Frequently Asked Questions

Kids Shelf is designed for children ages 4-13, from Kindergarten to Grade 8. Each child picks their own grade for math and science lessons, and stories come in three reading levels (beginner, intermediate, and advanced) so children can progress at their own pace.

Yes! Kids Shelf is free to download and use. You get access to our bundled story library, speech recognition features, progress tracking, and all core functionality at no cost. We may offer premium content or features in the future, but the core reading experience is free.

Kids Shelf is available on both iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Android devices (phones and tablets). We recommend tablets for the best reading experience, but the app works great on phones too.

No account is required! Your children's profiles and reading progress are stored on your device. Simply download the app, create a child profile, and start reading. An optional parent account (just an email and a name) is available, but you never need one.

Kids Shelf has full-year math and science courses for every grade from Kindergarten to Grade 8, read-aloud reading practice, and word games (Spelling Bee, Word Scramble and Story Quiz). Social studies, health and coding are coming soon.

Yes. Each grade is laid out as a school year of units, chapters and lessons that follow US grade-level standards, with chapter reviews and unit tests. Lessons are done in order, so your child builds on what they learned before. Many families use it as a core math and science course or alongside their own curriculum.

Each lesson is a few minutes long and read aloud by a narrator, with the words lighting up as they are spoken. Pictures, diagrams and worked examples explain each idea, and then a short quiz checks understanding. A wrong answer gets a hint and a second try, and every question ends with an explanation. Finished lessons earn stars and XP.

Yes. Download a single unit or a whole course before you leave, and lessons and quizzes work with no internet. Downloaded stories and reading practice work offline too.

Yes. In Settings you can set a daily time limit with gentle break reminders, and lock Settings with a parent PIN so limits and grades stay the way you set them.

When your child reads aloud, Kids Shelf's AI listens through the device microphone and matches spoken words against the text on screen. Correctly read words turn green, and the app highlights which word to read next. All processing happens on your device—no audio is sent to any server.

No. Kids Shelf never records, stores, or transmits audio. The speech recognition processes audio in real-time on your device and immediately discards it. Your child's voice never leaves your phone or tablet. See our Privacy Policy for complete details.

Yes! Our on-device speech recognition works 100% offline. You can put your device in airplane mode and the app will function fully. This is by design—we wanted to ensure your child's voice data physically cannot leave your device.

Kids Shelf includes a voice calibration feature that adjusts sensitivity to your child's unique voice. Go to Settings > Calibration and have your child read the practice words. The app will automatically optimize recognition for their speech patterns. You can also adjust the word matching sensitivity manually in Settings.

Kids Shelf tracks 16 speech patterns commonly monitored by Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs). These include sounds like R, L, TH, S, SH, CH, and various blends. The app identifies which sounds your child is mastering and which might need extra practice, giving you insights into their speech development.

No. Kids Shelf is an educational tool, not a medical or therapeutic device. Our speech pattern tracking can help identify potential areas of challenge, but if you have concerns about your child's speech development, please consult a qualified Speech-Language Pathologist or healthcare provider.

If your child struggles with certain sounds (like R or TH), the app can give extra leniency when matching those sounds. This prevents frustration while still tracking improvement. For example, if a child says "wabbit" for "rabbit," the app will still count it as correct while noting the substitution in the speech report.

Yes! Kids Shelf supports multiple child profiles, each with their own avatar, reading history, progress data, and speech analysis. Just tap the profile icon to switch between children or add a new profile.

Children earn XP (experience points) for reading activities. XP is awarded for completing stories, earning accuracy stars, reading words correctly, and maintaining reading streaks. As children accumulate XP, they level up through titles like "Beginner Reader" up to "Reading Champion."

Yes! Tapping any word while reading will pronounce it aloud, show syllable breakdown, and display the dictionary definition. This helps children learn new words independently without needing to interrupt reading to ask for help.

Kids Shelf includes a bundled library of stories to get started. You can download additional stories from our Story Store, and download Learn lessons by unit or whole course. Downloaded stories and lessons work offline.

Yes. Kids Shelf has no social features, no communication with strangers, no user-generated content sharing, and no advertising. All data stays on your device. We designed the app with children's safety as a top priority.

Yes. Kids Shelf complies with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). We don't collect personal information from children and don't require an account. Children's profiles, progress and voice stay on your device; the only thing we receive from the app is anonymous lesson feedback (like which quiz answers were picked), which can't identify your child. See our Privacy Policy for details.

Since all data is stored locally on your device, you have complete control. You can delete a child's profile within the app settings, clear the app's data through your device settings, or simply uninstall the app to remove all data permanently.