TaleTykes for classrooms
Teachers set books and questions, students read books written for their age and interests, and the class’s reading and safety alerts are in one place.
How it works
Four steps from an empty classroom to a class that is reading.
Start a class
Make a class and add your students from a class list. Paste the names or use a spreadsheet file, and only a first name and last initial are kept.
Print the sign-in cards
Each student gets a card. They sign in with pictures or a PIN on a classroom device you set up, so no student needs an email address.
Set a book with questions
Choose a book for the class, add your own questions, and read each student's answers once they have finished.
See the class in one place
The class's reading and any safety alerts are on one page, so you can see what needs you first.
What students see, and what they never see
A student reader is for reading at school. It is not an account with a feed, a shop or a following.
What students see
- The books in their class library
- The books and questions their teacher set
- Books they make themselves, if their teacher allows it
What students never see
- Adverts of any kind
- A public community of readers
- Other schools or their students
- Which of their answers were right
The weekly class board is optional. It shows first names and last initials with the books each student finished that week. It stays off until the teacher turns it on, it never includes students aged 2 to 5, and a teacher can leave any student off it.
Safety and privacy for schools
The school decides what happens to a student's information, and we act on that.
- A school, or a teacher with the school's permission, accepts a school agreement before any student is added. It covers classroom use and nothing else.
- We do not show students advertising, sell their information, or build profiles of them.
- Urgent safety alerts go to the class teacher and the school's safety lead the same day. The email never includes the child's words, which staff read on a page only they can open.
- A parent can link their own account to see their child's school reading. It is read only, and they see nothing about other children.
- The school can download its students' records at any time, and ask us to correct or delete them.
Plans for classrooms and schools
Prices are in US dollars and do not include sales tax, which is added where we are registered to collect it.
Free
Nothing to pay
For one teacher trying it with one class.
- 1 class, with up to 35 students in each
- 3 new books a month, shared by the class
- Unlimited reading, books set with questions and a class library
- A safety overview for each class
- A weekly class board you can switch on
- Statistics for the last 7 days
Classroom
$9.99 a month
or $99.90 a year
For a teacher with a class or two who reads every week.
- 3 classes, with up to 35 students in each
- 15 new books a month, shared by your classes
- Unlimited reading, books set with questions and a class library
- A safety overview for each class
- A weekly class board you can switch on
- Statistics for the last 7, 30 or 90 days
- Spreadsheet downloads
- A co-teacher for each class
- Pip reads questions and notes aloud
- Extra book packs when you need them
School
$89 for each teacher, each year
For 5 teachers or more
For a whole school, paid once a year.
- 3 classes for each teacher, with up to 35 students in each
- 15 new books a month for each teacher, shared across the school
- Unlimited reading, books set with questions and a class library
- A safety overview for each class
- A weekly class board you can switch on
- Statistics for the last 7, 30 or 90 days
- Spreadsheet downloads
- A co-teacher for each class
- Pip reads questions and notes aloud
- Extra book packs when you need them
- A school dashboard with every class in one place
- Pay by invoice or by card
A picture book counts as 1 new book and a chapter book counts as 2. Reading a book the class already has never uses one.
Questions
Who agrees for the students?
The school does. A school leader, or a teacher with the school's permission, accepts the school agreement before any student is added. It allows student information to be used for the school's own teaching and for nothing else, and the school tells families that the class uses TaleTykes.
What is kept about students, and for how long?
A first name and last initial, an age group, a picture avatar, and what each student reads and answers. It is kept while the class is in use, and it is removed when the school asks or after the school stops using TaleTykes. We never collect a student's surname, email address, date of birth or photograph. The school agreement lists each record and how long it is kept.
Can parents see their child's reading?
Yes, if they want to. The school can invite a parent to link a free TaleTykes account of their own, and once linked they can see that one child's school reading and books. It is read only, and they see nothing about other children or what a child wrote behind a safety alert.
Is there a class board?
There is an optional weekly class board, and it stays off until the teacher turns it on. It shows first names and last initials with the books each student finished that week. It never includes students aged 2 to 5, and a teacher can leave any student off it.
Do students need an email address?
No. Students sign in on a classroom device with a short PIN or a sequence of pictures, which are printed on their sign-in card. We never ask for a student's email address.
Which devices does it work on?
Any tablet or computer with a modern web browser. A teacher sets the device up for the class, and after that students choose their name and sign in. There is no app to install.
Can we pay by invoice?
Yes, on the School plan, which starts at 5 teachers. A school can pay by invoice or by card, and an invoice is due 30 days after it is sent.
What counts as a new book?
A book made for your class. A picture book counts as 1 new book and a chapter book counts as 2. Reading a book the class already has never uses one, however many times it is read.
Can I use it with my own children too?
Yes. A family account is separate from your classes and has its own plan and its own readers. If you have both, you switch between them from the account menu.
What happens at the end of the year?
A class can be archived when the year ends, which keeps it as it was and stops any changes, and a new class can be started for next year. When a student leaves their last class, their reading is kept for 60 days so the school can download it, and then it is deleted.
Try it with your class
The Free plan is 1 class of up to 35 students with 3 new books a month, and there is nothing to pay.
Start a free class