Show and Tell: Letter School App

I know that whenever I do show and tell, I always say it's my favorite, but this app really is the favorite of all my students. We do Handwriting Without Tears at my school, so this is nice because it has a mode for Handwriting Without Tears. Another thing I love is that it follows the concept of I do it, we do it, you do it. The graphics are great and engaging for the kids so that they want to keep doing it over and over.

When I use Letter School, I generally have the kids learn the prompts and practice on paper or a chalk board first and then follow it up with the app. It's well worth the $5.  Check it out at www.letterschool.com.

I know that whenever I do show and tell, I always say it's my favorite, but this app really is the favorite of all my students. We do Handwriting Without Tears at my school, so this is nice because it has a mode for Handwriting Without Tears. Another thing I love is that it follows the concept of I do it, we do it, you do it. The graphics are great and engaging for the kids so that they want to keep doing it over and over.

When I use Letter School, I generally have the kids learn the prompts and practice on paper or a chalk board first and then follow it up with the app. It's well worth the $5.  Check it out at www.letterschool.com.

Show and Tell -- Duck Duck Moose Apps

If you haven't tried the Duck Duck Moose Apps, you really should.  They are great for kids.  With familiar tunes, great animations, and interactive activities how could you go wrong?

Here's more reasons why I love the Duck Duck Moose Apps.

• Great cause and effect applications
• Counting games
• A lot of actions that you can talk about with your child while he's playing.  "Hey! You made him jump!" "He's climbing his web."  Etc.
• You can sing with it, or sing alone with the accompaniment
• You can record your child singing it
• Kids love it and stay engaged with the learning activities

Try some out if you haven't already.  They are between $0.99 and $1.99.

If you haven't tried the Duck Duck Moose Apps, you really should.  They are great for kids.  With familiar tunes, great animations, and interactive activities how could you go wrong?

Here's more reasons why I love the Duck Duck Moose Apps.

• Great cause and effect applications
• Counting games
• A lot of actions that you can talk about with your child while he's playing.  "Hey! You made him jump!" "He's climbing his web."  Etc.
• You can sing with it, or sing alone with the accompaniment
• You can record your child singing it
• Kids love it and stay engaged with the learning activities

Try some out if you haven't already.  They are between $0.99 and $1.99.

Show And Tell Friday--Mercer Mayer Apps

I love the Mercer Mayer Apps.  First of all, I just love Mercer Mayer books, so it makes sense that I like the app.  However, there are other books I love and really dislike the app, so loving the book isn't always a qualifier.

There are a whole bunch of Little Critter Apps out now.  They have one free book, it's Just Me And My Mom-Lite.  So check that one out first to make sure you like it.

Here are the reasons why I like this app:

• I love the voice that reads it.  I have seen other apps of children's books that use an adult voice that is monotone.  This one is a child's voice, and is full of emotion.
• You can choose to have it read to you, or you can choose to read it on your own.
• The words are highlighted as it is read aloud.
• You can record your own voice reading it if you'd like.
• When you tap on objects in the pictures, it names the object and the word is displayed on the screen.
• There is a little activity throughout the book where you try to find something like a frog, mouse, or spider on each page.

As of today March 8, 2013 (we all know this list will change frequently, and I won't be able to keep it up to date), these are the current Little Critter Books that are Apps.

• All By Myself
• I Just Forgot (on sale as of today for $0.99)
• Just Go To Bed
• Just Grandma And Me
• Just Me And My Mom-Lite (free)
• Just Me And My Puppy (on sale)
• Just A Mess
• The New Baby
• What A Bad Dream (on sale)
• I Was So Mad
• Just Going To The Dentist
• Just Shopping With Mom
• Just For You
• Me Too!
• The New Potty
• When I Get Bigger (on sale)
• Happy Easter, Little Critter (coming soon)
• Just Me And My Little Brother (coming soon)

Joy Mano

Utah PLAY Project Home Consultant

Early Intervention Services for Children With Autism

I love the Mercer Mayer Apps.  First of all, I just love Mercer Mayer books, so it makes sense that I like the app.  However, there are other books I love and really dislike the app, so loving the book isn't always a qualifier.

