Reading supports for a student

Setting one student's typeface, text size, colors, less movement and Pip's voice, and where those choices follow them.

Schools and classroomsUpdated

A class teacher can set how one student's pages look and whether Pip reads aloud to them. These are the same choices a family has on their own child's settings, set here for a school reader. They suit the supports a reading plan asks for, such as a clearer typeface, large print or hearing the words.

Where to set them

  1. Open the class, then its Roster, and choose the student.
  2. Find the card called "Reading supports".
  3. Make your changes and choose "Save".

Any teacher of the class, and a school admin, can change them. They cannot be changed in an archived class.

What you can choose

  • Typeface: "Lexend", the default, "Atkinson Hyperlegible" or "OpenDyslexic". We offer the other two because some readers prefer them. The research does not show that OpenDyslexic improves reading, so we do not claim that it does.
  • Text size: "Normal", "Bigger", "Much bigger" or "Biggest". Biggest is half as large again as Normal.
  • Colors: "Usual" or "Easier to tell apart", which keeps colors distinct for a reader who cannot tell red from green.
  • Less movement turns off page turns and other animation. A device already set to reduce motion is followed anyway.
  • Let Pip speak has Pip read its lines and the questions aloud. Everything Pip says stays on screen as text. This comes with the Classroom and School plans.

The class's own switch, "Pip reads questions and notes aloud" on the class's Settings tab, sets Pip's voice for every student at once. Use the student's page afterwards for anyone who needs it the other way.

Where they apply

The student's choices follow them wherever they sign in: on a classroom device, at home on a linked family's device when the class allows reading at home, and in the app. The typeface and text size apply in their books, the word games and the reading check. "Colors" applies inside books, and "Less movement" across their screens. A change shows from the next page they open.

A reader that belongs to a family

Supports are set here only for the school's own reader for that student. If a student's reader belongs to their family, the card says "This reader belongs to the student's family, so their family sets how it looks", and the family changes it on their own settings page, as How the page looks explains.

Where to go next

Help for teachers has short answers while you work. For anything else, write to support@taletykes.com or use Contact.

Next in Schools and classrooms: Term reports, a student's summary, and spreadsheets

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Still need a hand?

Write to us at support@taletykes.com and a person will answer. There are no bots and no ticket numbers.

For anything urgent about a child's safety or privacy, write to privacy@taletykes.com. Short answers to common questions are on the questions page.