Here is a list (and some video) of Elizabeth (2-yrs old) and Matthew's (4-1/2 yrs old) favorite apps these days. I've categorized them as best as I could. Some apps are listed in more than one category. Please feel free to comment and share your favorite apps with us.
Short-term Working Memory
NACD Simply Smarter
Expanding Knowledge
Mini Adventure Animals - I love integrating this app into our reading time, especially when we read about animals. Great real-life photos and youtube videos AND it's customizable.
Matching Jobs
ABA Animals flashcards (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Earth Science (by kindergarten.com)
Sesame Street Podcasts - not an app but free short videos featuring the letter of the day and things related to it.
Learning Concepts
Photo Touch Concepts (by Grasshopper Apps)
ABA Problem Solving What Rhymes (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Problem Solving Which Go Together (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Which Does Not Belong? (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Receptive by Function (by kindergarten.com)
Little Matchups Opposites (by Grasshopper Apps)
Little Matchups The Matching Game (by Grasshopper Apps)
Learning Patterns/ Critical Thinking
Caboose - Learn to Recognize and Complete Patterns
Little Patterns
Monkey Mathschool Sunshine
Little Solver Preschool Logic (by Alligator Apps)- this game gets progressively harder as Matthew gets more successful with the basic patterns.
Injini/ Injini Lite
Early Numeracy Skills & Math
KidCalc - Great app except I don't like the number tracing activity on this app. It's overly responsive and allows random screen swiping to trace the numbers.
Monkey Mathschool Sunshine
Grover's Number Special
Kinder Add
Line 'Em Up
Preschool Prep Meet the Numbers
PhotoTouch Numbers
123 Toddler Counting
Counting Bear (by Grasshopper Apps)
Montessori Counting Board (by Grasshopper Apps)
Speech Production & Articulation
SmallTalk Phonemes
NACD Apraxia
Talking Tom (and other Talking Friends)
Just For Fun
Monkey Mathschool Sunshine
Monkey Preschool Lunchbox
Talking Tom (and other Talking Friends)
Grover's Number Special
Matching Job
More Breakfast
More Pizza
Cupcakes!
Your Teddy!
Balloonimals
Fruit Ninja
Scout's ABC (by Leapfrog)
Books and Activities
I Like Books (by Grasshopper Apps)
The Monster at the End of this Book
Another Monster at the End of this Book
Lightning Was Here Puzzle Book
Thomas the Train books - Some (or maybe all) of the books have a memory matching game that's both auditory and visual.
Sight Words
Verbs with Milo
Noodle Words
A+ Dolch Pre-primer and Primer Sight Words
300+ Sight Words
Little Reader Three-Letter Words (by Grasshopper Apps) - I just wish the words were in lowercase letters instead of uppercase letters.
Little Reader Four-Letter Words (by Grasshopper Apps)
Language Input/ First Words/ Phrases
My First Couplets (by Smart Baby Apps)
ABA Animals flashcards (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Sports flashcards (by kindergarten.com)
My Home (by Smart Baby Apps)
Animal Kingdom (by Smart Baby Apps)
Food Festival (by Smart Baby Apps)
Around Town (by Smart Baby Apps)
My First 1000 Words (by Smart Baby Apps)
My First Words (by Smart Baby Apps)
ABA Vehicles flashcards (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Things You Wear (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Musical Instruments (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Things You Play With (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Actions (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Fruits & Nuts (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Vegetables (by kindergarten.com)
Noodle Words
Sentence Construction/ Reading Comprehension
Sentence Maker
I Like Books
ABA Alphabet flashcards (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Shapes flashcards (by kindergarten.com)
Sentences Builder (by AbiTalk)
Drawing & Writing
Drawing Pad
iWriteWords - I haven't used this app with the kids yet because we're not actively working on writing yet. I downloaded it because I wanted to try it. I'll use it when we start working on writing.
