GIVEAWAY CLOSED

Thanks to everyone who entered!  Our winners are Erin, Dee, Inna, Amelie, and Terry!  Congratulations!  I’ve sent your promo codes over by email.

I recently posted a review of Storybook Maker, iPad - $3.99 giving it 5/5 Apples  saying, “Storybook Maker is a powerful, open-ended tool for creating richly illustrated, written and orally narrated stories and reports.  Filled with comprehensive features and options, this easy to learn set of publishing tools lets your child create works that can be read, shared, and printed.  Whether your child is an emerging or confident writer, a stumbling or gifted artist, all children will find supportive features to turn their storytelling dreams into a reality with Storybook Maker.”  You can read the full review here.

Now, want to win a promo code for your homeschool?  Here’s how to enter – look down!

Buy this iPad app now for $3.99!

GIVEAWAY CLOSED

Congratulations to Todo, Jessica N, and Terry Y!  I’m sending your promo codes over by email – enjoy the app!

I recently posted a review of Touchable Earth, iPad - $1.99 with IAP giving it 5/5 Apples  saying, “Touchable Earth draws children directly into contact with people and places around the world by letting them explore the lives of real children from six different countries around the world.  This highly engaging approach to geography and the study of international cultures makes extensive use of high-resolution photographs and video recordings to bring the world to life in vivid color, motion, and sound.”  You can read the full review here.

Now, want to win a promo code for your homeschool?  Here’s how to enter – look down!

Buy this iPad app now for $1.99!  Optional IAPs are available.

App Name: Alphabet Aquarium School Vol 1: Animated Letters Puzzle for Preschool and Kindergarten Explorers by 22learn

Overall Rating: 4/5

Mom’s Rating: 4/5

Kids’ Rating: 4/5

Recommended Grades/Ages: Toddler, Preschool,

Skills Developed: Letter Names, Alphabet, Puzzles, Vocabulary, Capital Letters, Visual Matching Skills, First Words, Alphabet Storybook

Available On/Price: Universal (iPhone/iPod/iPad) – $1.99

Download the free lite app to try before you buy here.

Android at Amazon’s App Store – $1.99

Download the free lite Android app to try before you buy here.

Reviewed on: iPad

App Description:

Alphabet Aquarium incorporates four colorful and diverse alphabet-based puzzles in a beach-themed learning environment.  The full version of the app includes all of the letters from A to Z, and the free lite version includes only the letters A-E with the option to buy the full version via IAP.

The easy-to-use navigation lets your child pick any letter of the alphabet to learn with from the main menu, or she can move through the alphabet from start to finish.  As each puzzle for the letter is completed, its bubble on the main menu is filled in to display progress.

In the Letters Puzzle your child is presented with puzzles pieces to put together to form the shape of the capital letter.  The letter name is introduced, said every time a puzzle piece is selected, and announced again when the puzzle is completed.

Animals Puzzle starts with placing the capital letter into the puzzle and then assembling a cute baby animal that starts with the letter shown piece by piece.  For the letter A an alligator is built.  One colored silhouette is shown on the puzzle canvas and all the pieces are placed beneath it.  Once the correct puzzle piece is placed, another silhouette will be shown until the puzzle is finished.   Once filled in, an alphabet sentence is shown at the screen’s bottom and read aloud, “A is for Alligator’.  The animal then animates and makes a cute sound effect.

The Sky Puzzle is named that way because the puzzle takes place in the clouds.  3 empty placeholders display the name of an object that starts with the target letter along with its shape.  The three options show at the bottom of the screen.  Your child taps and drags the right objects to the correct outlines in the clouds.  Any time the items or clouds are tapped they say, “A is for Ambulance” etc. to help reinforce indirect phonetic association.  Once all the pieces are placed all three object-name sentences are read.

When the tide casts four objects starting with the target letter on shore along with the letter itself, the Beach Puzzle begins.  There are puzzle placeholders displaying the object names on the beach that say alphabet sentences when tapped, “A is for Acorn’.   The letter simply says its own name.  When taped and held the puzzle pieces also say these sentences.  Once completed the entire puzzle page is read starting with “A” then moving onto all of the letter sentences.

The app includes a generous amount of positive verbal reinforcement to encourage children with each correct choice throughout all of the activities.  The majority of incorrect choices are simply met with a mild sound effect and pieces returning to the bottom of the screen.

Throughout the app your child can continue to interact with the puzzles until she moves onto the next puzzle.  The animals make sounds and reanimate when tapped, letter sentences are read, and letter names are said when tapped as appropriate.

The settings allow you to turn music and the ocean-based sound effects on and off independently and to clear game progress so another child can use the app.  You can also turn on and off any of the four learning puzzles to suit your child’s preferences.

Other Notes: This full version of this app doesn’t include ads, external links, in-app purchases, or social media integration.  The free lite version does include external links and in-app purchaes.

