DANVILLE — As soon as reading specialist Ann Marie Cantore told the kindergarten students they were going to review the short i, they responded with “Itchy,” for Itchy the worm with a white fuzzball ...

On Wal-Mart’s aisle of educational toys and children’s learning materials, dozens of brightly-packaged products and cartoon-infused titles vie for parents’ attention and a slice of their pocketbooks.

Learning tool Hooked on Phonics has released a new app called Reading Pro aimed at children aged 7 to 10, seeking to strengthen reading skills among an age group already familiar with mobile devices.

Hooked on Phonics, a literacy and learning program, has undergone some major changes in the way it reaches consumers in the past 30 years. More recently the company has been focusing on digital ...