A study by Niklas and colleagues investigated the impact of Learning4Kids, an app-based family intervention approach, on enhancing kindergarten children’s literacy and mathematics skills before they enter school. The study involved 500 German children (mean age 5 years) who were recruited in two cohorts and randomly assigned to one of two intervention groups or one of two control groups:
- Literacy intervention group (n=151)
- Mathematics intervention group (n=151)
- Control group with tablets with control apps (n=98)
- Control group without tablets (n=100)
The intervention lasted approximately six months, with children using specially designed high-quality educational apps at home. The literacy apps focused on letter knowledge, phonological awareness, and language development, while the mathematics apps targeted number knowledge, counting, and measurement. Crucially, these apps were developed avoiding distracting elements while promoting active learning with appropriate difficulty progression. The control apps did not focus on literacy and numeracy but rather on general cognitive abilities.
After controlling background information and intelligence, children in the intervention groups significantly outperformed those in the control groups in their respective domains. The literacy intervention was particularly effective for letter knowledge and phonological awareness, and the mathematics intervention for number knowledge and backwards counting. Importantly, longer app usage correlated with greater skill improvements, with an average of 4.5 minutes of daily use producing a 0.1 SD gain in mathematical competence and 2.5 min a 0.1 SD gain in literary competence.
These findings demonstrated that high-quality educational apps can be a cost-effective, accessible way to support kindergarten children’s school readiness. However, the researchers emphasize that most commercially available educational apps lack empirical validation and may not deliver similar benefits.
Source (Open Access): Niklas, F., Birtwistle, E., Mues, A., & Wirth, A. (2025). Learning apps at home prepare children for school. Child Development, 96(2), 577–590. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.14184