Paint Sparkles
Letter/ Color/ Shape Recognition
Monkey Preschool Lunchbox
123 Color
Preschool Prep Meet the Letters (uppercase)
Preschool Prep Meet the Letters (lowercase)
Preschool Prep Meet the Colors
Preschool Prep Meet the Numbers
Preschool Prep Meet the Shapes
ABA Alphabet flashcards (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Shapes flashcards (by kindergarten.com)
Audiobooks
Tales2Go - Since both Matthew and Elizabeth like listening to age-appropriate audiobooks, I'll be using this app in the car so they can listen to books in the car instead of their usual kid music sometimes.
Object Identification/ Visual Scanning
PhotoTouch Toys
Little Finder (by Alligator Apps)
ABA Animals flashcards (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Sports flashcards (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Receptive Identification by Class (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Receptive Combined (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Receptive by Feature (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Receptive Identification by Noun (by kindergarten.com)
My Home (by Smart Baby Apps)
Animal Kingdom (by Smart Baby Apps)
Food Festival (by Smart Baby Apps)
Around Town (by Smart Baby Apps)
Injini/ Injini Lite
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Diving in the Pool
Back in private swim lessons this first week in July, after having been in private swim lessons with the same teacher in the first two weeks of June, and this week he's putting more and more together. He willingly dove off the side of the pool this week - yes, head first. His swim teacher says that besides Matthew's cousin, Matthew is the only other kid who is enthusiastic about diving. Not bad for a 4-1/2 year old, right? I didn't learn to dive like he can now until I was 8 or 9 years old.
He is learning fast and getting better at coming up for a breath after jumping or diving in. He brings himself up to the surface and kicks his way to the side of the pool with just a little hand assist and no floatie. He can even get diving rings close to the bottom of the 3-1/2 foot shallow end of the pool. (Matthew is 37 inches tall.)
He is definitely more successful at learning to swim in just 3 weeks this summer than when he was in swim lessons at the YMCA almost all year last year. I think this rapid progression is because of a combination of factors:
- private swim lessons have much been better for him at keeping him focused and engaged during the whole lesson instead of having to wait his turn and being easily distracted during group lessons at the Y. If I could go back in time, I would get him in private lessons instead of putting him in group swim lessons last year.
- his current swim teacher has a no-floatie-method style of teaching. It's very effective with him. She also keeps expectations high with him.
- he's a year older and has better gross motor coordination and strength this year.
- he LOVES swimming and is fearless in and around the pool.
Related post:
Swim Lessons
He is learning fast and getting better at coming up for a breath after jumping or diving in. He brings himself up to the surface and kicks his way to the side of the pool with just a little hand assist and no floatie. He can even get diving rings close to the bottom of the 3-1/2 foot shallow end of the pool. (Matthew is 37 inches tall.)
He is definitely more successful at learning to swim in just 3 weeks this summer than when he was in swim lessons at the YMCA almost all year last year. I think this rapid progression is because of a combination of factors:
- private swim lessons have much been better for him at keeping him focused and engaged during the whole lesson instead of having to wait his turn and being easily distracted during group lessons at the Y. If I could go back in time, I would get him in private lessons instead of putting him in group swim lessons last year.
- his current swim teacher has a no-floatie-method style of teaching. It's very effective with him. She also keeps expectations high with him.
- he's a year older and has better gross motor coordination and strength this year.
- he LOVES swimming and is fearless in and around the pool.
Related post:
Swim Lessons
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Toy Review Tuesday: Melissa & Doug Pattern Blocks & Boards
The Melissa & Doug Pattern Blocks & Boards comes with 6 wooden shapes and colors - white diamonds, blue diamonds, yellow hexagons, red trapezoids, green triangles, orange squares - and 10 geometric patterns on wooden boards. The shapes can also be used to create more unique patterns without the pattern boards but for a 2-year old and 4-1/2 year old, it was simpler to start with a ready visual.
Not surprisingly, 2-year old Elizabeth can easily scan the box of mixed shapes to find all the needed pieces by herself. She can finish a pattern mostly by herself, with just a little help to reposition the pieces if they move out of place. They move very easily on the board and it may be frustrating for some.
Matthew's visual scanning abilities aren't as strong as his younger sister's and it doesn't help that he gets distracted easily. It was puzzling to me that he couldn't find the pieces he needed for the pattern he was working on even when I told him what shapes (and colors) he needed. Then I remembered that some activities weren't as overwhelming for Matthew if they were broken down into simpler steps.
