BuildReading: Learn to Read

Harris Apps Studio

About this app

Learn to read by building words! BuildReading is a phonics app for kids ages 5-12 that teaches reading through word families: learn one pattern like AT and unlock cat, bat, hat, mat, and sat the same day. Learning to read made simple, visual, and fun for kindergarten, first grade, second grade, preschool graduates, and older kids catching up.

A REAL TEACHING VOICE
Every letter sound is taught out loud, like a reading tutor sitting next to your child: "Cat starts with kuh. Tap the letter that says kuh!" Wrong taps get gentle coaching, never a buzzer. Then your child says the word out loud, because phonemic awareness grows when kids speak the sounds, not just hear them.

A READING BUDDY WHO CHEERS THEM ON
A friendly letter A pops up to jump for every right answer and tilts its head to say "try again" on a wrong one. Soft chimes, never a buzzer. Stars earned in BuildReading, BuildMath, and BuildWrite unlock outfits for the buddy: a ball cap, a bow, sunglasses, a crown. Stars are never spent or taken away.

"HEY GROWN-UP, LOOK WHAT I DID!"
When your child masters a word family, one tap opens a proud recap card with their name, the words they built, and today's date. Made for high fives.

HOW BUILDREADING TEACHES READING
1. Meet one phonics pattern: the AT word family says "at"
2. Build every CVC word in the family, letter by letter, with the voice guiding each letter sound
3. Read real sentences with karaoke-style highlighting: "The fat cat sat on the mat."
4. Pass the reading challenge, earn stars, and unlock the next word family

WHAT'S INSIDE
- 7 levels, 69 word families, and 359 words
- 2,500+ natural voice recordings that teach letter sounds, blend words, and celebrate wins
- Read-along stories built from the words your child just learned
- Daily Review with spaced repetition that targets YOUR child's tricky words
- Streaks, stars, MASTER crowns, and dress-up outfits that make practice a game kids ask for
- A printable Certificate of Achievement for the fridge
- A reading journey through word families, consonant blends and digraphs, magic-e words (kit becomes kite!), vowel teams, compound words, prefixes and suffixes

LEARNING GAMES KIDS LOVE
Word building games, picture matching games, spelling games, and read-along stories. Every game teaches. This is phonics instruction dressed up as play, the way kids learn to read best.

FOR PARENTS, TEACHERS, AND HOMESCHOOL
The Grown-Ups Corner shows word families mastered, every word learned, streaks, and exactly which words need practice. Sound effects can be switched off there too; the teaching voice stays on. A free account backs up progress and syncs across phone, tablet, and computer. Great for classroom reading centers, homeschool phonics, summer reading, and tutoring. Classrooms: buildlearningkids.com/teachers

GENTLE BY DESIGN
Multi-sensory learning: see it, hear it, say it, build it. Calm, predictable lessons with no timers and unlimited retries, which many families of struggling readers and kids who learn differently appreciate. Everything is spoken aloud, so pre-readers are never stuck.

FREE TO START
The first lessons are free, no account needed. The optional Family plan unlocks every lesson in all three Build Learning apps.

SAFE FOR KIDS
No ads. No third-party tracking. No chat. A child's first name is optional and used only to personalize the app and certificates. Privacy policy: buildlearningkids.com/privacy.html

THE BUILD LEARNING FAMILY
BuildReading is part of the Build Learning family with BuildMath (number families, addition, subtraction) and BuildWrite (letter tracing, handwriting, and spelling). One method everywhere: learn one pattern, unlock a whole family. Same buddy, same stars, one account.

Whether your child is learning alphabet sounds, sounding out first words, building first grade phonics skills, or needs extra reading help, BuildReading meets them where they are.

What’s new

Privacy policy update: it now names all three Build Learning apps and our developer, Harris Apps Studio.