The kitchen table
Ten calm minutes after dinner: five R words, a wobbly “wabbit”, two clear “rabbit”s — each verdict made by the parent who actually heard them. The garden grows a little.
Children’s speech
Private articulation practice, at your kitchen table.
Meet SpeechSeed.
SpeechSeed helps families practise speech sounds at home across 22 sounds — private and on-device, with a grown-up, not an algorithm, judging each try. A practice and support tool, not a replacement for an SLP.
Free to use. Any optional upgrade is shown in the App Store before purchase.
What it does
Pick a word and say it out loud. SpeechSeed plays back the whole word it heard and helps a grown-up track calm daily practice over time — 850+ illustrated words organised by the sound they help with.
How it works
Using Apple’s on-device speech recognition, the app listens for that whole word and tells you whether it heard it. It recognises whole words, not individual speech sounds, and it never scores pronunciation. When it isn’t sure, it says so, banks the attempt, and hands the call to the grown-up’s ear — Try again, Almost, or Got it. Quiet or unclear tries are never marked correct.
Who it’s for
For families practising between speech-language pathology appointments, or where therapy is hard to reach — with a grown-up, not an algorithm, in charge of every judgment. SLPs receive a one-page weekly PDF a family can bring in.
Accessibility built in
On-device, so practice audio stays on the device — the App Store privacy label reads “Data Not Collected”. No account, illustrated words, calm pacing, no shame mechanics.
The ladder
Sound → syllables → words → phrases → sentences.
Every sound follows the articulation ladder speech-language pathologists use, and the next rung opens only when the one below is reliable — so practice always sits at the right level instead of jumping to sentences on day one.
On the earliest rungs — a sound on its own, a syllable — SpeechSeed doesn’t pretend it can judge. It banks the attempt, says so, and the grown-up who heard it is the scorer. When it isn’t sure at any level, it hands the call to your ear: Try again, Almost, or Got it. Silence is never counted as correct.
A day with SpeechSeed
Three moments SpeechSeed was built for.
Thursday’s appointment
The SLP gets a one-page PDF: days practised, words attempted, per-sound accuracy, the 7-day trend — every number from real verdicts only. Ten minutes of the session saved for actual therapy.
The practice corner
A classroom aide runs the day’s free session on a shared iPad in the quiet corner — no accounts, nothing to log into, and an adult ear making every call the app can’t.
For speech-language pathologists
It does not pretend a phone can score a speech sound. That’s the point.
SpeechSeed recognises whole words with Apple’s on-device speech recognition — never phonemes, never a pronunciation-quality score. Uncertain attempts are banked and handed to the grown-up. Silence never passes. The ladder is reliability-gated, so home practice stays at the level you set rather than racing ahead of it.
Families can bring you a one-page weekly PDF summary, and the app’s free self-check lists the signs that mean an SLP assessment is worth a call — it routes families to you, never around you. We never imply SLP endorsement, and the app says in its own voice that it does not replace therapy.
More on how we work with clinicians: for SLPs & therapists.
In the classroom
A practice corner, not a curriculum.
The free tier runs on a shared classroom iPad with no accounts to provision and an App Store privacy label that reads “Data Not Collected” — the child’s voice never leaves the device. Honest limits: the free tier is one practice session a day per device; verdicts at the sound and syllable rungs need an adult ear; and a quiet corner matters, because it listens.
SpeechSeed is practice between sessions — it is not a curriculum, an intervention, or IEP service delivery. Setting one up? See teachers & classrooms.
Deployment notes for school IT
- iOS 17 or later.
- A profile is a nickname plus birth year and month, kept on-device — no accounts, no email.
- Practice audio stays on the device; saved best-try clips are parent-deletable. Privacy label: “Data Not Collected”.
- No analytics, no ads. Works offline.
- Free to deploy in quantity through Apple School Manager Apps and Books (device-based assignment).
Procurement facts, each with an Apple citation: how schools get our apps.
Honest limits
What SpeechSeed is not.
A practice and support tool. It does not diagnose, treat, or replace professional care, and it does not score an individual speech sound the way a speech-language pathologist can.
Questions, answered honestly
Before you download SpeechSeed
How often should we practise?
Short, calm and often tends to beat long and rare — but the right schedule is the one your speech-language pathologist sets, and SpeechSeed never invents a number. It simply makes the minutes you do have easier to keep.
Does SpeechSeed hear whether a sound was said correctly?
Honestly: no. It recognises whole words using Apple’s on-device speech recognition. It never scores an individual speech sound or pronunciation quality — that judgement belongs to the grown-up who heard the attempt, and ultimately to an SLP.
What happens when it isn’t sure?
It says so, banks the attempt, and hands the call to your ear — Try again, Almost, or Got it. Nothing is ever silently marked correct.
Can silence ever count as correct?
No. Silence is never counted as correct. Ever.
Is my child’s voice uploaded anywhere?
No. Practice audio stays on the device — no accounts, no analytics, no ads. The App Store privacy label reads “Data Not Collected”.
What ages is it for?
Children roughly 2–8. Speech-sound ages are guides, not deadlines — see our speech-sound age chart.
When should we talk to an SLP?
The app includes a free 2-minute self-check listing the signs an assessment is worth a call — always free, never behind the paywall. Our plain-language guide: when to talk to an SLP.
What’s free, forever?
The sound and syllable levels on all 22 sounds, one complete sound program of your choice all the way to sentences, full progress tracking, the weekly report and PDF export, and all when-to-see-an-SLP guidance — with one practice session a day.
How does level progression work?
Each sound climbs the ladder — sound, syllables, words, phrases, sentences — and the next rung opens only when the one below is reliable. No racing ahead of the level your SLP set.
My child says “wabbit” for “rabbit” — what is that?
A classic single-sound swap. Two words that differ by one sound are a minimal pair, and the R sound is one of the later ones to arrive (Crowe & McLeod, 2020) — see R sound words.
Can we use it between speech-therapy appointments?
That’s exactly what it’s for: calm practice between sessions, with a one-page PDF summary to hand to your SLP at the next one.
Does it replace speech therapy?
No. SpeechSeed is a practice and support tool. It does not diagnose or treat speech disorders and is not a substitute for a speech-language pathologist.
Ready when you are.
SpeechSeed is free to use; any optional upgrade is shown in the App Store before purchase.