Getting started
Open the app and add a reader: a first name or nickname, a bird buddy, and a grade. That's all. Each reader on the device keeps their own stars, birds and place in their songs.
To switch readers, tap the name at the top of the app.
Choosing a song
Pick a grade (Kindergarten to Grade 5), then a level: Easy, Medium or Hard. Harder songs are longer, with richer words. Every grade has 17 songs at each level.
A lesson: one song, eight small steps
Every song is a lesson, built like the SOAR programme that helped Yuvan: hear it, learn its words, sing it, then read it. Repetition is the point. By the end your child has heard and sung the same words five times.
- Listen. The song is sung while each word lights up.
- Listen again. Same song, eyes following the words.
- Words to know. The song's key words, with pictures where there is one. Tap a word to hear it, or Hear them all.
- Sing with help. Your child sings along with a quiet helper voice and the music.
- Sing with the music. Only the music plays the tune. Your child sings the words.
- Sing on your own. One last time, all by themselves.
- Read it myself. No music: one line at a time, then I read it all!
- Word game. Find the words. Finishing it hatches the song's egg.
A row of step pictures at the top shows where your child is. At the end of each song, the screen says The End, and a big green Next button shows what comes next. After a few seconds it starts by itself, so children can move through a lesson without help (turn this off in Comfort settings if your child prefers to tap). Do it again repeats a step. Finished steps can be tapped to go back.
A whole lesson takes about 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the song and speed. If your child stops partway, the home screen shows Keep going with the step they were on.
While a song plays
- Play and Start again stay at the bottom of the screen, so there's no scrolling to find them.
- Speed goes from −1.5 (slowest) to +1.5 (fastest). Normal is slow and calm; every speed is slower than before.
- Voice styles (listening steps): Sing-song, Reading or Music only. The Music button turns the music under the voice on or off.
- Tap any word to hear it said slowly.
The pitch line and medals
Above the words, a strip of bars shows the tune: one bar for each word, high bars for high notes and low bars for low notes. The glowing bar is the word being sung now.
In the three singing steps, the app asks to use the microphone. Your child's voice appears as a round orange dot: when it lands on the glowing bar, the bar turns green. Each singing step can earn a gold, silver or bronze medal for matching the tune. Children's voices are often higher than the music, which is fine: the app compares notes, not octaves. Headphones help the app hear only your child. Nothing is recorded or sent anywhere.
Stars, medals, eggs and certificates
Read this part together with your child.
- Every song has an egg. Finish all eight steps, and the egg hatches into that song's own bird. It flies into My nest.
- Stars come from the word game. Find every word on your first try: 3 stars. A few tries: 2 stars. More tries: 1 star. You can play again to get more.
- Medals come from singing with the microphone on. Match the notes for gold!
- Certificates: the moment your bird hatches, your certificate is ready. It has your name, your bird, the song and your stars. A grown-up can print it from the reward screen, from My songs, or from the progress page.
- Nothing is ever taken away. No streaks to break and no timers. Stars and birds only add up.
My songs
My songs (on the home screen and after each lesson) shows what's Up next, songs your child is partway through with the step they're on, and every Finished song with its stars, medals, bird and date. Finished songs have a green Done mark in the song list too. Tap Sing again to do any lesson again from the start.
Read it myself
Step 7 of every lesson. The music and voice stop, and your child reads one line at a time, out loud or in their head, and taps Next line. On the last line the button says I read it all!. There's no timer. Tap any word to hear it, or Hear this line for help. Finishing earns a little book badge on the song.
The word game
The last step asks your child to find words from the song. Answers are taps, never spoken. There is no timer, and a wrong tap simply fades. A right answer gets a cheerful Correct!
Picture-word cards
In the word game, some rounds show a picture (a frog, a rocket, a cake) and ask Which word goes with this picture? Your child reads the choices to find the matching word. After each right answer, the word appears with its picture, connecting the word to its meaning.
Tricky words
When a word is hard (missed in the word game, or tapped to hear more than once), it becomes a tricky word. Tricky words come back gently: they're asked first the next time that song's game is played, and the home screen offers Practise tricky words, a short round of up to five. A word counts as learned once it's found first time, twice in a row, with a little "Word learned!" celebration. Misses never cost stars.
Progress for grown-ups
Tap Grown-ups: see progress at the bottom of the song list (a quick sum keeps little ones out). You'll see songs sung and read alone, stars, birds, words learned, the current tricky words (you can mark one as known), progress in every grade and level, favourite songs and recent activity. You can print a progress report for school or therapy, or start a reader over. Like everything else, it stays on the device.
Comfort settings
Every reader can have their own comfort settings: tap Aa Comfort on the sing-along screen, or Comfort settings under the song list. Changes show straight away in a preview.
- Text size (Normal, Large, Extra large), letters (Lexend, Andika, made for new readers, or Atkinson, extra clear) and wide spacing between letters and words.
- Colours: Warm, Calm blue, High contrast or Night, and the highlight colour (yellow, green, blue, or underline only).
- Calmer screens: less movement, hide the next line, hide pictures.
- Quieter sound: no celebration chimes, and spoken help only when the speaker is tapped.
- Next step: starts by itself after a few seconds, or waits for a tap.
Teacher mode (classrooms and therapy rooms)
One tablet or computer can hold a whole class. Open Who is reading? and tap Teacher mode (you answer a quick grown-up sum first). Give the class a name, pick its grade and paste the children's first names, one per line.
- Sign-in screen: shows only that class's names and birds, with no buttons to remove anyone. Each child taps their own name. Change reader brings the next child back to the same screen.
- Song for the class: pick one song and it shows at the top of every child's home screen as "From your teacher". The class page shows who has done it.
- Class progress: songs sung, songs read alone, stars, birds, words learned, tricky words and last active for each child. Print the table, or download it as a spreadsheet.
- Everything stays on that device. A backup from Who is reading? includes the classes.
Bird certificates
A certificate is ready the moment a child finishes a lesson and their bird hatches. Tap Your certificate is ready! on the reward screen. It shows their name, the bird, the song, their stars and the date, with a line for your signature. Earlier certificates are listed on the grown-ups progress page, and teachers can print Certificates from this week for the whole class, one per page. Choose landscape when printing.
Decorate your nest
In My nest, hatched birds perch on a branch around a nest. Stars unlock decorations along the way (flowers at 3 stars, then bunting, butterflies, fairy lights, a birdhouse, a rainbow, a swing, a heart balloon and more), and new birds unlock seasons (summer, autumn, winter, night). Your child chooses what to show and which six birds sit on the branch. Unlocked things are never taken away.
Real singing
For now the singing voice is your device's voice following the tune. When a song gets a real sung recording, the lesson uses it automatically: full volume for listening, then quieter in each singing step so your child's voice takes over.
Tips for autistic learners
- Keep sessions short and predictable: one song and its game is plenty.
- Repeat favourites. Repetition is how songs, and words, stick.
- Try Music only for children who like to sing, and slower speeds for children who need more time.
- Use headphones in busy rooms, and turn sound off entirely if needed: the words still light up at a steady pace.
- Follow your child's lead. The bird collection is a reward, never a requirement.
Install it like an app
On iPhone or iPad: open the app in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. On Android or in Chrome and Edge: choose Install from the browser menu. It then opens full screen and works without the internet.
For a more natural voice, download an Enhanced or Premium English voice: on iPhone, iPad and Mac go to Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content → Voices.
Backups and new devices
Progress lives on the device. On the Who is reading? screen, grown-ups can save a backup file and load it on another device.