Reading Kingdom #review

Thanks to Tomoson, I was recently given the opportunity to use and review Reading Kingdom, an online reading program that teaches children ages 4 through 10 to read and write to a third grade level.

This program looks great and I have read some fantastic reviews on it! Here are some screenshots provided by the company:

 

According to the product description, Reading Kingdom is:

a patented curriculum designed by Dr. Marion Blank, the Director of the Light on Learning program at Columbia University and a world-renowned expert on literacy. Reading Kingdom is the only program that teaches children all 6 skills required for reading and writing success. a fully customized, adaptive reading and writing program for each child, and a program that is fun and easy to use.

It looks like a really fun program!

My son can use a keyboard just fine, but was unable to take the assessment test due to the basic requirement of using a mouse. Another thing to note if you decide to use the keyboard: the keys are all uppercase and if they are just starting out, children may have trouble when the program asks them to find a lowercase letter (Zachary has no trouble with this). In addition to the mouse, Zachary would not be able to use the SHIFT key with another letter. Simply put, it takes a motor skill that he has not acquired yet. The great thing is that Reading Kingdom has a section for practicing keyboard and mouse, so we will log in every day to keep working on that.

Zachary could have used this program much easier had it been available on the IPad, which he is quite proficient on. However it requires flash and so you have to purchase a program like Photon or iSwifter. You can read how here. Zachary reads well enough that I just didn't feel like paying the extra $5, at this point, to test the program further. We will wait to try again once he can use the mouse.

The entire program is online, which means there is nothing to download. It is an award-winning program that uses Dr. Blank's patented and research based "6-SIM" (Six Skill Integrated Method) technique that yields incredible results. The program is designed so that children can use it on their own - so all you have to do is create an account and then get them started.


 The bottom line for us: Zachary already reads on a third grade level (he read the first two chapters of Genesis from the KJV Bible to Daddy yesterday). I think this program will be better for him once he gets used to the mouse and I appreciate the fact that Reading Kingdom gave us a year long subscription.

I wish we had been able to get passed the test in order to see how the program works, how Zachary felt about it, and if there are any "quirks" to it. That being said, the reviews I have read are very positive and I would recommend giving the 30 day trial a go if you have a child learning to read.

When you sign up for Reading Kingdom, you receive a 30-day free trial. After that, subscriptions to Reading Kingdom are $19.99/month (with no monthly minimum), or $199.99 per year (20% off). Additional children in your account get 50% off ($9.99/month or $99.99/year). They also offer additional resources and a store with books that complement the lessons.

Connect with Reading Kingdom on Facebook and Twitter for more information and resources!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Made by Renee receives products for review purposes, and may sometimes be compensated for posts. Posts may also contain affiliate links. All opinions expressed are solely from Made by Renee and were not influenced by any form of compensation.
 

Sponsor Spotlight: Articulation Station by Little Bee Speech! #review #homeschool #preschool

 

Zachary is 3 1/2 and very advanced in reading and arithmetic - several years ahead of where he should be, in fact. We are very proud of him, as I'm sure you can tell! He has always been a bit of a "late bloomer" on other things like walking (he was 18 months) and breaking from the bottle (he was 2) but I never had a problem with any of that - children do things at different times.

The only area of concern I have had recently has been his speech. It isn't that I think he has a speech impediment, but I have noticed that he has a tendency towards replacing sounds with others. For example: he can sound F perfectly fine on its own but if the word is mid-sentence, he will replace the F sound with a B sound. When counting, for example, he more often than not will say one, two, bree, bore, bive, six, seb-en, eight and so on. Being close to 4, it concerns me that this will turn into habit and become a permanent part of his vocabulary.

That was until I found Articulation Station!

Articulation Station was created by a certified Speech-Language Pathologist for parents, SLPs and other educators to help work with children and adults with speech sound delays. It is a comprehensive articulation program offering practice at the word, sentence and story levels in 22 sounds in the English language. 

