# Montessorium: Intro to Words — user reviews > 61 indexed App Store user reviews of Montessorium by Higher Ground Education Inc, rated 2.93/5 from 15 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/montessorium-intro-to-words/id394038232/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/montessorium-intro-to-words/id394038232.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 6 · 4★ 1 · 3★ 0 · 2★ 2 · 1★ 6 ## Newest reviews (15 of 61) ### 2/5 — This app has so much potential, but it’s so buggy *2022-01-19* A beautiful and simple app and I can see where they are going, but it’s very buggy. The first and easiest lesson has a bug and you can move past it. Please creators; fix it because it has so much to offer the world in the form of “slow tech” ### 4/5 — More for ages 3-6 than 6-8 *2018-04-11* I wish there was a preview option as I would not have paid for this app for my 8 year olds. This is very Montessori like but I think more towards ages 3-6 than 6-8. If you are looking for younger kids, this will be awesome. ### 3/5 — No sound *2015-04-28, version 3.0* There is no sound, settings page or guidance for parents. Any help for the sound issues? ### 2/5 — not intuitive *2014-07-05* You can only see about 8 letters, in alphabetical order, across the top of the screen, so the child has to scroll to the correct letter to find it. Then if the child accidentally drops it in the wrong place in the word he/she can't pick it up and correct the problem. Wasted 5$. ### 2/5 — Brits beware *2013-10-23, version 2.2* Bought this as a follow on to the lovely Intro To Letters, also from Montessorium, but really disappointed to discover there is no option for British English pronunciation on this app, unlike the Intro one. This means the app is practically useless to me, as the phonemes sound nothing like the sounds my children need to learn and practise. Hoping that this is rectified in a future update soon. ### 3/5 — Nice app but... *2013-04-10, version 2.2* Nice app but you REALLY need to split the alphabet at the top into two rows to eliminate the need to scroll back and forth! ### 2/5 — So disappointed. *2012-12-06* I wish I could return this program. All of the consonants have vowel sound voiced at the end, as in /d-uh/. This makes blending the sounds back to make a word impossible. I wrote SED for "said". When I tried to quickly push the letters so it would blend and read it back to me, it said, "/s/ /e/ /d-uh/." An incorrect representation of the phonemes is not very helpful. ### 2/5 — Sound *2012-11-20, version 2.1* This app is great , but got no sound. ### 3/5 — OK *2012-10-13, version 2.0* Not worth $2.99 ### 1/5 — Don't waste your money *2012-10-04, version 1.2* Can't do much on this app ### 1/5 — Looks like designed by the clueless *2012-10-04, version 1.2* This app is aimless, pointless, and deeply flawed in design. Absolutely wasting time and money. ### 2/5 — Great idea but needs some improvements *2012-07-20, version 1.2* The concept of this app is great, however the execution of it is not quite on the mark. The phonemes are not all sounded correctly and therefore it makes word building very difficult. E.g. Bell is sounded as "bah-eh-ll" rather than short "b-e-ll" sounds. Improvements I'd like to see are: Sounding of phonemes corrected Option to have uk English voice as per intro to letters app And/or option to record and use your own voice for the phonemes would be fantastic! ### 1/5 — Not enough... *2011-11-08, version 1.2* I was expecting much more than this! Please update this app to make it worth 5 bucks! Right now it is a waste of money! ### 4/5 — Interesting app to help the child to be comfortable with writing. *2011-05-31* This is a wonderful app to strengthen the phonetic learning in young children as well as for beginning readers/writers. The app has two different section; the Alpha and the Writer. In the Alpha Section, the app interacts with the child when it ask to find a specific object within the ones available. There are transportation, animals, clothing, body parts and more to pick from. Once the child has picked an item, he/she will hear the sound of it and then a voice will say the word. The child has to use the letters on the top of the screen to be able to write the word. For example, for the box the child would have to select the letter B, O, and X and drag them on the table. In the Writer section, the child will have the opportunity of practicing how to write short sentences for a story. Using the alphabet as well as images, the child is able to write little sentences like “the plane is fast”. In a way having the opportunity to apply the learning done in the first section of the app is wonderful. The child is learning and has fun at the same time. As he/she completes a little story, mom or dad can use the camera to save what the child has written in the camera roll on the device your are using. I think this app is a great introduction to phonetic as well as how to write little sentences. It doesn’t overwhelm the child with rules like capital letter and punctuation. However, the app is flexible to allow the child to include images in his sentences to make it more fun to learn at the same time. For us, we have used the app as a supplement after learning the phonics while homeschooling. My son enjoyed being able to write little sentences by himself has well. I would recommend this app for anyone who have a child in the ages of 3-5 years old (or older for kids who are struggling in learning how to write and spell). ### 4/5 — Love this app! *2011-04-18* As a speech pathologist I can use this app for my nonverbal/minimally verbal clients to tell stories. They choose the objects to represent nouns and verbs then use the alphabet to write their story. It would be helpful if overlapping letters could blend their sounds into words for retelling the story. