Mentava

What Reviewers Say

Reviewers consistently describe Mentava as a high-intensity reading tool that demands significant mental effort from young students. Dustin Coates Blog highlights the program's efficiency in developing independent readers and teaching persistence, though it emphasizes the high cost of the subscription. A review in the Apple App Store notes that the lessons provide genuine mental stimulation rather than intellectual junk food. Medium specifically praises technical features like the vocal waveform graph for helping children master sound blending. Dustin Coates Blog concludes that the results justify the premium price for families who can afford it.

How It Works

A child sits at an iPad for about 15 to 30 minutes each day to work through the software’s phonics lessons, with a parent alongside. The software teaches each lesson and responds to the child’s work, while the parent encourages the child and can message Mentava’s coaching team through a separate parent app. There are no physical workbooks or manipulatives involved; the entire curriculum is contained within the digital interface, which uses gamified rewards to keep young children motivated. A typical week involves five to seven of these short sessions, allowing the child to build a daily habit of high-speed, repetitive practice that leads to rapid mastery.

Switching to This?

Mentava offers a free two-minute readiness check on its website before you start, so there is no need for external placement tests or pre-purchased levels. Families can start the program at any time during the year because the software is entirely self-paced and does not follow a traditional classroom calendar. If you are switching from a paper-based program like Kumon, expect your child to move through material much faster, though you may need to monitor them closely at first to manage the increased screen time. Mentava says readiness matters more than age; most of its students begin around ages 3½ to 5, once they understand that the order of sounds matters.

Curriculum Details

Price

$500/month

$500 per month, billed monthly after a 14-day free trial; cancel any time. The subscription includes the software, the phonics curriculum, progress tracking, coaching through the parent app and the Alphabet Sounds ebook. Mentava estimates the 120 levels take about four months at one level a day or about eight months at one level every two days.

About $6,000 per year (12 months at $500/month)

Grades

PRE-K - 2

Available As

Digital Mobile App

Coverage

Single subject

Subjects

Reading/Language Arts

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Pacing

Self-paced

Parent Time

15-30 min/day

Student Independence

Semi-independent

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Academic Level

Advanced

Worldview

Secular

Engaging for Reluctant Learners

Yes

Reviews We Consulted

Updated: May 2026

How This Compares

Compared to Reading Eggs, which offers a wide variety of exploratory games and activities, Mentava is much more targeted and efficient, making it the preferred choice for parents who prioritize rapid progress over variety. When weighed against Kumon, Mentava eliminates the need for parents to manually grade stacks of paper worksheets because the AI handles all corrections and progress tracking automatically. Parents often choose Mentava over Hooked on Phonics because the software teaches the blending of sounds independently, whereas Hooked on Phonics usually requires a parent to sit and read along with the child for every lesson. Against free apps like Khan Academy Kids, Mentava represents a significant financial investment, but it provides a more rigorous and structured path toward early literacy rather than general educational play. Finally, while many apps focus solely on engagement, Mentava is often described as a 'hothousing' tool by the community, meaning it is designed for parents who want to accelerate their child's academic timeline rather than those following a slower, Waldorf-style approach.

Getting Started