What We Liked:

Alphabet Aquarium is a charmingly interactive alphabet puzzle book.  It includes so many different alphabet-based puzzles, 26 letters x 4 puzzles each = 104 alphabet oriented puzzles in all, it’s great for puzzle loving children who go through puzzle apps in a hurry!

Because it includes so much repetition of letter names, simple words that start with the letters of the alphabet, and bright, clear illustrations, this app also makes a great puzzle-driven alphabet storybook.  It can be used as a first words vocabulary book.

I tried this app out with both my 2 and 4-year-old.  My 2-year-old really enjoyed it; she’s our biggest puzzle builder on the iPads and the navigation was very simple for her to run independently.  Her favorite part was building the animal puzzles and playing with the cute baby animals once they were finished – this is also the most challenging puzzle for little ones since it goes piece by piece (triggering more visual matching skills) instead of allowing free choice.

My 4-year-old (almost 5) was less excited about it, since the entire app was puzzle based, it was a bit repetitive for her, and she’s ready for more advanced apps that include tracing instead of just puzzle placements.  I think this level of difficulty is best for toddlers and early preschool.

That being said, I always like options that let parents select which activities are included in the app’s rounds. If there is an activity that’s too hard or too easy for your child, you can remove it from the rotation.

What We Didn’t Like:

Like many alphabet books, this app doesn’t include explicit phonics and some of the puzzles include objects with both short and long letter sounds (like aquarium and airplane in the same puzzle).  The letters never say their sounds, only their names, and the app is also upper case only.

Overall:

Alphabet Aquarium is a bright and colorful puzzle-based alphabet app that contains a HUGE number of alphabet puzzles.  With 4 different puzzle types there are 104 educational puzzles in all!  With lots of alphabet words and sentences included, the app also makes a nice first-words alphabet storybook that’s driven by puzzle completion.

Buy the universal (iPhone/iPod/iPad) app now for $1.99!

Download the free lite version to try this universal (iPhone/iPod/iPad) app before you buy for free with IAP!

Buy the Android app now for $1.99 at Amazon!

Download the free lite version to try this Android app before you buy for free with IAP!

Have you downloaded this app?  Let us know what our family thought in the comments section!

App Name: Reading Raven

Overall Rating: 5/5

Mom’s Rating: 5/5

Kids’ Rating: 5/5

Recommended Grades/Ages: Preschool, Kindergarten, Grade 1

Skills Developed: Phonics, Letter Sounds, Letter Names, Reading, Phonological Awareness, Rhyming, Spelling, Printing, Handwriting, Vocabulary

Available On/Price: iPhone/iPod – $2.99

iPad – $3.99

Reviewed on: iPad

App Description:

Reading Raven is a comprehensive, phonics-based app that includes game-style interactive reading activities for children from ages 3-5 that are completely customizable, spanning five progressive lessons. As your child moves through each lesson with his own individual activities, he earns stickers and rewards to decorate his own multi-story treehouse with.

Each lesson is displayed on a map and your child journeys along a path of learning.  Each lesson has its own fun theme, from the garden to the circus, and even into space.  These lessons move from introducing a handful of consonants and a short vowel, basic CVC words like ‘cat’, and short sentences of 2-4 words through to simple digraphs ‘th’, 4 letter words like ‘thin’, and longer 2-8 word sentences.  Some sight words (1-2 per lesson) and simple punctuations rules are also introduced (1-2 per lesson) to strengthen early reading skills.

There are a huge number of activities that can potentially be included in each lesson (11 in all), and I don’t have the space here to describe each in detail.  The most important thing to note is that they are all phonics-based, engaging, developmentally appropriate, and deeply educational.

The navigation is straightforward, the games are engaging, and everything does what it should.  Letters make their sounds when tapped – the focus is on intensive phonics but also includes some mention of letter names, words are read aloud when appropriate, punctuation rules are slowly included, and instruction can be repeated whenever necessary.

The available activities are:

Ages 3 and Up:

Letter matching

Letter tracing

Letter sounds

Word matching

Ages 4 and Up:

Vocabulary

Word beginnings

Word building (spelling)

Word spotting

Ages 5 and Up

Reading aloud using voice recording

Word tracing

Word groups (rhyming and beginning sounds)

The included Parent’s Guide gives examples of all of these activities with screenshots and shares the scope and sequence of the material included in all five lessons.  You can find the guide within the app itself or as a downloadable pdf on the Reading Raven website here.

As each lesson is completed it is checked off, but can be revisited by starting it over (this will erase the completed status).  In progress lessons can also be restarted or continued and show a visual progress bar on the map showing how much there is left to go.  Tapping the information button by each lesson can easily access the scope and sequence for each lesson.

The tall treehouse on the map stores your child’s progress rewards and can be visited and rearranged between learning sessions to arrange stickers and objects.

The options section allows you to check or uncheck any combination of  the available tactivities to customize the app for your child regardless of his age,.  Just choose any combination that provides your child with the skill building practice he needs.