There are a whole bunch of Little Critter Apps out now.  They have one free book, it's Just Me And My Mom-Lite.  So check that one out first to make sure you like it.

Here are the reasons why I like this app:

• I love the voice that reads it.  I have seen other apps of children's books that use an adult voice that is monotone.  This one is a child's voice, and is full of emotion.
• You can choose to have it read to you, or you can choose to read it on your own.
• The words are highlighted as it is read aloud.
• You can record your own voice reading it if you'd like.
• When you tap on objects in the pictures, it names the object and the word is displayed on the screen.
• There is a little activity throughout the book where you try to find something like a frog, mouse, or spider on each page.

As of today March 8, 2013 (we all know this list will change frequently, and I won't be able to keep it up to date), these are the current Little Critter Books that are Apps.

• All By Myself
• I Just Forgot (on sale as of today for $0.99)
• Just Go To Bed
• Just Grandma And Me
• Just Me And My Mom-Lite (free)
• Just Me And My Puppy (on sale)
• Just A Mess
• The New Baby
• What A Bad Dream (on sale)
• I Was So Mad
• Just Going To The Dentist
• Just Shopping With Mom
• Just For You
• Me Too!
• The New Potty
• When I Get Bigger (on sale)
• Happy Easter, Little Critter (coming soon)
• Just Me And My Little Brother (coming soon)

Joy Mano

Utah PLAY Project Home Consultant

Early Intervention Services for Children With Autism

Show and Tell Friday - WORD SLAPPS

So, I've decided that Fridays are going to be Show and Tell days.  My Show and Tells are going to probably consist of books, songs, toys, apps, and probably a few random things I want to share.

Today I'm going to share one of my favorite apps that I used in my preschool class for my kiddos working on receptive language.  This is called Word SLapPs.

Here's how it works

• There are 6 different levels, which means you can have an array of 1-6 pictures that the child will choose from.
• You can either have the child read what they are supposed to find, or you can turn on the audio that tells them.
• When the correct picture is chosen it has positive sounds/graphics.
• It will tell you at the end how many were chosen correctly, and which words were missed.

And here's why I love this app.

• You can make your own vocabulary lists.  I either use my ipad camera to take pictures, or get pictures off the web.  It's really easy
• You can use your own audio
• You can turn off the negative sound when the wrong picture is chosen (the negative sounds drive me crazy because usually they're more reinforcing for the kids than the positive sounds)
• You can have it so there is only 1 picture to choose from for those kiddos that are just learning to follow directions to touch or point to...
• It keeps data for you that you can copy at the end of each session
• It's easy to use
• The kids love it

Joy Mano
Utah PLAY Project Home Consultant
Early Intervention Treatment for Children With Autism

So, I've decided that Fridays are going to be Show and Tell days.  My Show and Tells are going to probably consist of books, songs, toys, apps, and probably a few random things I want to share.

Today I'm going to share one of my favorite apps that I used in my preschool class for my kiddos working on receptive language.  This is called Word SLapPs.

Here's how it works

• There are 6 different levels, which means you can have an array of 1-6 pictures that the child will choose from.
• You can either have the child read what they are supposed to find, or you can turn on the audio that tells them.
• When the correct picture is chosen it has positive sounds/graphics.
• It will tell you at the end how many were chosen correctly, and which words were missed.

And here's why I love this app.

• You can make your own vocabulary lists.  I either use my ipad camera to take pictures, or get pictures off the web.  It's really easy
• You can use your own audio
• You can turn off the negative sound when the wrong picture is chosen (the negative sounds drive me crazy because usually they're more reinforcing for the kids than the positive sounds)
• You can have it so there is only 1 picture to choose from for those kiddos that are just learning to follow directions to touch or point to...
• It keeps data for you that you can copy at the end of each session
• It's easy to use
• The kids love it

Joy Mano
Utah PLAY Project Home Consultant
Early Intervention Treatment for Children With Autism