Read with Ello 4+

My son is crushing it

I have a special needs child. He is in 7th grade, and hasn’t learned to read. Reading has always been a struggle with him. The schools and I have tried so many different things to help, but he just gets so frustrated and shuts down. We decided to give Ello a try, after seeing an ad for it, but wasn’t optimistic. We have been reading 2 or 3 books most nights, using the app. He well older than the first level I started him out on, so the elephants voice annoys him. Last night he picked the easiest book in the box to start. I offered to read without the app since he is doing so well, he refused saying it had grown on him and he like using it now. For his second book last night, he chose to read a book he had only read once before. Every page he read correctly, and he would fist pump. He was so proud of himself, and the end he did one last fist pump and said “crushed it”!
I am so unbelievably happy that for the first time my child is excited about reading. Thank you

Looks great, preforms mid.

The app is very well constructed, keeps my five-year-old engaged, we’re homeschooling for kindergarten so I thought this would be a great tool to foster some independent learning time, however, just me sitting with her she’s not able to navigate the app on her own. Most things are really simple because the elephant is narrating very well, however, the microphone response recording her “reading” Will move her along to the next step no matter what phrase or word she speaks. Not just looking for the recognition that she spoke the word that she’s tasked with. I also would make the comment that the font is too tightly spaced, working on a iPhone 14 pro max, and she had a hard time clicking on the correct word she was wanting to work on. There was no automatic correction, to make sure she clicked on the next word, she could click on any word and complete the sentence, without actually completing the sentence.

I was helping her use it, making sure that I did not say the queued word, she would ask questions about what was going on in the picture correlating with the word phrase on the page, and it would skip the sentence as if she completed it.

Developer Response ,

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your feedback! We’re thrilled to hear that your daughter enjoys the app and that it’s become a valuable tool for your homeschooling journey.

We truly appreciate your insights about the navigation and the reading functionality. It’s important to us that children can use the app independently and that the learning experience is as smooth and effective as possible. We’re already working on improvements to make the voice recognition more accurate and intuitive, so the kinds of issues you flagged doesn’t interrupt her learning.

On the font spacing and touch sensitivity, we’ll be looking into optimizing the design to ensure that it’s more user-friendly on all devices, making it easier for young learners to interact with the app correctly.

Thanks again for your thoughtful feedback. We’re always looking for ways to improve, and your experience will help us make the app better for everyone. If you have any more suggestions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out. We’re here to help!

- Elizabeth, co-founder at Ello

20-minutes/night takes 20 minutes now

My son (7) used to spend so much time choosing which books he wanted to read for his nightly 20-minutes (stalling). He would be burnt out before we even started the clock and I would be too. With Ello, he knows the books are his level and he likes reading them over and over because he gets “better” each time. He still gets to choose which book but the reduced choices (5 books/month) are a relief for him. What once took almost an hour with whining, hand-holding and re-directing now takes 20 minutes and it is all reading, whether I sit with him or not. What once was a major pressure point has been relieved and is now enjoyable and efficient. Thank you Ello!