Tech for Special Tots

Special needs students are those who have one or more of the 13 legal definitions qualifying them for special education services, including but not limited to a learning disability.  More than 6.5 million American children are served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).  In recent years such disabilities have been on the rise, or at least it seems that way perhaps due to the increase in awareness and in recognizing early signs and symptoms.  For example, it was recently reported that Autism Spectrum Disorder affects 1 in 88 children, not 1 in 110 as was previously speculated.  For special needs students, technology can be an invaluable tool.  Here I’d like to explore some apps that are designed for students with special needs but can be beneficial for any young learner.

Articulation Station was created by a certified speech-language pathologist to help both children and adults pronounce letter sounds more clearly.  I bought this app for BT who has some trouble making /s/ and /th/ sounds.  The free trial version installs only the /p/ sound, and users can purchase additional sounds as needed for as low as $2.99 per sound.  There is a “pro” version that includes all 22 target sounds for $49.99.  Both versions have high user ratings and install to iPad only.  Users can choose to work with the target sounds within individual words or in sentences.  Two especially notable features of this app are 1) the ability of the user to record his/her own voice repeating the sounds back and 2) the ability to set the target sound as the initial, medial, or final position in a word.    

Speak Colors HD is another speech therapy app that is designed for preschoolers with language delays, Autism, Down syndrome, and other developmental disorders.  It installs for $1.99 and has a user rating of 4 out of 5 stars.  Children can record their own voices as they work to increase vocabulary skills and receptive and expressive language. 

Fun with Directions is just that – it helps little learners follow directions, practice listening, and work memory and auditory processing of language.  There are multiple versions, ranging from a free trial that includes only two directions to More Fun with Directions HD ($5.99), which includes color, comparative, and spatial concepts. 

Touch and Learn Emotions is a great tool for helping kids read social cues like facial expressions and body language.  It’s FREE and customizable in many ways. 

For more information about apps for special needs students, visit the link below.
Best Apps for Special Needs Kids 

Tech and Early Literacy, Part 2

There are so many great early literacy apps, that I decided to write about them in multiple posts.  In Tech & Literacy Part 1, I shared some great book apps for preschoolers.  However, before children can become capable readers, there are some basic literacy skills they must acquire:

•     Vocabulary – knowing the names of things
•          Print motivation – having an interest in and enjoyment of books
•        Print awareness – this includes understanding that print is read from left to right, and being able to point to a word on a page
•         Narrative skills – being able to describe something or tell a story
•         Letter knowledge – knowing the alphabet
•         Phonological awareness – being able to hear and mimic the smaller sounds within a word

Check out these iPad and iPhone apps for developing early literacy skills with your tot. 

Elmo Loves ABCs installs to iPad for $4.99 and has a user rating of 4 out of 5 stars.  Kids can trace the upper and lowercase letters of the alphabet to practice writing and letter identification.  Users also build vocabulary while playing games with Elmo.  It’s worth noting that there is a FREE preview version of this app called Elmo Loves ABCs Lite.  It gives you the opportunity to explore the features of the full version using letters A, B, and C only.  You have to purchase the full version to “unlock” the rest of the alphabet.

Lakeshore Learning Materials has developed two apps that are among my favorites.  Sound Sorting Beginning Sounds has the user choose three pictures from eighteen options that all begin with a single consonant sound.  

Users must then

match additional pictures to one of the original three based on a common beginning sound.  

Users can tap any picture to hear the name of the objects.  This app costs 99 cents and has a rating of 4 out of 5 stars.  It can install to both iPad and iPhone devices, but you have to pay for each one separately.  

Tic Tac Toe Phonics (also by Lakeshore) presents a twist on traditional Tic Tac Toe whereby users have to answer a phonics question correctly in order to place their X or O in a square.  This will certainly require some assistance from parents, especially for preschool users.  Questions range from identifying numbers of syllables to filling in missing letters from a word.  All questions have multiple-choice answers.  Tic Tac Toe Phonics rates 4 out of 5 stars, and it’s FREE!          

First Words Animals features 45 illustrated and animated animals through which kids learn to recognize and match letters and sounds.  Options allow parents to adjust the difficulty for various ability levels.  These include limiting the length of the words (words can be anywhere from three to ten letters long) and providing hints for spelling.  First Words Animals has a rating of 4 out of 5 stars and costs $1.99 to install to both tablet and phone.  

These apps are so much fun, in addition to being incredible learning tools.  I encourage you to consider them if you’re looking for educational apps for your young child.  For web-based reading tools, explore the links below.  

Hubbard's Cupboard

Literacy Websites for Preschoolers

  

                 

Organizing and Socializing

I’ve always been a “type-A,” organized person.  As a kid I was notoriously orderly; I would meticulously clean my room, and I took pride in keeping my desk and personal cubby at school neatly arranged.  Although I continue to operate this way (whether I want to or not), it’s become more of a challenge since becoming a mom.  Many moms will tell you they suffer from what I like to call “mommy mush brain.”  Severity of this condition ranges from being slightly forgetful to being a complete scatterbrain.  While I don’t have a cure for all aspects of “mommy mush brain,” I can at least share with you a way to better organize your web browsing as you seek to learn more about using technology to educate your little ones.

