Reading Train Christmas vs Exsiccatae
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Reading Train Christmas
This app offers interactive Christmas-themed books, songs, and games designed to build foundational reading skills. It features multiple reading levels, professional narration, and a fun train game to reinforce learning. Parents can track progress through detailed reporting tools.
- Interactive Christmas books
- Multiple reading levels
- Sing-along Christmas songs
- Educational train game
- User recording of books
- Progress tracking for parents
- Built-in audio dictionary
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Listen, read, and record 10 fun Christmas books at 3 easy reading levels: 30 books in all! Sing along with 5 Christmas songbooks and 18 more favorite children's songs. Play the train game; win coins for the Music Store; collect and learn new words in the train yard. "Beautifully designed storybooks and related games that teach foundational reading": Appolicious.com Books, songs and games to build skills, self confidence and a love of reading. Real reading, for fun and information, right from the start. "A dynamic tool to augment any beginning readers program": Teachers With Apps Safe for Kids: The Learning Station is a Proud Member of Moms With Apps Kid tested and teacher approved. We are ad-free and take our users privacy seriously. View our Privacy Policy here: http://www.readingtrain.org * Listen, read and record books at 3 different beginning reading levels to grow as a reader. * Play the train game after every book to learn letters and words * Built-in picture/audio dictionary * 5 Christmas song books PLUS 18 more sing-along songs. * Professional narration- American English. All books can be recorded by users. * Unlimited user accounts * Powerful student reporting tools Books Kids CAN Read. Written by Libby Curran, a People Magazine Teacher of the Year, these engaging little books are field tested in real classrooms to get kids started on the path to reading independence. Books Kids LOVE to Read and Re-read. Children are naturally curious, so encourage them to explore our ABC books to learn new vocabulary and build the foundational knowledge they need to succeed in school. After reading stories they can play the train quiz game, explore the picture/audio dictionary and listen to song books. Give Your Kids the Tools to Succeed. Stuck on a word? Tap and hold to hear every word and access the built in audio dictionary filled with hundreds of words. Play a unique quiz game at the end of every book to extend the learning. The Reading Train Alphabet is packed full of tools to help children succeed, all on their own. Read to Learn- Meet Common Core Standards Read beginning level books with purpose and understanding. Develop the concepts of print: reading left to right and matching written words with spoken words. Learn letter names and sounds, build background knowledge and improve reading comprehension and foundational skills. Quizzes Disguised as Games. Play the train game after finishing every book, but don't tell them it's a quiz! Check progress on the parent's page to see all the books children have read and recorded as well as detailed scores on the quizzes. The Right Team For the Job Created by award winning master teacher and early literacy expert, Libby Curran, The Reading Train is the culmination of 20+ years of teaching experience. Backed by an all-star team of teachers turned iOS developers and a professional children's musician, The Reading Train is serious about making learning fun. Keep in Touch We welcome your feedback, to keep up with all things Reading Train check out: readingtrain.org facebook.com/readingtrain email: support@readingtrain.org We welcome suggestions on future books and curriculum. Contact Libby with suggestions about new content at: libby@readingtrain.org
Exsiccatae
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Exsiccatae is a field journal that paints itself in. Photograph a bird, or listen for its song, and Exsiccatae names it entirely on your iPhone, then mounts it on the page like a pressed herbarium specimen. See a species once and it's a faint graphite ghost; see it again and again and it fills with hand-painted watercolour. Your life list becomes a living collection. IDENTIFY, ON YOUR DEVICE • Photo identification runs on-device. Nothing is uploaded, and it works offline. • A continuous listening session identifies birdsong from the microphone in real time, on-device, and the birds you hear settle onto the page as you listen. • Not sure? Pick the closest match, or search by name. The app is always usable. A JOURNAL THAT REWARDS RETURN • First sighting: a pencil underdrawing. By the fourth: a full watercolour plate. • A living collage grows with your collection. Pinch to lean in over the sheet. • "Expected nearby" shows the species recorded around you as ghost plates waiting to be found. REAL FIELD METHOD • Start a timed, located outing (Stationary, Traveling, or Incidental) matching eBird's protocols, with optional GPS distance for traveling counts. • Correct a finding's count, date, or notes; add your own photos and recordings. DONATE YOUR DATA TO SCIENCE • Export any outing in eBird Record Format and upload it yourself to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's eBird, the same dataset that trains birdsong models. Exsiccatae never submits for you; you always review and choose. YOURS, LOCAL-FIRST • No account. No cloud copy. Your photos, locations, recordings, life list, and journal live on your phone. Sharing a sighting or exporting an outing is always your explicit choice. Exsiccatae is a free portfolio project, built solo end to end. "Exsiccata" is a bound collection of dried, labelled specimens: a herbarium of everything you've seen.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is device support: Reading Train Christmas at 3 against Exsiccatae's 1. Reading Train Christmas also leads on iOS requirement (11.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | Reading Train Christmas | Exsiccatae |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 32 months | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 653 MB | 54 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | The Learning Station, LLC | craig merry |
In-app purchases
Reading Train Christmas
No in-app purchases
Exsiccatae
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Reading Train Christmas free?
Is Exsiccatae free?
Do Reading Train Christmas or Exsiccatae have ads?
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