Tag Archives: toddlers

Top 10 Reading Apps For Kids

Reading Apps For Kids… With the amount of apps available today, one would think that finding great reading apps for children would be easy. Unfortunately, it isn’t. Over the past few years, I have downloaded at least 50 different apps specifically to help my girls learn to read. Out of the 50 or so, only a few made the cut.

Below are a list of our families “Kid Tested, Mother Approved” apps that not only work, they keep my daughter’s engaged.

Our Top 10 Reading Apps For Kids… in no specific order!

#1  Word Wizard – Talking Movable Alphabet & Spelling Tests for Kids


The Word Wizard app is geared towards children who are just learning to read through 5th graders!  Talk about an app that grows with your child!
Key Points: Learn To Write – Learn To Read – Letter Sounds – Voice Transformer With Speed Tone = FUN – Phonics – Voice Recognition – Hints Available – Colorful Animation And More!

 

#2  Bob Books #1 – Reading Magic HD

If you do not know about the infamous Bob Books, here is your chance to learn more!  Bob Books are one of the most talked about books for children who are learning to read!
Key Points: Phonics-Based – Interactive – Full-Color Animation – Spelling – Sounding Out Simple Words – Connecting Letters And Sounds – 12 Scenes – Four Game Levels – Simply Fantastic!

#3  Bob Books #2 – Reading Magic HD

 Another Bob Books app which is a great introduction to reading and phonics!  The Bob Books apps are for pre-school children through early elementary readers.
Key Points: 12 New Scenes – Phonics – Reading – Animation And More!

#4  First Words Deluxe

First Words is an amazing app with a fun and interactive approach to teaching letters and words to readers!  It is a word-building game which not only helps children learn to read, it even helps them learn to spell.  First Words will help your toddler or elementary age child recognize letters and spell words up to 8 letters long!
Key Points: 174 Words – Animals – Vehicles – Shapes – Colors – Around The House – Settings Which Allow You To Control The Difficulty For Each Child – Great Games – Rewards For Children And More!

#5  Fish School HD – by Duck Duck Moose

 The Fish School app is an interactive learning app!  The app combines education with imaginationcreating a playful and colorful environment for children to learn in.  Fish School is geared towards toddlers, pre-schoolers and early elementary age children.
Key Points: Learning Made Fun – Letters – Numbers – The ABC Song – Matching – Differences – Hand Eye Coordination – Mozart – Nursery Rhymes – Creativity And More!

#6  DotToDot numbers & letters

DotToDot Numbers & Letters is fantastic!  Rather than focus on numbers or letters individually, this app combined the two.  What a concept right (insert sarcasm here)?  Connecting the dots has been a old favorite for many.  Let your children get back to basics by learning how to write their letters while understanding numbers as well!  DotToDot Numbers & letters is for childred between 3 and 6 but kind of fun for this mom too!
Key Points: Learning Fun – Puzzles – Phonics – Letter Names – Extensive Settings Available – Timers For A Little Competition Between Siblings Or Personal Scores – Rewards For Puzzle Completion And Much More!

#7  Martha Speaks Dog Party

If you have not seen Martha Speaks on PBS kids, you are missing out (yes, I mean that for adults too)!  Martha Speaks is a witty and educational show with fantastic lessons.  Ever since my daughter’s and I first watched the show, we became hooked.  Having an App that stars Martha from the TV show makes this app an easy sell initially!  Once you delve into it though, it becomes a fan favorite!
Key Points: Martha Martha Martha (almost sounds like “Marsha Marsha Marsha” From The Brady Bunch Huh?) – Self-Leveling Game – Builds Listening Skills – Teaches Children How To Take Direction – Introduces Some Fun And Interesting Words Which Are Not Typical Of Early Learning Apps – Balloon-Popping Quiz – Vocabulary – A Doggy Dress Up Game With Pictures That Can Be Saved And More!

#8  Word Wagon HD – by Duck Duck Moose

Word Wagon!!!  Hop Aboard this app for sure!  The educational content offered in Word Wagon is phenominal!  The Word Wagon app is simple to understand, has amazing illustrations, fantastic animations and sounds which make this app pretty great!  Unlike many apps I have purchased for my children, Word Wagon is one of the few that do not require parental guidance during game play.  Word Wagon has 4 levels for Preschool through first graders.  The recommended ages are 1-7.
Key Points: Letters – Phonics – Words – School Readiness – More Than 100 Words – Play Hide And Seek While Learning – Dress Up Games – Drawing Picture – Talking On The Phone… Did I Mention All Of This Is Done While Your Child Is Learning!

#9  Montessori Letter Sounds HD – Apprendre l’anglais avec Tam et Tao

Montssori Letter Sounds for pre-readers!  This is a fantastic app for children who are learning their letters.  It is based on the Montessori methos which works in 4 steps.  First, “i spy” to play sound games.  Second, letter sounds and memorization.  Third, bringing the first to steps together with a little mix and match.  Fourth, learning to write their first words by sounding them out.  Montessori Letter Sounds is yet another fantastic approach to early learning which works!
Key Points: A Phonetic Alphabet – A Notebook – A Sandbox For Tracing – An Image Box For Vocabulary – Sensory Learning – Progressive Learning And More!

#10  Phonics Easy Reader 1 HD

Phonics Easy Reader offers stories in Rock ‘N Learn phonics!  Music, fun, reading and great stories make this app another favorite!  The use of sight words, memory words and great stories never grow dull!
Key Points: Read To Me – Let Me Try – Sight Words – Memory Building -Great Tunes – Animations That Excite – The Option To Read Yourself And Then Press The Play Back Option For Accuracy – Moving Through Each Story At Your Child’s Pace And More Make This App Another Great Learning Tool! 