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Very poor phonics *2021-10-20* The person providing the instructions is obviously not a Montessori teacher. The first word the child is asked to build is “bug.” Bug does not begin with buh, but /b/ as in bit. ### 1/5 — Poorly designed *2018-11-08* This app offers no more than what parents can do with a pen and paper. Truly dissatisfied. I also cannot get any sound. Would really like a refund. ### 1/5 — Fundamentally Flawed Approach *2017-11-05* The app has kids spell simple words, choosing letters from a list of all the letters in the alphabet. However, it treats vowel diagraphs (two vowels together that make a single sound) as if they were separate letters. These are all listed at the end of the the standard alphabet. So, when a child is asked to spell the word "boy" they can't choose the letters B-O-Y. Instead the have to first choose B then scroll all the way past the end of the normal alphabet list and find OY from a long list of diagraphs (AI, AY, OO, OI, OY, etc.). It might make sense to a linguist, but it's confusing for a child just learning to spell. ### 1/5 — Since the update it will not turn on *2017-06-09, version 4.0* Most recent update results in the app not turning on at all. It just turns the screen black and either crashes or sits for ages until you force quit. Used to work perfectly fine before I updated it to the fancy-sounding new version. ### 1/5 — Horrible *2015-08-09, version 3.0* Not intuitive and has no sound. This is not a quality app that can be easily used by a child. This app should be withdrawn by the developer, it feels like a scam. Don't buy it. To the developer: give me my money back. ### 1/5 — Unintuitive and buggy *2014-12-27, version 3.0* Exercises are very hard to figure out. The Graphics are overlapped one on top of another and confusing. The touch screen interface has a lag...dragging items is confusing. Do not buy this...is my advice. ### 1/5 — Terrible *2014-12-17, version 3.0* Waste of money. ### 1/5 — Needs clearer sound *2014-07-04* I wish the sounds were more accurately represented ("b" says "b" not "buh," for example) but I do like that they say the word AND segment the word's sounds before the child selects letters to build it. Adding "uh" to every consonant makes learning to blend sounds difficult; the app itself reads "bed" as "buh-eh-duh." It'd be no small task to re-record the audio, but the app is not much use this way. ### 1/5 — Not worthwhile. *2014-02-26, version 3.0* I don't mind paying $5 for a really good learning app for my child but there's nothing special about this one compared to any other .99c app - wouldn't recommend it to others, pretty sure my son will bore of this in a few minutes and I just wasted my money. ### 1/5 — No sound after download. *2012-12-24, version 2.2* Cannot access sound after download. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — This is just what I’ve been looking for *2020-11-13* It’s a little glitchy and could use an update, but this is really a wonderful tool that is helping me teach my twins to read. Thank y’all for developing this awesome app! ### 5/5 — Great for just learning how to sound out words *2020-02-02* I really like this app! It makes the sound of the letters when the letters are touched. It has a section to build words and breaks them down by sound for kids to start learning how to sound out and build words. It also has a free write area for kids to explore building words on their own by sound. ### 5/5 — Great educational app for early reading skills *2012-10-26* This app is perfect for my 6 year old who was finding it difficult to remember what sound each letter made. Great for kids who learn best by touching and feeling in addition to just seeing or hearing as kids have to move the letters into place to spell the words. Also have to mention great support - I was having a problem with the sound on this app (user error I might add!) and the support people responded to my email right away with a solution. ### 5/5 — Fun, Fantastic App for Young Learners *2012-10-25* I love their approach to this app. Very well designed. Also, a lot of children's apps can be too cartoony or flashy, which is unfortunate. This app has many fun and beautiful illustrations, but they serve an educational purpose and in a way that doesn't insult a child's intelligence. Plus, it is engaging! My niece has been playing with this app all week. She cycles through some of the spelling exercises then brings me the iPad so we can write a silly story together. Love it! ### 5/5 — Beautiful! *2012-10-19, version 2.1* Alpha Writer is an exceptional app! I love everything they create! Perfect for the grandchildren! ### 5/5 — Jacqui *2011-02-19, version 1.1* A great little app, my 5 year old daughter took to it immediately, whereas she usually needs coaxing to use most 'educational' apps. It's a nice combination of cute graphics and functionality. I especially like that it includes letter combinations such as 'au', 'th', 'ow' etc., although oddly enough no 'aw' tile. As my daughter learns to read I'm appreciating the importance of knowing those combinations off by heart. ### 5/5 — Great app for Montessori kids *2011-01-25* My 6 year old son is a Montessori kid and loves this app. He immediately recognized that this was the moveable alphabet and got straight to work! The vivid colors and clear voice are excellent and inviting. We hope that future versions will include more words to spell. Thanks for another well-designed educational tool. We hope there are more to come! ### 5/5 — Perfect for our 4-year old *2011-01-24, version 1.1* We have both Intro to Math and Letters and our daughter really enjoyed those, but ultimately needed something more. This brings it up a notch for her. While the other two were something she could do by herself without any instruction, this app facilitates how I teach her sounds and sight words and how the letters come together to make common words. I'm no teacher, but I think having the ability to have something help you teach is great. It's an app that you can sit down with your child and have a great experience with. ### 5/5 — Love this app! *2011-01-21, version 1.1* My 3 and 5 year old both love this app for very different reasons. My 3 year old likes the story writing portion and working specifically with the actual images. She puts a bunch of images on the screen and then tells her story to me. My 5 year old goes right to the spelling portion and loves figuring out which letters she needs through the sounds when she is stuck on a word she does not know how to spell. All the different activities on one app make Alpha Writer a new favorite for us. Another GREAT app from Montessorium. ### 5/5 — Best One Yet! *2011-01-21, version 1.1* I didn't even realize that Montessorium had put out another App until last week when I happened upon it. Of course, I got it immediately. I like this one even better than the first two, because I am enjoying it as an adult just as well as any child will. Looking forward to future Montessorium Apps! --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-06-10.*