A new app called FarFaria is helping children read with more than 750 children’s stories
Encouraging children to read at a young age and to continue reading throughout life is a huge challenge for educators and parents. The real trick is promoting literacy and inspiring the joy of literature without making it seem like an assignment.
Until recently, perhaps the biggest excuses children used to avoid reading were playing outside, watching non-educational television, and video games.
In 2014, children have new digital activities that can distract them from improving their vocabulary and comprehension skills, such as Twitter, Instagram, Vine, Snapchat, and WhatsApp. However, while new technologies pose certain concerns, they also present certain opportunities. For every new social media gadget, there exist exciting and interactive educational applications.
Like FarFaria [1], for instance.
The creators of this new app hope to make reading an interactive experience with children and parents, and to instill a love for books and reading in youth that lingers throughout adulthood.
Intended for ages nine and under, FarFaria has more than 750 children’s stories and is updated with five new ones weekly. Some of the more popular children’s stories include Peter Pan, Beauty and the Beast, and The Tortoise and the Hare. What makes this experience unique is that children choose beautifully illustrated e-books from an interactive map of themes, and they can read these stories alone or with a narrator.
FarFaria can be especially useful during the summer to prevent the “Summer Brain Drain [2].” Did you know that reading only six books over summer vacation can help students maintain their current skills? Click on FarFaria’s infographic “Summer Brain Gain.”
(Next page: App features and functionality)
Since its launch, FarFaria has seen more than 15 million books read by its users and is currently getting kids to read more than 1 million books per month. Downloading the app for free gives users one story daily, or you can get unlimited access for $4.99 per month.
FarFaria’s engaging story-discovery experience encourages children to stumble into new stories they’ll cherish forever.
Features
- Unlimited reading from a library of more than 750 stories.
- Five new, engaging stories added every week.
- Interactive experience is fun for kids and easy for parents.
- Every story can be read aloud with a Read-to-Me feature.
- Reading-level badge on every story cover.
- Offline access to read Favorite stories.
- No advertising. No hidden fees.
The app is available for iTunes [3] and Android [4].
Watch this demonstration video.
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Have you used this app before? If not, would you consider using it? Share your views and opinions in the comments section below and join the conversation on Twitter @eschoolnews [5].
Michael Sharnoff is Associate Online Editor for eSchool News.