Text style and case preference can also be selected here.  Traditional ball and stick, modern D’Nealian, Handwriting Without Tears style, or classic Zaner-Bloser styles of text can be chosen for both reading and printing activities.  Case can be displayed in normal/mixed case with both upper and lower case as appropriate, all lowercase, or all uppercase.

Parents can also adjust the volume and mic gain in the options.

Other Notes: This app doesn’t include ads, in-app purchases, or social media integration.  The protected options section does a newsletter opt-in and link to write a review in the App Store.  The parent’s guide contains text only links.

What We Liked:

Reading Raven is a fantastic, comprehensive phonics app.  We use it as a core part of our iPad-based schooling for phonics review and practice with my 7-year-old and for simple, introductory letter sound and tracing activities for my 4-year-old.

The huge selection of activities lets you tailor the app for any child, you can use it in countless ways based on your child’s needs rather than moving them through an arbitrary array of exercises.  The intensive phonics-first approach is my preferred way of teaching reading.   The combination of letter sounds, decoding read aloud recording activities, and tracing the sounds and words being learned come together for a powerful reinforcement of core reading and early writing skills.

Not only is the app educationally effective, it’s also delightfully designed – great graphics, animation, and performance all the way around.   Don’t miss this one.

What We Didn’t Like:

The ONLY thing I’d like to see changed with Reading Raven would be to have multiple player profiles available.  I have two children using the app, and they both have different difficulty settings and each want their own progress and treehouse to decorate (naturally).  My solution right now is to have the app installed on multiple devices and try to keep them away from the one that their progress isn’t on, but that’s tricky.

Overall:

Finally – a seriously educational app that leads children from early phonological awareness and phonics right up to reading full sentences while integrating printing skills and teaching through games. Reading Raven is an incredible learn-to-read app, easily the best I’ve encountered to date in the App Store. I’m in love, and so are my kids.

Buy the iPhone/iPod app now for $2.99!

Buy the iPad app now for $3.99!

App Name: Storybook Maker

Overall Rating: 5/5

Mom’s Rating: 5/5

Kids’ Rating: 5/5

Recommended Grades/Ages: Grades 1-6

Skills Developed: Creative Writing, Report Writing, Book Creation, Oral Narration, Storytelling, Storybooks, Word Processing

Available On/Price: iPad – $3.99

Reviewed on: iPad

App Description:

Storybook Maker lets your child create, share, and read storybooks on the iPad using a fully featured word processing app for children.  Using a straight forward, easy to use interface children from pre-readers and writers through to confident readers and budding authors can create their own stories through the written word, audio narration, hand drawn artwork, or even photographs, or a wide range of stickers that are provided in the app.

New books are created with the touch of a single button, the book name is entered, and your child is guided through the formatting of a new story.  The first page of the book serves as the title page.  A variety of templates are provided for different layouts – blank pages that encourage free-form placement of text and objects, pages focused on photographs either taken on the spot or from your device library, and varying combinations of text and object page layouts.  There are 12 pre-designed layout options to choose from.

In any of the layouts the main elements your child can work with to design content are type boxes, object boxes, photo elements, and free-hand drawings.

In type boxes text can be entered, fonts chosen, color, opacity, size, and shadow selected.  The text can also be aligned (left, center, and right) within the box.

In object boxes your child can select from a wide range of pre-designed stickers that can be resized, given backgrounds and borders, rotated, layered, copied, and locked.  Some of these stickers are even animated, physics-enabled, interactive objects (like bouncing balls) that can be added to the story.  These pre—designed drawings include characters, vehicles, letters and numbers, animals, food, costumes, and much more.

Photo elements can be brought in from the objects gallery, the images galleries on your device (some apps have their own image galleries), or the camera for photos taken on the spot.

All of these boxes and elements can also be layered, locked (to prevent movement and changes), given backgrounds and borders, deleted, or copied.  They also have resizing handles and can be moved by tapping away and then tapping in the center and dragging.  The page as a whole can also be given a border, background, and theme music (20+ choices) that plays when it is opened.

Freeform drawings can also be included with a wide range of drawing tools.  A huge palette of color choices is provided along with drawing tools including a pen, circle maker, hollow circle, line tool, square, and hollow square tools.  An eraser is included, the line size can be specified, and opacity set.  The different opacities and colors provide many opportunities for creating layered compositions.  Unlimited undos are also available.

Your child can also record narration for each page individually – either reading the text they’ve written, adding their own sound effects, or narrating the story for their readers if they are pre-writers.  There is a time limit on narration for each page and a wheel shows how far into the recording your child is.

At any point tapping the view page button can preview the page being edited – it will then let you preview the page as if in reading mode.  Audio can also be played on its own or deleted so it can be left blank or re-recorded.  Pages can be deleted by tapping the trashcan or added by using the plus button.  Your child can view pages in a page layout overview by going to the story’s main menu where all the pages are shown, and select one to edit, existing pages can be copied to make new pages, or new pages can be started from scratch.

