The child loses focus while reading
Long passages and busy pages drain attention fast. The child skips lines, rereads the same sentence, and gives up after a few minutes.
Help your child become a confident reader — in 10 minutes a day
HyFo is a reading practice app for kids aged 4+: short, structured exercises — 3 per session, 5–10 minutes — including for children with ADHD and attention difficulties. Parents see progress, reading speed and what to practise next.
- Free during the beta
- Ages 4+
- 3 exercises · 5–10 minutes a day
Hi, Emma!Let's take one small step.
READ THE WORD
cat
Today's lessonAbout 5 min · Earn 20 XP
Reading sentencesRead and complete the sentenceStartLevel 120 / 100 XP
FIND A PAIR
CATC
Why some kids struggle with reading — and what short daily practice changes
Reading isn't only recognising words. It takes attention, working memory, keeping your place on the page and staying with the text long enough to understand it. For many children — with ADHD, with a short attention span, or simply still learning — that's where reading breaks down. Short, structured daily practice is what changes it.
They read the words but miss the meaning
Comprehension needs working memory and sustained attention. A child can decode every word and still not be able to say what the page was about.
Parents can't tell what's wrong — or what's working
Is it reading, focus or motivation? Without a clear measure, every evening feels like guesswork.
Most reading tools aren't built for short attention spans
Twenty-minute sessions, bright cluttered screens, timers and streaks make focus harder — for kids with ADHD and for plenty without a diagnosis.
Short, structured practice
3 exercises, 5–10 minutes a day — one small step at a time
HyFo breaks reading practice into sessions of three short exercises. One task on screen, calm feedback after mistakes, and difficulty that rises one step at a time — so a child who finds reading hard gets a win every day.
Sessions of 3 exercises, 5–10 minutes — short enough to finish before attention fades.- One task on screen: no ads, no visual clutter, no timers.
- 6 exercise types from letters to short texts, with step-by-step difficulty.
ExerciseSUN
Great!
Safe space
Your path
For parentsWords per minute~30
How HyFo works
Every step is designed to make practice calm for the child and transparent for you.
Parents
Parents create a child profile
Add your child's first name, age and a starting reading level — it takes a minute.
E
Emma, 7 years oldBeginner level
System
HyFo builds today's session
The app picks 3 short exercises from 6 types, based on your child's level and last results.
Selecting 3 exercises…
Child
The child completes 3 short exercises
One task on screen, instructions read aloud, gentle support after mistakes. 5–10 minutes, then a clear “done for today”.
sun
Parents
Parents see the progress
The dashboard shows reading speed in words per minute, accuracy, level and what to review next.
Progress+12 XP
Community
Beta families help improve HyFo
We collect honest feedback to make the product more useful and calmer for children.
Leave feedback
Designed for short attention spans — with or without an ADHD diagnosis
Short sessions
3 exercises, 5–10 minutes. Short enough to finish before attention fades, so practice ends on a win instead of a battle.
One task on screen
No ads, no visual clutter, no pop-ups or timers. Just the exercise, a short instruction read aloud, and a Start button.
Step-by-step difficulty
6 exercise types from letter matching to checked reading. Each step is slightly harder than the last; going back is never penalised.
Parent progress dashboard
Reading speed in words per minute, accuracy, level and what to review next — without sitting through every session.
Motivation without pressure
Quiet micro-rewards and a clear end to every session keep kids engaged. No streaks to lose, no leaderboards.
Who HyFo is for
HyFo is built for families where a child aged 4+ finds reading hard to stick with — because of ADHD, a short attention span, or simply because reading is still effortful. A diagnosis isn't required.
- is 4 or older, already knows the alphabet and can read syllable by syllable
- loses focus or gets tired after a few minutes of reading
- reads the words but struggles to say what the text was about
- skips lines, loses their place or rereads without noticing
- gets frustrated by mistakes and starts avoiding books
- does better with short, structured tasks than long sessions
- responds to gentle support better than to pressure
HyFo is an educational tool. It does not diagnose, treat, or replace medical, psychological, or educational support from qualified professionals.
See your child's reading progress: words per minute, accuracy and what to review
Reading speed is counted only when your child shows they understood the text. The parent dashboard shows the trend, accuracy, level and the one thing to practise next — so you know whether it's working, without guesswork.
Reading speed42 words/min
Accuracy92%
What to reviewSyllable blending
Parent dashboard
E
Emma, 7 years old
Reads with HyFo
Reads with HyFoReading levelBeginner level
Almost at the next stage
ActivityCurrent reading paceCalm and confident
42words/min
Tasks completed24
XP earned120 
Recent sessions
Sound recognitionToday · 10 min
Short words (3 letters)Yesterday · 12 min
Syllable blending2 days ago · 8 min
For childrenOne task on screen. No ads, no clutter.