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Free Children’s App

Free Children’s App!

Nosy Crow Has Done It Again!

FREE – Children’s – App – EDUCATIONAL – FUN – INTERACTIVE – TODAY (7/25/12) ONLY!

Great educational Apps are hard to find.  Great Educational FREE Children’s Apps, are even harder to find!  Today only, Publisher Nosy Crow is offering their interactive app Bizzy Bear Builds A House for FREE.  After today, the app will return to its full price of $3.99.

Busy Bear Builds A House is an interactive book with child voice-narration, word tracking, amazing animations and full of surprises in each scene.  This free children’s app is based on the Bizzy Bear Book Series which includes four more books.  The books are recommended for children ages 2 to 4, although my five-year old is enamored by them too.  They are perfect for your little ones!

THIS FREE CHILDREN’S APP IS AVAILABLE TODAY AT www.itunes.com/appstore.

       
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Pregnancy, Baby And Beyond… Information Overload!

Whether you are trying to conceive, are already pregnant, or just had a baby, there aren’t many moments in a parent’s life that are more overwhelming and exciting.  In the digital world we live in, we are fortunate to have a wealth of information available at our fingertips.  Unfortunately, with all the resources offered, one may suffer from “information overload” or “mass anxiety” like I did pre and post pregnancy.  Being a research junkie, I dove right into every book I could as well as every website related to pregnancy, babies, parenting, birthing and more.  The other day, during a “researching” moment, I came across some pretty fantastic things I thought I would share. 

Fantastic Thing # 1:  The Webby Awards

Fantastic Thing # 2:  http://www.babycenter.com

The Webby Awards just celebrated their 16th year and honored amazing websites internationally.  The Webby Awards were created for the digital world we live in and are simply genius!  They reward the Best Of The Best Websites, Interactive Advertising & Media, Online Film And Video As well as Mobile And Apps.  Each nominee has an opportunity to win “The Webby Award” or “The Webby People’s Voice Award” since two honors are presented in each category.

The babycenter.com website was not only nominated by The Webby Awards, they won both ”The Webby Award” and “The Webby People’s Voice Award” in the Family/Parenting category.   Intrigued, and wanting to know more about each winning website, I obviously needed take a moment to click on each link and peruse through them.  As a parent, the babycenter website was the first link I clicked on.  Assuming that I would spend a short time browsing through each winning website was a mistake.  Once I entered babycenter.com, I was immediately hooked.

Remembering the experiences I had while planning my pregnancy, and as a budding mother to be, my immediate thought process while the website loaded was that I would be inundated once more with too much information.  My actual reaction though, was quite the opposite.  The website’s colors, blue and white, had a peaceful appearance.  The layout of the website is basic.  The order of categories make sense, beginning with pre-pregnancy, through baby and beyond.  Other great features offered by babycenter.com, include a timeline from pre-pregnancy to adolescent years.  The website offers readers an opportunity to receive weekly emails regarding a child’s development.  They even have a free birth class app available for download!  Babycenter.com offers so many features, it would be impossible to note them all!  What sets babycenter.com apart from similar websites I have visited, is the ease of navigating through the site, excellent content that is easy to read, and great information appropriate for parents as well as caregivers.  Not only does the site cover standard material every parent should be aware of, it has a candid appeal too.  An added bonus is the “Is It Normal” section.  As soon as I entered the page, I started to giggle!  Almost every question I read, was a question I had wanted to ask while pregnant and during my little one’s toddler years.  Even more amusing, the “Is It Normal” section had an answer for a preschooler question I currently had!  Overall, babycenter.com is a great website which I have already shared with most of my friends!

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Educational Resources For Your Children At Your Fingertips

Sharing great tools for children with other parents is always fun to do. Our children have been born into this world more tech savvy than I ever imagined. Because of this, I have found that educating them through the internet has been beneficial, and more interesting for them. The educational websites listed below, are some of my favorites for a variety of reasons. Overall, the material in each is great and the presentation is as well. Feel free to message me if you have others that would be of interest to readers.

Funbrain
http://www.funbrain.com/

Funbrain is a great website filled with different learning games for your child. Having different games that target reading, math and more makes learning fun for your children. With our children being digitally programmed from birth, computer games are a must. Children barely realize these are useful tools for parents to encourage positive educational growth.

PBS Learning Media
http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/

Simply a great digital resource for your children. PBS Learning Media offers learning material for all grade levels. From Preschool and beyond, you can utilize their interactive programs, videos, audio materials, images and documents. The website also offers different search capabilities so you can easily narrow down what interests your child. Overall, one of the best resource websites I have seen to date.

Kids Know It Network
http://www.kidsknowit.com/

I just got hooked on the Kids Know It Network. The website is filled with all sorts of games and activities for your children. Their influx of games, activities, and animations make this website robust! Through their main site, you can link to other websites they have, which are more subject specific.

Edhelper.com
http://www.edhelper.com/

Edhelper.com is another learning website without the excess graphics on the main page. It may not look as exciting as some of the others but the content is fantastic. The site offers puzzles, teacher tools like charts and worksheets. It even offers spelling word help as well as critical thinking exercises.

Discovery Education
http://www.discoveryeducation.com/

Discovery Education offers free teacher and parent resources that are excellent. Along with that, you and your child can go on virtual field trips and watch some fascinating movies and videos right on their website.

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