Stories created by your children are stored in My Library, which allows you to read, edit, or share in-progress and completed stories.  When files are shared they are compacted and sent out by email – they can be sent as plain pdfs (no sound or animated objects) to friends and family who don’t own the app, or sent as fully interactive files with sound and animated physics objects intact for those who do own the app.   The PDF files can also be sent to a compatible printer for producing a physical copy of the work.

Completed stories can also be submitted to the public storybook library for consideration.  There are some qualifications as the library is screened – no photographs of people, personal details, or inappropriate content etc.  The public library currently contains some lovely hand-drawn stories, public domain titles converted to Storybook Maker format, and others.  The ones we’ve downloaded so far don’t have included sound but can be read independently or used as read alouds.  My children have really enjoyed having me read these to them.

This app is silent, with instructions and commands that are written without audio guidance, but even pre-readers quickly learn the intuitive pictorial icons for commands and menus and will most likely be able to use the app without any trouble (mine have).

Other Notes: This app doesn’t include ads, in-app purchases, or social media integration. It does include options to send books by email, a feedback section where live feedback can be sent to the developers, and a ‘More Apps’ section that includes links to the App Store.

What We Liked:

Storybook Maker is an open-ended app that provides a wide range of opportunities for both written and verbal expression.  Children who are writing can pen reports, creative stories, put together family photo albums to send to distant friends and relatives, create picture books for their younger siblings, and more.  Even children who aren’t confident expressing themselves in writing can illustrate and create their own pictorial storybooks and then tell their own stories verbally with the narration feature.

My children loved the options to add background music and to choose from pre-drawn stickers to illustrate their books with – these really jumpstart creativity for kids that get stuck for ideas without some kind of prompt.  You could even illustrate a little starter scene yourself, fill in some text, and see where they go with it.  My girls chose characters, layered on clothes, drew on top of them, and had a blast creating their own funny, fantastical tales.  Definitely a favorite feature here.

My 10-year-old worked with a combination of written text and spoken narration, while my still-learning-to-read 7-year-old used a few cartoon speech bubbles for simple text for her characters and relied mainly on telling her stories orally.   “Hundreds of stars! Thousands!” My children offered as their ratings.

What I love the most as a mom, is that Storybook Maker serves as a simple, easy to learn, but rich word processing/desktop publishing style program for children.  Some of you may remember MS Publisher?  This app reminds me so much of that – simple frames to work with and place flexibly, layering options, frames etc.  But Publisher never let you add sound and physics-enabled objects!  Even my seven-year-old was showing ME the ropes and all of the options, she picked it up very quickly because of the pictorial icons for the actions.

This will likely go without saying, but we don’t even really talk much about the importance of teaching word processing, document layout, and formatting skills to children anymore.  It is a GIVEN, and this app provides such an easy way to dig into the basics – previewing work before sending, working with different options, resizing – LOTS of good stuff can be practiced and explored in an environment that is simple and focused.

What We Didn’t Like:

My ten-year-old would like explosion-based background music added, and I’d love to see the option to select the cover color of your storybook (that just randomly changes right now).   Personal libraries for multiple users would also reduce the chances of siblings changing stories that aren’t their own.

Overall:

Storybook Maker is a powerful, open-ended tool for creating richly illustrated, written and orally narrated stories and reports.  Filled with comprehensive features and options, this easy to learn set of publishing tools lets your child create works that can be read, shared, and printed.  Whether your child is an emerging or confident writer, a stumbling or gifted artist, all children will find supportive features to turn their storytelling dreams into a reality with Storybook Maker.

Buy this iPad app now for $3.99!

GIVEAWAY CLOSED

Congratulations to Heather, Veronica, and Jessica!  I’ve sent your promo codes over by email – enjoy the app and thanks to everyone who entered!

I recently posted a review of Meek-a-Moo, iPad - $2.99 giving it 5/5 Apples  saying, “Meek-a-Moo is a fun-filled, bi-lingual (English/Spanish) app for toddlers and preschoolers including both an interactive first-words style storybook and a playful peek-a-boo game. By using visual and auditory discrimination your child can identify forty animals across four colorful settings.  Cheerful characters, rich realistic animal sound effects, and gorgeous design make this app a delight to play together with little ones.”  You can read the full review here.

Now, want to win a promo code for your homeschool?  Here’s how to enter – look down!

Buy this iPad app now for $2.99!

Download the free lite version to try this iPad app before you buy for free with IAP!

App Name: Nutrition and Healthy Eating ! Fun games to teach kids in Preschool and Kindergarten about balanced diet by i Learn With

Overall Rating: 5/5

Mom’s Rating: 4/5

Kids’ Rating: 5/5

Recommended Grades/Ages: Preschool, Kindergarten

Skills Developed: Nutrition, Healthy Eating, Food Groups, Healthy, Life Skills, Categorization

Available On/Price: Universal (iPhone/iPod/iPad) -  free with optional IAP of $2.99

Reviewed on: iPad

App Description:

Nutrition and Healthy Eating is a new app in i Learn With’s integrated series of early learning apps.  This new release is focused on important healthy-lifestyle skills like identifying food groups and eating a wide range of foods.  Bo of the animated television show Bo on the Go – which encourages children to life active, healthy lifestyles – guides children through the app.

