Comparison

Journals alive vs Scholastic F.I.R.S.T.

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Journals alive

This app enhances printed journals for early learners, bringing letters, numbers, and shapes to life with interactive zoo animals. It offers an engaging way to master foundational educational concepts at home or in the classroom.

Highlights
  • Interactive learning experience
  • Master alphabet letters
  • Learn numbers 0-20
  • Explore basic geometric shapes
  • Augmented reality zoo animals
  • Engaging for home and classroom
Read full description

This app makes our printed journals (My Letters alive Journal and My Math alive Journal) come alive for an interactive learning experience. Early learners can master the 26 letters of the English alphabet, numbers 0 to 20 (0 to 10 for Pre-K), and basic geometric shapes. Watch our zoo animals come alive for an engaging experience in the classroom or at home!

About

Scholastic F.I.R.S.T.

This app helps children learn to read through a research-based methodology that breaks down reading skills into thousands of micro-actions. It offers personalized learning paths and detailed progress reports for educators and parents.

Highlights
  • Personalized reading paths
  • Micro-action learning methodology
  • Phonemic awareness focus
  • Progress reporting for educators
  • Adaptive learning technology
  • Offline access
Features
Read full description

New from Scholastic! A new adventure in learning to read! Small Actions. Big Results. Ooka Island transforms teaching foundational reading skills by breaking the process down into thousands of micro-actions — 6,695 to be exact. With an instructionally robust methodology and highly adaptive technology, Ooka Island actively personalizes each student’s path toward fluent reading. - Steeped in Research and Efficacy Built on Dr. Kay MacPhee’s proven, research-based concepts, Ooka Island purposefully leads with securing children's phonemic awareness while teaching phonological skills to ensure reading words becomes as effortless as speaking-so students can focus on comprehension. Dive into the research to learn more about Ooka Island's effective foundational reading program. - Reporting for Educators at All Levels It's important to know how a student, class, school or district is progressing at both a high-level and the most granular. It's equally important to make that data actionable for educators. Ooka Island’s meaningful reports are filled with the richest and most impactful metrics, giving educators the tools they need to help meet their critical reading goals. - Adaptive. Really. Being highly adaptive means seamlessly supporting all students throughout their early reading journey. With three levels of adaptability—immediate scaffolding, adaptations to pacing, and more complex interventions—Ooka Island's continuous formative assessment understands the precise moment, and the right type of intervention, to help a student succeed. - Learning After the Bell Connecting reading to the home and family has a significant lifelong impact. Purposefully designed to be equitable for outside of school access, Ooka Island can be used anytime, anywhere, and on any device. Using their personalized account, students pick up wherever they left off, continuing to make measurable progress on their own learn to read adventure.

Screenshots

Journals alive1 screens
Scholastic F.I.R.S.T.4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Journals alive at 4.3 against Scholastic F.I.R.S.T.'s 3.5. Journals alive also leads on iOS requirement (8.1 vs 12.0). Scholastic F.I.R.S.T.'s advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (60 vs 10). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Journals alive holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Scholastic F.I.R.S.T. has 60 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Journals alive ships an update every 6 months, Scholastic F.I.R.S.T. every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on June 1, 2026 and August 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Journals alive versus Scholastic F.I.R.S.T.: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterJournals aliveScholastic F.I.R.S.T.
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (10 ratings) — better3.5 (60 ratings)
Positive reviews—10.0% of reviews
Number of ratings1060 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.1 — better12.0
Further details — not scored
Size273 MB433 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlive Studios, LLCScholastic Inc.

Customer experience

Journals alive

All ratings10 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%

Scholastic F.I.R.S.T.

All ratings60 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral6.7%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive10.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative80.0%

In-app purchases

None

Journals alive

No in-app purchases

None

Scholastic F.I.R.S.T.

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Journals alive free?
Journals alive is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Scholastic F.I.R.S.T. free?
Scholastic F.I.R.S.T. is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Journals alive or Scholastic F.I.R.S.T.?
Journals alive is rated higher. Journals alive averages 4.3 out of 5 from 10 ratings, while Scholastic F.I.R.S.T. averages 3.5 from 60 ratings.
Do Journals alive or Scholastic F.I.R.S.T. have ads?
Neither Journals alive nor Scholastic F.I.R.S.T. shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Journals alive or Scholastic F.I.R.S.T.?
Journals alive ships an update every 6 months, and Scholastic F.I.R.S.T. every 2 months. Most recently, Journals alive was updated on June 1, 2026 and Scholastic F.I.R.S.T. on August 24, 2026.

Other comparisons