Click here for the webpage with additional details on Articulation Station Pro along with tutorial videos which show tips on how to get the most out of the app

Thanks so much to Little Bee Speech, who sent us a code to review the full version of Articulation Station Pro!

Let me show you how Zachary and I use this app:

First we choose the letter sound to practice. From here, Zachary can touch the letter to hear the sound and choose to read (or hear) words, sentences, or stories using that sound.

Next we choose the sound position: initial, medial, final or blends. 

You can see in the second picture that Zachary chose sentences with the z sound in the initial position. He also chose random sentences so, when he pushes the red button, it flips different words inside the box (where the zither is). He is only 3 so, although he can read on a second grade level just fine, he doesn't comprehend some of the choices he is making. But he has a lot of fun!

Zachary loves to play the matching game too! 

Articulation Station is definitely one of Zachary's favorite apps and one that he chooses over and over. That makes me very happy! Personally, I love this app and feel that he has made some nice improvements on his speech since we implemented it into his learning time (I say that tongue in cheek because it is more like playtime). I love it so much when he is finished with his lesson and the little bee pops up to say "You Did It!" - Zachary loves that too :)

Here are some more screenshots:

The full Pro Version of Articulation Station can be purchased on itunes for $49.99

You can also download Articulation Station for FREE (comes with the P sound) and purchase sounds individually as needed. In other words, you don't have to spend $49.99 if you don't need to. This is especially good for parents who have a child that only needs to work on one or two sounds.

Be sure and visit Little Bee Speech on:

Facebook
Twitter

YouTube
Vimeo
Pinterest

Made by Renee receives products for review purposes, and may sometimes be compensated for posts. Posts may also contain affiliate links. All opinions expressed are solely from Made by Renee and were not influenced by any form of compensation.
 

Watercolour by Viktoria Maksymova #IPad #app #review

Watercolour by Viktoria Maksymova. Viktoria has 18 years of experience teaching art to children and adults in the Ukraine and Australia. Together with her husband Vyacheslav Frolov they have created an app that looks like it could teach anyone to paint!

Viktoria and Vyacheslav explain the brush strokes, how to load the brush with colors. I will be buying some watercolor paints and paper, because I know with this program I will be able to paint. The lessons are easy to follow and the directions are clearly written. Viktoria paints so that I can follow along.



This book includes seven lessons in watercolor painting with interactive elements and videos:

1. Basic brushstrokes
2. Feather brushstroke
3. Roses and buds
4. Underpainting
5. Deciduous trees
6. Coniferous trees
7. Marine (seascape)

This book will help to develop your basic skills in Watercolor and allows you to feel freely and confident in this art technique. The interactive elements transform the boring process of learning into fun. Videos give you a full understanding of exactly how you must complete the exercises. This book will give voice to your emotions and is suitable for you and your kids.

Buy Watercolour on ITunes

Connect with Viktoria and Vyacheslav on Facebook 

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Pet Fashion – A Cute Animal Dress-Up Game #app #review

Pet Fashion is a new game from 65Gb Software that allows you to dress up a bunny and then take of photo of him in his new attire. You can even share it via your social networking sites.

This app is uncluttered, with only three tabs on the Home Screen (wear, store and photo). It is perfect for kids and easy to navigate with happy background music. We really liked that you can take a picture of the bunny as if he was in reality - whatever scene you are taking a picture of, he can be in! It’s definitely a cool feature. My son loves sharing his pictures on facebook (although, being 2, I doubt he understands what he is doing LOL) and this app allows him to do just that.

I love that the app is FREE. It's a fun game, but I'm afraid older kids might get bored of it after a while since you can only choose a bunny (no other pets) and, while there are lots of clothes/accessories to choose from, you can only play dress up for so long.