It includes three main education activities – the first is focused on identifying healthy foods and selecting foods from specific food groups; the second is focused on sorting foods into different food groups; the third is focused on creating meals that include ingredients from a balance of different food groups.

The first game – Feed the Bears (Healthy Eating in the Parents Center) – asks your child to place specified food items into the picnic basket to feed the bears.  Each item (food or otherwise) says it’s name when tapped to help your child identify it.  Level 1 starts with picking food items for the basket and leaving the non-foods out.  Level 2 involves selecting healthy foods for the bears – only those that aren’t fatty or sugary (junk foods like potato chips and sundaes won’t be allowed into the basket).  Level 3 specifies a food group to place in the basket – such as grains, vegetables and fruits, meats and proteins, or dairy.

The second game Cook Magic Potions (also known as Food Groups) focuses on sorting foods into different food groups.  A variety of cooks appear at the bottom of the screen with their cooking containers – each has a different food group to work with.  The foods to sort appear at the top of the screen in the cupboards.  Sometimes non-food items also appear in the cupboards.  Your child needs to drag the right foods into the right container.  All of the foods and containers say their names when tapped.

The first level uses two different cooks with their own food groups, dairy and vegetables for example, or proteins and grains.   The second level includes three different cooks with their own food groups, and the third level includes.

The third game – Prepare the Penguin’s Birthday Feast (or Balanced Meals) – asks your child to serve the birthday penguin a meal with a selection of items from different food groups.  A menu appears on the right of the table showing which food groups need to be included.   The penguin has a tray with the right number of sections for the number of foods he needs.  A serving cart under the table contains a variety of foods, and it’s your child’s job to find the foods that will fulfill the menu’s requirements.  The food groups on the menu and the individual food items say their names when tapped.

The first third of Feed the Bears (the first game about healthy eating) is available for free in this lite app, the rest of the game and the second and third games are unlocked for an IAP of $2.99.

Level 1 starts with picking three food items for the penguin from different food groups.  At the beginning of level 1 one of the foods is already filled in, it then disappears and your child needs to select all three foods.  Level 2 involves selecting a balanced meal including foods from four different groups.  It starts with one item filled in and again, moves on to having your child select all four foods.  Level 3 works with a meal of five items (which covers all the food groups included in the app, it even includes separate categories for fruit and vegetables which are often combined in other activities), two foods are filled in to start, then one, then none – leaving your child to select all of the food items.

Unlike some of the other games in the series, the activities are all un-timed, creating a more relaxed educational experience.  Tapping Bo at any time lets your child hear the instructions for the activity again.

As your child successfully completes steps in each of the three levels of each game she can win prizes and awards (lots of them are food based which adds some interesting components to the reward system) that are displayed in the spaceship area of the app!  There are 27 (3 per level in each game) in total and these earned awards are transferred to Planet Boing! the free app that lets your child create and interact with her own Boing avatar using the rewards they earn in the connected educational apps.

The app supports multiple independent children’s profiles if you register online.  You will also then be able to see your child’s advancement through each of the three games, showing the number of attempts and the average success rate as well as letting you compare statistics with the average for children the same age as your child.  You can see most of these within this app, but the full reports are given in Planet Boing!

This app definitely works best with a WiFi connection.  With the inter-app connectivity that transfers rewards to Planet Boing, the WiFi administered progress tracking for multiple students and parents, you’ll definitely get the most out of this learning experience wither an internet connection.

The educational games etc. all work fine without registration or an internet connection, though they’ll only show progress for one player, and Planet Boing will only include the basic set of options – your child won’t be able to unlock further ones.

Other Notes: This app doesn’t include ads.  It does include an in-app purchase, links to online registration (within the app), links that open already installed apps, links to the App Store, and social media links in the parent’s center.

What We Liked:

Our girls were so excited to review Nutrition and Healthy Eating since it features Bo – an animated character my girls have loved since they first met her in her television show.  It wasn’t long after installing the app that I started getting email progress reports from the i Learn With integrated learning system, telling me that my children were quickly progressing through the levels and activities.

We have a LOT of i Learn With apps installed, and this new one was exciting since they love the early science offerings (animals and seasons) the best our of all the apps.  My four-year-old is the biggest fan here in the house; I practically had to write the review with her in my lap.  I actually didn’t get to play it much myself, I had to watch HER play it!

Perhaps most importantly, I don’t think I’ve ever really seen an app in the store before that deals with food groups, healthy eating, and nutrition in a fun, game-based way for young children!  These are vital life skills that are sadly, rather lacking in our culture – eating balanced meals is incredibly important, and designing them was both my seven and four-year-old’s favorite activity!

