English bedtime stories for children

English is already the language of school for a lot of children who use Hey Minie. That does not mean the evening has to be another worksheet, or a video that starts the next video by itself. An English bedtime story can be ordinary speech: a beginning, a problem, an ending, and a question the child answers with their voice.

What to listen for

At 4, English stories work when the pictures are in the sentences. Colours, clothes, rain, a courtyard, a tree. Meera is 4 and is with Nani in Minie's world, which is a useful picture of this age: short, concrete, said again if needed. At 7, Tara's age, a child can hold a reason. At 9, Kabir's age, they can compare and predict, and they can also smell a story that is talking down to them.

Hey Minie is a voice-first story. The home screen shows Minie, a friendly brown myna. The library includes stories such as The Red Raincoat. A child can talk to Minie and ask questions about the story. You do not need a published word list from us to use that. Ask what happened, then ask them to tell it back in one sentence.

English plus a home language

If home is also Hindi, Telugu or Kannada, do not make English the only story language to 'keep up with school'. School already has the day. The useful pattern is one English story on some nights and a home-language story on others. The Hindi, Telugu and Kannada pages are the same app, not a different product.

• Pick one story and stop. An ending is the point.
• Let them ask Minie one question before the device goes away.
• If they want the picture to move, name that want. Scrolley is the character who pushes another reel. Minie is the one who stops.
• Parents look in through Kurma, the fingerprint-locked parent section, not by taking over the child's story.

What this page will not claim

Hey Minie does not publish a price, a user count, or a promise that English stories raise grades. It is not a reading scheme. Children do not have to read to listen. Tamil and Marathi are not in the library. If you need those languages, say so to your child honestly and use a person, not this app.