To simplify the shape search for him, I had both kids sort all the pieces by shape/ color in separate piles. With all the like pieces together, he could now concentrate on counting how many he needed for the pattern he was completing instead of losing focus when digging through a jumbled pile of shapes.
We like to bring out this toy during queiter times in the day or when waiting for lunch to be ready. Elizabeth enjoys sorting the pieces by color as well as helping Matthew locate the pieces he needs.
Great for promoting mathematical thinking, creativity, visual scanning, shape and color recognition, and in our family, teamwork.
Not surprisingly, 2-year old Elizabeth can easily scan the box of mixed shapes to find all the needed pieces by herself. She can finish a pattern mostly by herself, with just a little help to reposition the pieces if they move out of place. They move very easily on the board and it may be frustrating for some.
Matthew's visual scanning abilities aren't as strong as his younger sister's and it doesn't help that he gets distracted easily. It was puzzling to me that he couldn't find the pieces he needed for the pattern he was working on even when I told him what shapes (and colors) he needed. Then I remembered that some activities weren't as overwhelming for Matthew if they were broken down into simpler steps.
To simplify the shape search for him, I had both kids sort all the pieces by shape/ color in separate piles. With all the like pieces together, he could now concentrate on counting how many he needed for the pattern he was completing instead of losing focus when digging through a jumbled pile of shapes.
We like to bring out this toy during queiter times in the day or when waiting for lunch to be ready. Elizabeth enjoys sorting the pieces by color as well as helping Matthew locate the pieces he needs.
Great for promoting mathematical thinking, creativity, visual scanning, shape and color recognition, and in our family, teamwork.
Monday, July 2, 2012
TalkTools Straw #5
Straw #5 was the same diameter as straw #4. However, straw #5 was a little longer than the previous straw and used without a lip block.
There was noticeably less reminding on my part to use lips only, no tongue protrusion, when drinking. I had ordered two extra #5 straws, anticipating Matthew to be on straw #5 for at least a couple months. Since he uses the straw for most, if not all, his drinks including water, orange juice, apple juice, and chocolate almond milk everyday, residue build-up in the straw was expected no matter how well it was rinsed through after every use. I also sent a straw to his preschool for him to drink with at snack time.
He was on straw #5 for almost 3 months. He "graduated" to straw #6 during the Christmas break.
There was noticeably less reminding on my part to use lips only, no tongue protrusion, when drinking. I had ordered two extra #5 straws, anticipating Matthew to be on straw #5 for at least a couple months. Since he uses the straw for most, if not all, his drinks including water, orange juice, apple juice, and chocolate almond milk everyday, residue build-up in the straw was expected no matter how well it was rinsed through after every use. I also sent a straw to his preschool for him to drink with at snack time.
He was on straw #5 for almost 3 months. He "graduated" to straw #6 during the Christmas break.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Swim Lessons
I don't know if Matthew will be an Olympic swimmer or even be interested in competitive swimming. He has always loved the water and we had him in the swimming pool since he was 8 months old. He uses putty-type ear plugs to keep pool water out of his ears. He's on his 2nd set of ear tubes.
He was in group swim lessons most of last year at the Y's indoor pool. This summer is the first time Matthew is in swim lessons this year - private lessons this time. I think the individual attention has been better for him.
My immediate goal: I would like him to be able to swim without a float or swim vest. He still needs to develop overall strength in his legs to be able to propel forward effectively when he kicks in the water. He's also still learning to put movements together like kicking while keeping his head in the water, not just one or the other. He'll improve with practice and other strength building activities outside the water.
Here's a short video of his lessons during the first week.
He was in group swim lessons most of last year at the Y's indoor pool. This summer is the first time Matthew is in swim lessons this year - private lessons this time. I think the individual attention has been better for him.
My immediate goal: I would like him to be able to swim without a float or swim vest. He still needs to develop overall strength in his legs to be able to propel forward effectively when he kicks in the water. He's also still learning to put movements together like kicking while keeping his head in the water, not just one or the other. He'll improve with practice and other strength building activities outside the water.
Here's a short video of his lessons during the first week.
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