What We Didn’t Like:

My four-year-old thought the waiting between scene changes was a bit long (Bo walks over to the next bear in the picnic scene).  I also would have preferred the second game to be named something other than Cook Magic Potions; it’s just working with different foods, nothing to do with magic at all (and we tend to avoid magic ourselves).

Overall:

Nutrition and Healthy Eating is a bright, engaging way to effortlessly teach essential life skills such as identifying food groups, choosing healthy food, and creating balanced meals from a wide variety of food choices.  Rewards, animations, and cheerful guidance combine with the loveable health-mascot Bo for a learning experience few preschoolers can resist.

Download this universal (iPhone/iPod/iPad) app now for free (optional $2.99 IAP within)!

App Name: Touchable Earth

Overall Rating: 5/5

Mom’s Rating: 4/5

Kids’ Rating: 5/5

Recommended Grades/Ages: Grades 3-6

Skills Developed: Geography, International Cultures, Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa

Available On/Price: iPad – $1.99 with IAP options

Reviewed on: iPad

App Description:

Touchable Earth is a face-to-face geography exploration that takes your children around the world by introducing them through video recordings of the daily lives of children between 6 and 12 from different lands and cultures.  The app features the true-life experiences, homes, schools, lives, dreams, and more of children from Nepal, China, Romania, Kurdistan, India, and South Africa.  These same children share their national dress, anthems, flags, and much more; combined with maps and simple quizzes, the app provides a rich, comprehensive overview of culture from a child’s-eye-view.

The app comes with Nepal unlocked and other countries available to purchase via IAP.  After setting up a simple individual profile (just a name), it’s time to start exploring!  Each new topic has a page with a large, high-resolution photograph as its starting page.  From this page, the smiling earth can be tapped for a text-based introduction to the topic that will be explored.  The page also has video play buttons (one or more) on it.  These high-resolution videos include children from the country speaking directly to your child, teaching her about the country they live in.  These videos include an optional printed transcript that can be shown or hidden by tapping the text button, they can be replayed once finished, or closed.  Side arrows and a back button that returns to the country’s main page provide navigation.

Each country includes eight main areas of exploration.  In Let’s Learn your child is welcomed to the country by a child in both English and their native language who gives some basic geographic information – country location, population, etc.  A map indicating the location of the country is shown along with a video of more geographic information.  The country’s flag and symbolism is explained, and the national anthem is sung by a group of school children.

Let’s Explore Takes your children to notable sites around the country with 360 degree photographs that can be panned and swiveled to see the ground, sky, and all the surrounding buildings.  Each notable place in the photograph comes with it’s own video explanation.  When visiting these places, your child can click on the star button to add the location to their Favorite Places.  These can be quickly jumped to from the home screen by tapping on the star there.

In Our Culture your child gets to learn about traditional boy’s and girl’s clothes.   Traditional instruments or artistic expression are demonstrated (varies according to country), and your child can learn some of the words from the language of the country in a simple, child-presented language lesson.  Other varying topics of interest and notability to the people of that country are also included in this section.

Our Family introduces your child to two real families from the country. These multi-part video explorations of family life include introductions to members of the child’s family, an introduction to the child’s home, sometimes their neighborhood, hobbies, and other topics.

Children get to experience parts of a normal school day in the country in the Our School section through general introductions, meeting school officials, looking inside of different classrooms, seeing methods of transportation to school, school events, and even explanations of the food served at schools!

In Make Friends a large number of children introduce themselves to your child – the first child is unlocked and the rest can be unlocked after successfully completing the quiz for each country and gaining a coin from the country.  These coins can be viewed in the app’s coin collection.

Let’s Play introduces popular sports, traditional children’s games, and activities by explaining the concept or rules, but most importantly by demonstrating them!  Each country also has a short three-question multiple-choice quiz.  Completing the quiz unlocks the features previously discussed and awards a coin from the country when completed successfully.

One thing I have to note on my age recommendation is that many of the children have heavy accents and a few don’t speak English (I’m amazed at their proficiency in English actually, considering their ages!)  Because it can be tricky for children to interpret accents etc. text scripts are available to read, but only independent readers (or mom narrating) will let them fully understand the app’s content in many cases.  My 7-year-old adores the app, but she isn’t a confident reader yet, hence the app’s recommended rating for grades 3 and up (the rest of the app is silent as well and requires reading skills).

The app settings allow you to specify if video transcripts are displayed by default on a user-by-user basis.

The purchase of Touchable Earth includes the chapter on Nepal.  Romania costs $0.99 to unlock through IAP or the entire app can be unlocked for an additional $3.99.  The app download includes the Nepal data, but once additional countries are unlocked, internet access is required to download the rest of the content.

Other Notes: The full app doesn’t include any advertising, external or email links, or social media integration.  It does include a text-only link within the information page and options for IAP.

What We Liked:

My children love the opportunity to explore different cultures and the lives of children around the world!  Looking inside the everyday lives of the many children included in the app gives them a rich and diverse view of the country they are visiting on the iPad.

