At its core, Teach Your Monster to Read is a series of three games: First Steps, Fun With Words, and Champion Reader.

The premise is simple: your child’s monster has crashed their spaceship on a strange planet. To fix the ship and get home, they have to travel through different lands, meet colorful characters, and—you guessed it—learn to read.

It uses a "synthetic phonics" approach, which is a fancy way of saying it teaches kids to link letters (graphemes) to sounds (phonemes) and then blend them together. It’s the same methodology used in most high-performing elementary schools. While your kid thinks they are just helping a weird little monster win a race or find a lost item, they’re actually doing intensive decoding practice.

Learn more about the science of reading and screen time

Let’s be real: most educational apps are boring. Kids can smell "school disguised as fun" from a mile away. But Teach Your Monster to Read leans into a gaming aesthetic that feels more like a "real" game and less like a digital worksheet.

Compared to the mindless scrolling of YouTube or the chaotic energy of Roblox, this app provides a structured environment where the "win" is a literal life skill.

The app is broken down into three distinct stages, and honestly, don't try to rush your kid through them.

This is for the absolute beginners—kids who are just starting to realize that those squiggly lines on the page actually mean something. It focuses on the first 8 letter-sound correspondences and basic blending. If your kid is in Pre-K or the first half of Kindergarten, this is where they’ll spend most of their time.

Once they’ve mastered the basics, this level introduces more complex letter combinations (like "ch" or "sh") and begins focusing on "tricky words" (sight words like "the" or "was" that don't follow standard phonics rules). This is perfect for mid-to-late Kindergarten.

By the time they hit this level, they are reading short sentences and exploring different ways to spell the same sound (like "ay," "ai," and "a-e"). This usually aligns with 1st Grade curriculum.

Check out our guide on the best reading apps for every grade level

Ages 3-4: Most kids this age will need you to sit with them. The interface is intuitive, but they might get frustrated with the mouse or touch controls. Limit sessions to 10-15 minutes. It’s about exposure, not mastery.

Ages 5-6: This is the sweet spot. Most Kindergarteners can navigate the app independently. This is a great "quiet time" activity while you're trying to get dinner on the table or reclaim 20 minutes of your sanity.

Ages 7+: If your child is already a fluent reader, they’ve outgrown this. If they are still struggling with phonics in 2nd grade, this can be a great, non-judgmental way to catch up without the stigma of "baby books."

Here is the best part: There are no ads. There are no in-app purchases. There is no social chat.

In a world where apps like Fortnite are designed to drain your bank account through "dark patterns" and peer pressure, Teach Your Monster to Read is refreshingly clean.

The app usually costs a few dollars on the App Store or Google Play (a one-time purchase), but the PC version via their website is completely free. If you have a laptop or a desktop, you can let your kid play the full game without spending a dime.

Ask our chatbot about the safety of other popular kids' apps

Parents often ask if they should use this or ABCmouse.

Here’s the thing: ABCmouse is a massive, sprawling ecosystem. It covers math, art, and science, and it’s subscription-based. It can be overwhelming. Teach Your Monster to Read is a specialist. It does one thing—phonics—and it does it better than almost anyone else.

If you want a free, all-in-one alternative, Khan Academy Kids is incredible and has zero cost forever. But it lacks the "quest" feel that keeps kids coming back to the Monster app.

If your kid is more into "gamified" learning that feels like a Nintendo title, they might also like:

While this app is fantastic, it is not a replacement for you reading to your child. The "secret weapon" isn't the app itself; it's the fact that the app makes the boring parts of learning to read (the repetitive sound drills) feel like a game.

Don't be surprised if your kid gets "stuck" on a certain level. Phonics is hard. If they are getting frustrated, it’s a sign to put the tablet away and go back to physical books like The Wild Robot or even just a Bluey picture book to remind them why reading is fun in the first place.

Also, be aware that the British accent in the game is quite prominent. Your kid might start saying "zed" instead of "zee" or pronouncing "tomato" with a bit of a flair. It’s charming, but it’s something to note if you’re in the US and wondering why your kid sounds like they’re auditioning for a BBC drama.

Check out our guide on balancing educational apps with physical books

Teach Your Monster to Read is one of the few apps that actually lives up to the hype. It’s ethically designed, educationally sound, and genuinely engaging for kids.

If you're dealing with "screen time guilt," this is your "get out of jail free" card. It’s not "brain rot." It’s not "Ohio." It’s actually a brilliant piece of educational software that might just be the thing that turns your kid into a lifelong reader.

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