Reading comprehension · 1st–12th grade

Write to read.

Built on the neuroscience of handwriting.

Write. Reflect. Grow.

The power to write is the power to think.

How it works

From a child's first pencil to their first 900 words.

  1. Step 1.

    Write naturally.

    Your child grabs an Apple Pencil and writes a word, a sentence, or whatever's on their mind.

  2. Grapha Learning turning a written sentence into a picture
    Step 2.

    See your words come alive.

    Grapha Learning reads what they wrote and turns it into a picture. “I run after the beach ball” sprouts a tiny runner chasing a beach ball.

  3. Step 3.

    Build your first 900 words.

    Choose from standard word lists like Dolch, Tier2, or custom word lists. The default word list is 900 words that cover more than 90% of what children read and write in school.

Bilingual learning

Built bilingual, in English and ASL.

Grapha Learning meets deaf and hard-of-hearing learners in the language they think in. Every lesson pairs written English with American Sign Language.

In every lesson

An ASL definition for every word.

Each word a child works with shows its ASL meaning right beside the written English, building vocabulary in both languages at once.

Coming soon

Sign the sentence.

Soon, children will be able see the ASL translation of their sentence, turning every sentence they write into a bridge between the two languages.

Inside the kid app

Two modes. One notebook.

Grapha Learning opens to a single notebook with two ways to use it. Creative Mode is a blank page where your child writes whatever’s on their mind. Learning Mode walks them through short, grade-appropriate lessons, one at a time.

Creative Mode

A blank notebook.

Open to an empty page. Your child writes whatever’s on their mind: a story they’re inventing, a feeling, a question. Sit beside them and prompt “what happens next?” Grapha Learning draws what they write, instantly.

Learning Mode

Structured, by grade.

Short modules from 1st through 5th grade, each tuned to age-appropriate sight words and sentence structures. Kids work through one lesson at a time and the notebook fills up as they go.

1st2nd3rd4th5th

Why writing

Writing is one of the most powerful ways kids internalize what words mean.

Grapha Learning is built around one idea: write every day and become a better reader. Comprehend the meaning of words with deliberative practice.

Read the research

The Grapha Learning difference

Phonics teaches kids to decode. Writing teaches them to think.

The country that asks 1st graders to write the most also reads the best.
Japan · PIAAC 202390%of adults read at a functional level or above
United States · PIAAC 202372%of adults read at a functional level or above

Figure · 1st-grade writing time, weekly

In 1st grade, Japan spends roughly 18× more time writing than the US.

Japan, 1st gradekokugo, mostly handwriting~9 hrs/wkUnited States, 1st gradededicated writing instruction~30 min/wk
See the full research

Built for both sides of the desk

Loved by parents. Chosen by schools.

For families

A reading habit you'll actually keep.

  • Fifteen minutes a day, side-by-side with your kid.
Learn more

For schools

An add-on to whatever literacy program you use.

  • Teacher view of every student's writing over time.
Learn more

From the field

Students at a homeschool pilot wrote 1,000 sentences in just one hour.

Team

Built on lived experience and decades of research.

Portrait of Hiroshi Mendoza, founder of Grapha Learning

Founder

Hiroshi Mendoza

MIT engineer, Stanford d.school designer, built Grapha Learning for his niece on the conviction that language is learned by using it.

Portrait of Guadalupe Valdés, advisor

Advisor

Guadalupe Valdés

Bonnie Katz Tenenbaum Professor of Education Emerita, Stanford

One of the field’s leading voices on bilingual education and language as social practice.

Read more about the team
Start writing

Grab the pencil.

Unlock your kid's imagination.

Built for learnersDesigned for growthTrusted by schools & families