Roundafire offers fun, educational storybooks in a reading app for toddlers through the primary school years. Their library of books grows every month, with carefully curated new and engaging stories for children to read and enjoy.

What makes Roundafire Unique?

It’s the first reading app of its kind developed in South Africa. Boasting an online library of children’s audio storybooks in all our official languages. Learning to read in your mother tongue has never been more accessible.

Roundafire was created by a group of young digital publishers whose goal is to provide a rich, diverse environment that celebrates our unique, multicultural society. A platform that will cultivate a love of reading and an appreciation for the power of storytelling in our society.

Did you know that 78% of children who reach grade 4 in South Africa are unable to read for meaning?

This is partly due to our country’s educational philosophy, which prioritises measurable outcomes over holistic personal development, and partly due to limited access to useful tools.

Welcome, Roundafire! This is bringing a deeper awareness that reading for meaning is crucial to all learning.

Why choose Roundafire?

– New books that fit our South African context are added monthly.
– Children can read via any mobile device, anywhere, anytime.
– Audio functions ensure that stories are read out loud, aiding in your child’s understanding of pronunciation.
– Three choices – Read to Me, Read Myself, and audio Autoplay – narrated by South Africans.
– Empowering our children to read in their mother tongue.
– It’s useful as a tool to help your child read in their second language.

– 4 Reading levels:
Pre-Readers – Level R (Age 0+) – Easy words | Shared Reading | Familiar Characters.
Beginning Readers – Level 1 (Preschoolers – Gr R) – Easy and shorter sentences | Shared Reading | Familiar Characters and themes.
Evolving Readers – Level 2 (Gr 1 – Gr 2) – Simple plots and dialogues | Familiar topics and themes.
Rising Fluent Readers – Level 3 (Gr 2 – Gr 4) – Longer sentences | Significant Vocabulary.
Fluent Readers – Level 4 (Gr 3 – Gr 5) – Difficult sentence structure | Complex story development and plot | Difficult vocabulary.

– To enhance word recognition, each word is highlighted as and when it is read.
– A comprehensive variety of themes and genres to cater to a wide range of interests.
– A fun and colourful way to encourage reading.
– All books have gone through a strict evaluation process, ensuring that they comply with the CAPS levels of reading for each grade.
– Teaches children how to become independent readers.
– Available in all the native South African languages.

As a homeschool mom, I have found this app quite beneficial in helping my children not only read a variety of original South African content but also in supporting their second language, Afrikaans. Listening to and hearing the correct pronunciation of a variety of words helps them build confidence in their understanding and enunciation of Afrikaans.

Rous is also available as an educational product for schools. Teachers can use this program to encourage reading for meaning and to conduct individual assessments of a child. Each child in the classroom can read at their own pace, and this will be tracked through the program’s analytics tool, which will be implemented in 2021.

A Final Thought

Roundafire is a breath of fresh air in the educational space, uniquely relevant and desperately needed in our South African context. Created by people who have a passion for the formation of young people in our society, and curated by those who understand the educational needs of our children. This is a sponsored post; all opinions are my own.