My son does love though, so I would recommend downloading Pet Fashion for kids PreK-1 while it is still FREE.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Guess Moo! IPad & IPhone App #review {ages 2-5}

I was recently given the opportunity to review the Guess Moo IPad and IPhone App. Guess Moo has 12 animals along with the animals voices, pictures and a poem to help kids remember. It can be purchased through ITunes for $2.99.

Zachary is 2 and loves this app. It has easy navigation and he enjoys the game inside the app too. He was playing with this app at the doctor's office a week or so ago and everyone was amazed at his ability to use it and recognize the animal sounds.

It is a very cute app, but given the opportunity to purchase it I probably would not pay $2.99. That is a bit high and I can download apps for less that do more. Zachary does love it, however, so I was happy to have received it for review.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Montessori Numbers - Math Activities for Kids: App Review #eduapp #ipad @lescapadou

• Category: Education
• Released: 15 August 2012
• Version: 1.1
• Size: 54.6 MB
• Languages: English, French
• Seller: pierre abel
• © L'Escapadou 2012

Rated 4+  Available on the App Store for $2.99

Award-winning children’s app developer L’Escapadou announces the release of Montessori Numbers, an innovative app designed to help kids build solid math foundations. Based on the proven Montessori method, kids can now experiment with quantities and numerals, learn the names and visually understand how the decimal system works. The Montessori Numbers app focuses on numbers from 0-1000 and offers a sequence of guided activities that will help children reinforce their skills. 

My Review:

Zachary and I fell in LOVE with this app immediately!

If your child is learning numbers and their meaning, you will definitely want this app. My son is 2.5 years old and has no trouble recognizing numbers or counting objects up to 50. He also can "draw" lines from one numeral to the next in sequence. Honestly, I wasn't sure what the next logical step in mathematics was for him since he is so young, but he is a quick learner and surprises me every day.

This app put us on the right path to building a solid Math foundation.

Zachary went straight for Numbers 1-10 (he doesn't grasp the concept of units/bars yet) and had fun moving the beads to where they belong. He already recognizes and knows the names of numbers, but this activity helps him experiment with quantities. Watch the video below to see him in action!




All in all, not only is this a phenomenal math app, it has gorgeous graphics and the narrator's voice is soothing (a definite plus). The Developer says this app is for 3-7 year olds (it is rated 4+ in the App Store), but Zachary had no trouble with the beginner activities. He learns quickly and this app is an excellent teaching tool, so I will not be surprised when he moves on to more advanced things in the next week or so.

I would definitely give Montessori Numbers a five star rating. I can't wait to review L’Escapadou's Word Wizard and Montessori Crossword Apps!

From the Developer:

In the majority of public and private schools, children are given abstract symbols as the starting point to learn numbers. They are first taught to count out loud – usually in song format - while being shown how to write the numerals. The problem with this format is that recognizing and writing the numerals and counting to 10 doesn’t indicate an understanding of what the numbers mean.

Maria Montessori believed “what the hand does, the mind remembers”. By using concrete materials during the early, sensitive years, kids taught in a Montessori environment internalize the basic concepts of mathematics more easily. Montessori Numbers is inspired from several traditional Montessori activities and offers concrete hands-on learning materials that make abstract concepts clearer.

Montessori Numbers is designed to help build sound mathematical foundations in children aged 3-7 by using a concrete, visually significant material inspired from the Montessori methodology. Learn to understand quantities and numbers, learn the numerals and build numbers from 0 to 1000.

Montessori Numbers offers a sequence of guided activities that gradually help children reinforce their skills. The app can be used with children aged 3-7. Each activity offers several levels of increasing complexity. 1 - Experiment with quantities and learn their names 2 - Learn the numerals and their names 3 - Associate quantities with numerals 4 - Understand the decimal system 5 - Introduce addition and subtraction Montessori Numbers builds on the iPad’s touch feature, and uses verbal feedback for more efficient learning. The app can pronounce any number between 0 and 1009, and American, British and Australian voices are available. 

