About Yomi

I'm Elina, a designer and a parent in Finland. I've spent years designing learning tools alongside teachers, and Yomi started in a room full of them.

I was running a workshop with first and second grade teachers, concepting an ABC book. One of the “how might we” questions we kept circling back to was reading out loud. Why some kids freeze the second you ask them to read aloud, even when they can read fine on their own. Why the same kid who can quietly get through a book will go silent the moment there's a listener. That question stayed with me.

A few months later my own kid was doing exactly that. She could read. She just wouldn't read out loud. Not to me, not to anyone. So I started building her somewhere safe to practise. Somewhere with a listener who couldn't judge, couldn't correct, couldn't sigh. That's where Yomi came from.

The rest came from watching what didn't work in other apps. Streaks that made bedtime stressful. Fire emojis that made my kid feel bad for taking a day off. Rewards that had nothing to do with reading.

Yomi doesn't do any of that. No streaks. No ads. No accounts. Just one cat, your kid, and a quiet pile of short stories. When your kid reads, Yomi gets a little happier. When they don't, Yomi waits. That's the whole thing.

Yomi isn't the only thing I make. I also build Lexie, a study app for older kids working through schoolwork. Same lens, different age. Reading and learning shouldn't feel like a fight.

I hope it's useful. If it is, the best thing you can do is tell another parent. That's how small things grow.