Although I’ve rated this app for independent readers in grades 3 and up, I’ve had a LOT of my children gathered around the iPad when I’ve watched the videos (or when my oldest daughter has).  My seven-year-old and even my toddler have loved watching the huge number of videos included for each country.

It’s really amazing how much video content the app includes.  Such broad, comprehensive ranges of topics are covered, and so many children from the country speak directly to your children; it’s really delightful how much rich content is provided.  With that in mind, I have to say that this is an affordable, highly engaging approach to geography.

What We Didn’t Like:

Apart from the highly multi-sensory video segments, the app is silent; children need to be readers to find their way around.  The lack of auditory feedback from the rest of the app makes those parts seem too quiet.  It can be difficult to get all of the additional content downloaded within the app (the initial download is currently 300+ MB and the full app is 1.7 GB – most of it downloaded within the app) – you need a very high-speed connection (an update that allows better delivery is in the works).

Overall:

Touchable Earth draws children directly into contact with people and places around the world by letting them explore the lives of real children from six different countries around the world.  This highly engaging approach to geography and the study of international cultures makes extensive use of high-resolution photographs and video recordings to bring the world to life in vivid color, motion, and sound.

Buy this iPad app now for $1.99!  Optional IAPs are available.

Have you downloaded this app?  Let us know what you and your children thought – leave a comment!

App Name: Meek-a-Moo

Overall Rating: 5/5

Mom’s Rating: 5/5

Kids’ Rating: 4/5

Recommended Grades/Ages: Toddlers, Preschool

Skills Developed: Animals, First Words, Vocabulary, Spanish, Auditory and Visual Discrimination, Storybook

Available On/Price: iPad – $2.99

Free lite version also available with IAP options

Reviewed on: iPad

App Description:

Meek-a-Moo is a bright and lively interactive storybook that lets children explore the world of animals in two main sections in both English and Spanish.

In the Learn section children can choose from any of four interactive storybooks on a map-style interface: Zoo, Home, Lake, and Farm (with Forest planned to come soon).  Here children are introduced to ten different animals per setting (40 in total).  The animal animates and makes it’s realistic noise while its name appears above it and is read aloud.

In the Play section children once again choose the location for their game from the map, now that they are familiar with the animal’s appearances and names that they’ll encounter in each location, they are challenged to a fun game of peek-a-boo (or meek-a-moo in this case!)

The animals are found hiding behind location-specific coverings – jungle leaves, curtains, water grasses, or a fence.  Your child can see glimpses of the animal’s bodies appearing behind or between the coverings as well as hearing its sound.  Three possible animals are shown at the top of your screen, it’s your child’s job to determine which of those three animals is hiding.  Once the animal is correctly identified the coverings are drawn aside, the animal animates and its name is said while it appears above the animal’s head.

In both modes the animal will animate and make its sound when tapped at any time, and its name will be read again when it is tapped.  Navigation is provided for with straightforward navigational arrows at the bottom of the screen.

The app’s options allow you to change from English to Spanish at any time, turn the voice announcement of the animal’s name on and off, and to turn the background music on and off.

The free lite version of the app includes the Zoo interactive storybook and play scene for free.  Each of the additional location scenes costs $0.99 each to unlock through IAP.

Other Notes: The full app doesn’t include any advertising; it does include external, email, and social media links in the information screen that can be accessed from the main page.  The free lite version includes the above as well as an in-app purchase options.

Meek-a-Moo is incredibly well designed – navigation is simple and easy for toddlers to navigate themselves, the animals are bright, cheerful, and sound just like real life.  Wonderful sound effects – beautiful illustrations. Everything interacts the way it should – animals will keep making their sounds indefinitely when tapped until the page is turned, and the animal name can be heard again and again just by tapping on the word.

My toddler most enjoys using this app together with me so we can play it as a collaborative game, or read through the Learn section like an interactive first-words style storybook.  “Who’s behind those leaves?” I ask her, as she giggles and pokes the lion button.  Sometimes she repeats the name of the animal after it’s said for her.

In English the app is great for toddlers learning to speak (or preschoolers with language delays) and helps them work out the identify of the hiding animal from both visual and audio hints, helping to hone listening and visual identification skills (parts to whole – horns means it’s the goat!)

I showed my preschooler both the English option and the ability to hear the animal names in English.  “Vaca,” the app told her. “That means cow!” She cried.  In Spanish the app helps older children who already know the names of the forty-common animals included to learn their names in Spanish with a fun, casual approach.  (I even heard my 7-year-old playing peek-a-boo with some of the animals and chuckling, but we’ll just keep that between you and me.)

The app also indirectly teaches about grouping animals by habitat (although zoo isn’t exactly a natural habitat).  Prompted by her questions about the app, my four-year-old and I had conversations together about why dragonflies were included in the lake setting and discussed their life cycle and eating habits together.

What We Didn’t Like:

The order the animals are hiding in within each scene doesn’t vary, it’s always in the same order.  My toddler was starting to guess which animal was coming next apart from the clues; I’d love to see this randomized.  It also takes repeated taps to open a new setting, for toddlers I think it would be easier to use a single tap.