★Activities ★

➜ 1 to 20


This activity is designed to introduce numbers up to 10 - but since number names up to 20 are also difficult to memorize, we have added a special level for numbers from 11 to 20. There are 3 levels of difficulty: 0 to 5, 0 to 10 and 11 to 20.

➜ Quantity

In this activity, kids associate quantities to numbers by manipulating units, bars of 10, and squares of 100 to match a given number. As the game is started, an option allows you to hide the numerals to work specifically on the association of number names with quantities. The child can also touch placed beads to make the app count them, and touch numbers to hear their names.There are 3 levels of difficulty: 0 to 9, 10 to 99 and 100 to 999.

➜ Numerals

In this activity, number names are to be associated with numerals. As a number name is pronounced, kids are invited to find the corresponding numeral. Kids can freely experiment with numerals and hear the names associated with each numeral they build. The quantity representing the numbers built is also displayed to reinforce the association between quantity and numerals. There are 3 levels of difficulty: 0 to 9, 10 to 99 and 100 to 999.

➜ Numerals (from Quantity)

In this activity, a quantity is to be associated with a given numeral. The child must build the number that matches the quantity displayed. This is the most complex activity because the child must count the quantity displayed, and then build the number using the numerals. There are 3 levels of difficulty: 0 to 9, 10 to 99 and 100 to 999.

➜ Building Game:

A game can be started at the end of each activity (availability can be modified in the settings panel). There is no “real” goal to this game - kids can play freely with the materials, thus becoming more familiar with them. Kids can add any material and numeral they want, and build whatever they want.
By default, gravity is simulated and the child can even move the device to make the objects move. Touching the background will create lovely fireworks.

Common Core State Standards : This app will help your child in learning the following Common Core State Standards domains:

➜Counting and Cardinality (K.CC)
➜ Operations and Algebraic Thinking (K.OA, 1.OA.1/2/5) (note that even if operations are implicit in this app, the child learns addition and subtraction by adding and removing beads, and learn strategies to add and subtract mentally)
➜ Number and Operations in Base Ten (K.BNT,1.NBT.1/2/4/5/6, 2.NBT.1/2/3/5/8/9, 3.NBT.1/2). The app is great to deal with place value.


Pricing and Availability:

Montessori Numbers is $2.99 USD and is available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Education category.

You Tube demo

iTunes Link

iTunes Link to all Apps

Website

Facebook Page

Twitter Link

Albie and friends : Ipad Storybook #Review

Albie and friends Toto Publishing Studios Genre: Books Price: $ 2.99 Release Date: June 14, 2012 © © Adrian Cavalcanti and Julia Obelar

Read.Explore.Learn : Our Bedtime Routine #kids #preschool #ipad #app

Welcome to Read.Explore.Learn.! Hosted by JDaniel4sMom, this meme was designed to be a place for you to share the learning opportunities, crafts, field trips, and other activities you have done this week that tie-in to children’s books. 

Please be sure and link up at JDaniel4sMom's post - I look forward to seeing ways you have learned with and explored books!

 My Book Tie-Ins of the Week:

As you can tell, we just love Caroline Jayne Church's loveable, huggable toddlers! These padded boards books are absolutely perfect for Zachary (How Do I Love You? Potty Time and You are My Sunshine are next on my list). And he has no trouble at all reading them.

Good Night, I Love You is the very best get your children ready for bedtime book.

What did we do with the book?

Since the book talks about bath time and brushing your teeth, so did we. I found a cute little (FREE) app online called  Sprout's Good Night Star (By PBS KIDS Sprout).

The app is made for preschoolers so they can practice their bedtime routine with Sprout's lovable character, Star. Brush Star's teeth, wash Star's Face, read a story to Star and get him ready for bed. Then rock Star to sleep.

Zachary loves washing Star's face

 

#WordlessWednesday 06/20: pictures Mommy found on the ipad