Písanka: učím se psát

Nine activities that teach children to write, letter by letter. English voice-over, left- and right-handed stroke order, no ads.

The app walks a child from the first stroke to whole words. Nine different activities keep the attention going and practise letters, words and fine motor skills. Something different every few minutes, so the learning outlasts one afternoon.

Comenia Script is an unjoined handwriting style that is easier for children than traditional cursive, and Czech schools teach it. The app draws every letter exactly the way the method prescribes, including stroke direction and order.

NINE ACTIVITIES IN ONE APP

• Copybook: writing letters on ruled lines, with or without guide dots • Butterfly: a butterfly leads the hand along the correct stroke • Rainbow letter: tracing a letter with a rainbow crayon • Word building: letters are dragged from a tray onto the board, where they snap together like fridge magnets. Spaces can be added, letters deleted, and new ones slotted into a finished word • Alphabet exercises: the whole alphabet by category, with pictures • Crosswords: puzzles where letters spell out the answer • Listen and pick: the child hears a word and picks the matching picture • Memory: matching a word with its picture • Missing letter: filling in the letter a word is missing

THE COMENIA PICTURES ALPHABET

Every letter has a picture drawn in the shape of that letter, and the child hears it named:

• A for Angel • B for Bear • C for Caterpillar

WHY THIS APP

• English voice-over: letters and whole words are read out loud, so a child who cannot read yet still knows what to do • Left- and right-handed: stroke direction switches per letter • Capitals, lowercase, digits, accents and punctuation • Three languages in one app: English, Czech and Slovak. Switch in the settings, nothing else to buy • No ads, no in-app purchases, no sign-up • Works on phone and tablet, and a school edition covers interactive whiteboards

WHO IT IS FOR

• preschoolers • children in the first two years of school • practice at home • classroom work

Children manage on their own: the task is spoken aloud and the app confirms when it is done.

The Comenia Script typeface was designed by Radana Lencova. The music was written by the Czech composer Adam Sporka.