The child sees one short exercise at a time — a clear instruction read aloud, calm support after mistakes, and a small win at the end of every session. Nothing competes with the text.
Find a pair
Find two matching letters.
C
A
T
C
T
A
Take your time, you can do itLearn more about HyFo
How the exercises work, what parents see, and what the research says about short daily practice.
The 6 reading exercises
From letter matching to checked reading with comprehension questions. 3 per session, 5–10 minutes.
See the exercises →For parents: the progress dashboard
Reading speed, accuracy, level and what to review next — explained number by number.
What you'll see →Reading fluency and words per minute
Norms by age, and how HyFo measures speed only when the text was understood.
Read about fluency →Reading with ADHD
Why reading is harder with attention differences, and how HyFo is built around it.
HyFo for kids with ADHD →From the blog
How to get your child to read, what to do when they lose focus, reading speed by age, and more.
Read the blog →About HyFo
Who we are, why we're building this, and what the exercises are based on.
Meet the team →
Latest articles for parents
Practical, research-informed reading advice for parents of kids aged 4+.
Learning a Poem for a School Performance: A 5-Day Plan
How to prepare for poem recitation in five short sessions: understand the poem, learn a part a day with vanishing words, recall it, then perform it.
Read the article →Didn't Pass the Phonics Screening Check? What Happens Next
Your child didn't pass the phonics screening check? What the score means, the Year 2 retake, what school should do, and how to help at home.
Read the article →My Child Skips Lines When Reading: Why and What Helps
Why a child skips lines when reading or loses their place, how to tell layout, attention and eyesight apart, and simple fixes to try at home.
Read the article →Why My Child Guesses Words Instead of Sounding Out
If your child guesses words instead of sounding out, decoding isn't automatic yet. Why it happens, a two-minute check at home, and what to say instead.
Read the article →My 7-Year-Old Struggles With Reading: What's Normal, What's Not
Is it normal for a 7-year-old to struggle with reading? What most kids can do at 7, the signs worth checking, and what actually helps at home.
Read the article →Reading Speed by Age: Words Per Minute Norms for Ages 4–10
How many words per minute should a child read? Oral reading fluency norms by grade and age (Hasbrouck & Tindal, 2017), what they mean, and how to test at home.
Read the article →
Free beta for families
Become a HyFo beta family
Beta families get free access to HyFo Reading and help us build better reading comprehension support for children who struggle with focus.
HyFo is growing with its beta families. We want to understand what truly helps children with reading difficulties feel calmer and more confident during practice.
Free beta
Sign up for the HyFo beta
Leave your email and we'll send your beta invite as soon as your spot opens. Takes less than a minute.
Questions & answers
HyFo is a reading practice app for children aged 4+ who find it hard to stay focused while reading. A session is three short exercises, five to ten minutes, with one task on screen. Parents see reading speed, accuracy and what to practise next.
Children aged 4 and up. For the first version, your child should already know the alphabet and be able to read syllable by syllable: HyFo doesn't teach letters from scratch. The first exercise types work at letter and word level; later ones use sentences and short texts.
Yes. Ages 6–8 are where most children move from sounding out words to reading sentences, and where short attention spans show up most. HyFo's exercises cover exactly that range: read the word, syllable blending, lost word and checked reading.
No. HyFo is designed with ADHD reading difficulties in mind, but it can help any child who struggles with focus during reading or needs more structured reading practice.
Yes. The lost-word exercise trains reading a sentence for meaning, and checked reading asks comprehension questions after a short text. Reading speed is recorded only when the questions are answered.
Yes. The parent dashboard shows words per minute from the checked-reading exercise, counted only after your child answers comprehension questions, plus accuracy, level and what to review next.
Epic is a digital library of books; Reading Eggs is a full learn-to-read curriculum with longer lessons. HyFo is short, structured practice — 3 exercises in 5–10 minutes, one task on screen, no ads — built for children who lose focus, with a parent view of reading speed and accuracy. It works alongside school phonics rather than replacing it.
Yes. Beta families get free access to HyFo for the entire beta period.
Parents and caregivers of children aged 4+ who find it hard to focus while reading. The English beta is open to families in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and other English-speaking countries.
No. You can join if your child has difficulty focusing while reading, gets tired quickly, or needs shorter structured exercises — regardless of a formal diagnosis.
No. HyFo is an educational tool for structured reading practice. It does not replace school, tutoring, speech therapy, or medical support from qualified professionals.
English and Ukrainian, with separate exercises and texts for each language — useful for bilingual families.
We'll ask you to try the first reading exercises with your child and share feedback: what worked, what was difficult, and whether the parent dashboard is useful. Your input helps us build better reading support for struggling readers.
Help your child become a confident reader — 10 minutes a day
Join the free beta: short, structured reading practice with a parent view of real progress. We'll email your invite as soon as your spot opens.
Join the Free BetaFree during the betaAges 4+ · 3 exercises a day