Social bookmarking is a tool that I began using a few months ago.  It’s much like bookmarking with your browser, where you create a list of web pages you frequently visit.  Social bookmarking, however, uses a web-based tool to organize these sites, and because it’s online, you can access this list from any computer, not just on your work or personal computer.  Of course the “social” part means that you can share your bookmarks with anyone you want to see them.  Thus, it becomes a great learning tool, kind of like Twitter or Pinterest.  You simply create a user account and password, and the service will allow you to add a button to the toolbar on your web browser.  When you visit a website you like or think you’ll frequent, simply click on your social bookmarking button and add it to your list.     

There are several social bookmarking sites available.  Some of the more familiar ones are Delicious, Diigo, Reddit, StumbleUpon, and Newsvine.  I use Diigo because it was simple to sign up for an account and easy to install the “diigolet” button to my toolbar.  Whenever I find a site that I like or feel could be useful to me, I click the “diigolet” button.  This brings up a box where I can enter a description and tags related to the site (so I can remember exactly what the site is and what I can use it for), and then I add it to my Diigo library.  I have links grouped together in lists, and because I’ve already added tags, I can easily sort my links and narrow any search among them without having to scroll through the entire library.

Diigo allows users to make information public or private; this is useful for those who may want to share professional information, but keep personal links to themselves.  Just as one might follow another colleague or mentor on Twitter, individuals can view and subscribe to someone’s social bookmarking site to learn from the information he or she has already gathered.  Parents and children can also benefit from social bookmarking as they explore learning tools on the web.  When parents find a great educational site, they can add it to a list they’ve created just for their child; this list will be available for them to access at home, at grandma’s house, or anywhere else.   

Here is a link to my Diigo library:  

http://www.diigo.com/list/elanabrister

All of the links I’ve posted so far in this blog are in the “Tech for Tots” list.  Feel free to view any of the other lists as well.  Social bookmarking is truly a user-friendly tool that is well worth the minimal effort it takes to get started.      

Tech and Early Literacy, Part 1

My son BT has always loved books.  His favorite book as an infant was Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See.  There isn’t a night that goes by in which he fails to ask to read books before bedtime.  I love that he loves books!

The iPad has many great features, but one of my favorites is the fact that it can function as a tablet reader.  Books, textbooks, and magazines can all be installed to the tablet and read anywhere, anytime.  In addition, there are numerous apps available that promote reading skills.  While nothing can replace the value and memories of snuggling up with your child to read a good old-fashioned book, sometimes the convenience of a tablet can’t be denied.  Whether it’s waiting in the pediatrician’s office, getting the family car serviced, or being stuck in line at the local DMV, it’s much easier to pass the time with a tablet or iPhone rather than a bunch of books or other toys.  Some of BT’s favorite reading apps are below. 

We’re big fans of PBS at our house, so it makes sense that one of BT’s favorite book apps is The Monster At the End Of This Book by Jon Stone.  The book features Sesame Street’s Grover who is both the subject and narrator of the book.  As Grover narrates, the text appears highlighted in “thought” clouds above his head.  Thus the user associates the spoken word with written language.  This app received a user rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars, and it was most recently updated in February 2012.  It installs to both iPad and iPhone devices for $3.99. 

Dr. Seuss is a popular author in BT’s personal library, and there are several Seuss books that have been made into apps.  Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? and Green Eggs and Ham are installed on both my iPad and iPhone.  Mr. Brown has a user rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars and costs $2.99.  Green Eggs and Ham has a user rating of 4 out of 5 stars and is also $2.99.  Both apps have these options: “read to me,” “read it myself,” and “auto play.”  In addition, the user can tap objects within the illustrations to hear its name spoken and see its written word. 

 

One thing I really like about these books is the feature in which it reads to the user.  Not only does the user see and hear the words, but he/she also develops a sense of reading with fluidity and inflection.  Although these book apps are more expensive than others I’ve shared in previous posts, they are still cheaper than traditional books, and you are essentially getting two copies when you install to both iPad and iPhone.   

There are many products, such as those made by LeapFrog and V-Tech, which promote early literacy.  And I’m sure many of you have seen the infomercials for Your Baby Can Read, a collection of DVDs, books, and sliding flash cards designed to build early language and reading skills.  All of these are great, but the cost can add up.  Even some websites like www.abcmouse.com and www.looneytunesphonics.com require an annual or monthly subscription fee to use their resources.  If you’re looking for free tools, I encourage you to explore these websites.

http://www.storyplace.org/preschool/other.asp

http://www.starfall.com/

http://pbskids.org/games/reading.html