Fonetti Wins Department for Education Accreditation
Fonetti becomes the UK Government’s Approved Platform for Practising Reading!
There’s been a lot of buzz here at Fonetti HQ over the last week. For weeks we’ve been excited to share the news, and finally the time has come…
…last summer we entered a competition with the UK Government who were out to find the most engaging learning apps for children to use at home and in school.
After all the secrecy and waiting we are proud to share that Fonetti is one of the 6 Apps chosen and that this was made public in a press release today from The Secretary of State for Education The Rt Hon Gavin Williamson CBE MP and launched as part of the Hungry Little Minds campaign.
What is Hungry Little Minds?
Hungry Little Minds is a government campaign to kickstart children’s learning within homes. The team at HLM have worked hard to be able to provide only the best and most effective learning tools. They aim to aid parents in making informed decisions about how technology can be used for learning in a way that is effective, fun, and encouraging.
Jonathan Douglas, judge and Director at the National Literacy Trust, says that ‘the apps which we have chosen will help parents feed their children’s hungry little minds with great stories, exciting and fun experience of language and offer the support for the early reading experiences which provide the foundation for a lifetime of learning.’
Where does Fonetti come in?
Here at Fonetti we believe literacy to be the basis of all learning. The Literacy Trust found that children who own books at home are three times more likely to read above the level expected for their age compared with their peers who say that they don’t have their own books.
We absolutely recognise just what a difference it makes for a child to have a head start before starting school, and to have the tools available to practice and all the apps chosen as a part of this campaign are designed to help with that cause.
The exciting apps featured on Hungry Little Minds are focussed on instilling in learners an understanding of phonics. These apps are an incredible starting block for little ones just beginning to recognise words and sounds.
Lingumi (For children aged 2-5): Sets of learning games, speech recognition games and video-based games to help with a child’s grammar and getting them speaking their first words early on.
Kaligo (For children aged 3-5): The first digital handwriting exercise book using a stylus and tablet, built using AI and co-created with teachers, occupational therapists and neuroscientists.
Phonics Hero (For school-aged children): Over 850 fun, varied and motivating games take a child step-by-step through the 44 sounds, the reading and spelling of words, and how to conquer sentences.
Teach Your Monster to Read (For school-aged children): Covers the first two years of learning to read, from matching letters and sounds to enjoying little books, designed in collaboration with leading academics.
Navigo Game (For school-aged children): Focuses on developing skills that underpin reading, including phonics, letters and sounds, designed by UCL Institute of Education and Fish in a Bottle.
Fonetti (For school-aged children): The world’s first ‘Listening Bookshop’ interacting with children by giving visual cues in real-time as they read aloud and highlighting where the most support is needed.
Fonetti compliments these apps wonderfully! We’re aimed at children just a little older, who have picked up these reading and spelling skills. Our app, powered by our own world-first ASR engine, offers Listening Books
What are Listening Books?
Only the most innovative and enjoyable way to build confidence in reading! At least, that’s what we believe. Powered by our dynamic voice recognition technology, children are able to access an ever-growing library full of books only available on Fonetti.
Once a young reader has chosen a book, they’re encouraged to read out aloud. If they read correctly, words will light up green – immediate gratification! Not just that, but if they’re struggling with a tricky word, as we all do sometimes, they can simply double-tab and hear one of our voice artists pronounce the world clearly. Parents can then check their progress reports to see how well they’re doing.
Practice makes the master!
Once a young reader has learned the basics, they can progress onto Fonetti and build up their confidence!
Fonetti can be used with adult supervision or by a child on their own. Fonetti offers the child a safe space to practice their skills, whilst enjoying some fantastic original content. For many learners, this, together with the real-time visual assurance that they are reading exactly what’s on the page, and the rewards and reporting sections, encourages them to improve their skills and read more.
Auris CEO Kim Antoniou says, “We are thrilled to receive this Accreditation and Approval from the UK Government for our first product Fonetti, an App we have created using our unique speech recognition technology designed to work with children’s voices. We look forward to playing our part alongside the British Government, with their ambitions to improve primary aged literacy, and to having a continued positive impact on children literacy in this digital age by encouraging them on their individual journeys towards a love for reading”
If you have an iPad, give us a go! See what adventures your little reader discovers.
Sign up now to get 1-month free access to our awesome library of Listening Books. Have fun!
Thanks for stopping by! If you would like to find out any more information about Fonetti, or even who we are as a team, please do get in touch.
We are always happy to speak with our users, and look forward to hearing from you sometime.
