Daily reading practice with a quiz after every reading
Your child reads aloud from any book for a few minutes a day. Sowa listens, asks a short quiz about what they just read, and shows you how their reading grows: speed, pauses and quiz scores, day by day.
How it works
Set a daily goal
In your child's profile, choose how many minutes they read each day, from 1 to 60.
Your child reads aloud
From any book, on a phone, tablet or computer. A chime plays when the goal is reached, and a recording cut off by a call or a closed tab is kept.
A quiz on what they just read
Right after saving, Sowa asks 3 to 5 questions written from their own reading, one at a time, with three big choices.
You see the progress
Listen to every recording and see words per minute, long pauses, repeated words and the quiz answers. The calendar shows the days they read.
Try a sample quiz
A short story a child might read aloud, and the kind of quiz Sowa writes about it.
Leo had a red kite. On Saturday he took it to the big hill with his grandpa. The wind was strong, and the kite flew higher than the trees. Then the string slipped out of Leo's hand! The kite landed in an old apple tree. Grandpa lifted Leo up, and Leo pulled the kite down. "Next time I will hold on tight," said Leo.
What do you remember?
The kite on the hill
Question 1 of 3
Who went to the hill with Leo?
Try the recorder now
The recorder starts here, in your browser.
Why a few minutes every day
- A few minutes every day builds fluency better than a long session once a week.
- Questions straight after reading turn sounding out words into reading for meaning.
- The recordings become a diary of their reading you can listen back to months later.
- It works with the books you already have: library books, school readers or a series they love.
Private by design
Recordings are saved to the parent's account, and only the parent can listen to them. Children never need their own account or email address. To write the quiz, the reading is sent for speech recognition without the child's name. More in our privacy policy.
Frequently asked questions
Is Sowa's reading practice free?
Yes. Recording, the quiz after each reading and the progress view are free with a free Sowa account for the parent.
What age is it for?
It is made for children who are learning to read aloud fluently, roughly ages 5 to 10. Sowa's quiz questions use short sentences and easy words.
Does it work with any book?
Yes. Sowa doesn't need to know the book: it writes the quiz from what your child actually read aloud, so library books, school readers and favourite series all work.
Which languages can my child read in?
English, Polish or Spanish, whichever language the site is in. Sowa writes the quiz in the language of the book.
Who can listen to the recordings?
Only the parent, from their Sowa account. Children don't need their own account or email address, and teachers never see the recordings.
What do we need?
A phone, tablet or computer with a microphone and a recent browser: Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari. Nothing to install.