Teach your child to read in 5 minutes a day
ReadCow is a phonics app for kids ages 3 to 7. Short daily lessons take them from letter sounds to reading real stories, one swipe at a time.
Sound it out with one finger
Every ReadCow word comes with a slider. As your child drags it, each sound lights up in order, so they can see blending happen: c… a… t… cat.
Try it here. Drag the yellow button slowly and say each sound as it lights up.
You don’t need to be a teacher
ReadCow leads every lesson from start to finish. You sit beside your child, listen, and cheer. Each day follows the same four steps, so it quickly becomes routine.
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Hear it 1 min
Meet one new sound with the cow and hear it in words they already know.
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Blend it 2 min
Swipe through words built only from sounds they’ve learned.
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Read it 1½ min
Read the next few lines of the farm story out loud to you.
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Celebrate 30 sec
Collect a star, watch the streak grow, and stop while it’s still fun.
From first sounds to first stories
Lessons follow a set order. Each new sound builds on the ones before it, so your child never meets a word they haven’t been taught to read.
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Letter sounds
The sound each letter makes, starting with s, a, t, p, i, n.
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Blending
Joining sounds into short words like sat, pin, and map.
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Letter teams
Sounds made by two letters together: sh, ch, oo, ow, ar.
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Sentences
Short sentences, plus everyday tricky words like the and was.
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Stories
Whole chapters of the farm adventure, read on their own.
Built on the science of reading
ReadCow teaches reading the way decades of research say works best: explicit, systematic phonics, practiced a little every day.
The U.S. National Reading Panel’s 2000 report found that systematic phonics instruction helps young children learn to read.
- Sounds in a set order
- Letter sounds are taught one at a time, in sequence, never guessed from pictures.
- Blending you can see
- The slider turns the hardest early skill, joining sounds into a word, into something kids can watch and feel.
- Stories they can decode
- Every story uses only sounds your child has learned, so they can read every word on the page.
- Little and often
- Five focused minutes a day builds more than one long session at the weekend.
Stories they want to finish
Most beginner books are dull because new readers know so few words. ReadCow links every practice story into one adventure on the farm, with the same friends each day, so your child reads to find out what happens next.
The cow sat in the sun.
“Moo,” said the cow. “I can see the top of the hill.”
Can the cow get up the hill?
Questions from parents
What ages is ReadCow for?
Ages 3 to 7. Most children are ready once they show interest in letters. If your child already knows their letter sounds, they can start further along the path.
Do I need to know how to teach reading?
No. The app guides every lesson. Before each one you’ll see a short tip on what to listen for, and that’s all the prep there is.
Why only 5 minutes a day?
Children ages 3 to 7 learn best in short, focused bursts, and 5 minutes fits their attention span. Stopping while it’s still fun makes tomorrow’s lesson easy to start.
Which devices will it work on?
ReadCow is coming to the App Store first. It’s designed for tablets, so there’s plenty of room for little fingers. We’ll share the full device list before launch.
How much will it cost?
We’ll announce pricing before launch. Families on the early-access list hear first.
Ready to help your child read?
Join the early-access list. We’ll email you when ReadCow is ready, and nothing else.