa Pig, so the accident is a non-issue here as well. Think narrated by Miss Rabbit and you're good to go. My husband actually thought it was a Peppa game first time she played it.
As for the game itself, when she first started it my daughter was extremely new to her tablet and she loved the game. Played through two entire islands the first afternoon, all by herself once I'd gotten her started with the first few lessons and finally said okay, I have work to do, call if you need me. Unfortunately, once she'd had a few weeks of Amazon FreeTime and learned about more flashy, completely without merit games, the educational ones lost their appeal and it became a battle of wills to get her to do anything useful. I stayed the course with this one, insisted phonics first or no tablet, and required 2 lessons a day, which wasn't that bad since a lesson only takes about 5 minutes, and she is now finally reading, after 2 years of showing readiness but never making the jump from three individual sounds to reading the word. She still fights starting the game, but will sometimes play several more levels than required to once she finally gets going, which is typical of her entire life. And it has worked, when nothing else was, she read an entire book this week, so I'm happy with it. Best purchase under $5 for her in a long time.
Pirate Phonics 1 : Kids learn to read!
3.8 | 69 ratings
Price: 2.32
Last update: 12-16-2024
Latest updates
What's new in version 2.2- Improved device compatibility
Product Details
Release Date: 2013
Date first listed on Amazon: September 13, 2013
Developed By: Robb Research Ltd
ASIN: B00F4F670I
Customer reviews:
3.5 out of 5 stars66 customer ratings
3.5 out of 5 stars66 customer ratings
Developer info
- [email protected]
- http://www.unit11apps.com
- More apps by this developer
Product features
- s a t p d n m i g o c e u r h
- k b f l j v w x y z
- ck ff qu ss zz ll ch sh th ng th
Product description
Pirate Phonics offers fun and Phonics for kids who are just learning to read/recognise letters and simple CVC words. Pirate phonics uses the concept of a child’s dream about pirates as the theme of an educational game to develop skills in the basic phonics.It is a very large App which uses 5 ‘treasure islands’ with a ‘phonic’ route map across each island to recover the treasure stolen by Blackbeard the pirate. Each phonic is introduced by a pirate with ‘phonic challenges’. By passing the challenges coins are collected and the child heads towards where Blackbeard has hidden the treasure. Each island is completed when the children use phonic challenges to open the treasure chest, but of course that’s not the end!
The 5 Treasure Islands introduce the phonics 1 at a time before using blends to form simple words (mainly CVC). Phonics introduced in this App include:
•s a t p d
•n m i g o
•c e u r h
•k b f l j
•v w x y z
•ck ff qu ss zz
•ll ch sh th ng th
If your child just wants to learn words related to any individual phonic then that can be selected from the ‘extras’ area on the start screen without going through every island. Another similar Pirate Phonics App will be released soon to complete the whole phonics spectrum; this will focus even more on blending, word building and reading groups of words.
User Data Privacy
Developer has indicated that this app does not collect or transfer user data to third parties.
To learn more, visit the developer’s privacy policy.
Technical details
Size: 93.2MB
Version: 2.2
Developed By: Robb Research Ltd
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Privacy Policy
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Application Permissions:
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Help me understand what permissions mean
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- Access information about networks
- Enter Wi-Fi Multicast mode
- Open network sockets
Minimum Operating System: Android 9.0
Approximate Download Time: More than 5 minutes
Top reviews from the United States
C. L. Ortiz
It's cute, and it works
Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2020
TC
Waste of Money
Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2014