Overall:

Meek-a-Moo is a fun-filled, bi-lingual (English/Spanish) app for toddlers and preschoolers including both an interactive first-words style storybook and a playful peek-a-boo game. By using visual and auditory discrimination your child can identify forty animals across four colorful settings.  Cheerful characters, rich realistic animal sound effects, and gorgeous design make this app a delight to play together with little ones.

Buy this iPad app now for $2.99!

Download the free lite version to try this iPad app before you buy for free with IAP!

Have you downloaded this app?  Let us know what you and your children thought – leave a comment!

App Name: Mathtopia+

Overall Rating: 5/5

Mom’s Rating: 5/5

Kids’ Rating: 5/5

Recommended Grades/Ages: Kindergarten, Grades 1-6, Remedial math fact use for all ages

Skills Developed: Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Thinking Puzzle

Available On/Price: Universal (iPhone/iPod/iPad) – $3.99

Free lite version also available with IAP

Reviewed on: iPad

App Description:

Mathtopia+ is at its core, a combination of math fact drill and match-3 jewel-based games. The app starts with a built-in interactive tutorial (it can be accessed at any time for review) that teaches you the basics of the game and get started quickly. Touching the player name opens the app settings where you can set up profiles for up to six users.

Once they have a profile, players can either choose a math tile displaying a math fact, or the solution – by tapping the two in any order, the math fact is solved and transforms into a colorful jewel.  There are a set number of math facts per solution (a certain number will add up to 0, 1, 2, etc. depending on the level number).  Once all the math facts with that solution are solved the card is full (and bonuses are given).

Completed gems or uncompleted math facts with the same solution can be lined up by swapping them or having them fall into a line naturally.  These lined up tiles then disappear, making room for more that arrive from the top of the screen.  Uncompleted math facts that are lined up according to solution number disappear and provide swap points, but don’t add solve points towards the card completion total.  Multiple tile swaps are supported by the app – just turn off multi-gesturing in your settings to avoid accidentally switching apps for best results.

As levels increase, two special tools are provided – shuffles that rearrange the layout of the tiles on the game screen, and hammers that allow your child to destroy any specific tile.  Just tap these tools to collect them, then tap the icon on the left side of the screen to play them.

Each completed level is given a rating from 1-3 stars, 3 stars means facts are being solved in 2 seconds or less (mastery), 2 stars is less than 4 seconds, 1 star is less than 9 seconds.  Games will end if more than 10 seconds is taken per fact on average.   At the end of each level a variety of statistics are also displayed – time and fastest historical time for the level, total points, bonus points for unused tools (shuffles and hammers) and a completion bonus for filling out all of the stamps.

Bonuses are also provided for different combinations of answers, such as answering a string of tiles that have the same solution in a row (for example, answering 5 questions that all have 6 as their answer).  This helps to develop thinking of math facts in groups – all these facts add up to 10 for example – a vital skill.  Timers do appear on the screen that increase in length as difficulty levels increase but they can be hidden simply if your child experiences timer anxiety.

Each operation includes 25 game levels that can be individually selected from the operation menu – each displays with the answer range at the top.  For example, in addition level 1 has answers 0-1, as the levels progress answer numbers (sums) become higher, going up to 1-3, 2-4, 3-6 etc. before eventually encompassing answers from 0-20.  The size of tiles also decreases to allow room for more questions on the game board.

The app builds with difficulty in each level, slowly introducing new facts and removing simpler ones until it reaches the 10 facts before adding the simpler facts back into the mix for a fuller selection of questions.  Multiplication is the exception, where the facts simply increase in difficulty as the levels progress.  Facts from 0+0 to 10+10 are covered in addition, 0-0 to 18-9 are given in subtraction, 0×0 to 10×10 are included in multiplication, and 0/1 through to 100/10 are practiced in division.

By default each level is unlocked as the player progresses (at least 1 star for the previous level) – this is called Challenge mode.  In the app’s settings you can also choose Freeplay mode which lets you select any level – they all unlock but reset if Mathtopia is quit then reopened.  You can also choose to hide the timer bar and the hints, mute the app, or adjust the volume, as well as switching between players.

The free lite version includes all 25 levels of addition and includes the option to purchase full individual operations (subtraction, multiplication, division) for $0.99 as well as Roman Numerals and Fractions+ for $0.99 each.  When you decide to quit playing a game a variety of statistics are shown, the final level, equations solved, lifetime equations solved in one game, swaps matched, longest equation streak, longest match streak, and final score.

Unobtrusive Game Center integration is provided with a variety of awards and achievements, but more importantly (to us) is the internal high score board that allows family members to rank against each other.  The top ten high scores can be viewed in the awards tab that shows the highest level achieved (up to 30 levels can be accessed through continuous play – 26-30 are almost hidden bonus levels).  Times for the player logged in can also be displayed under Time in the Awards screen.  Speed per calculation is shown per operation with a color-coded system displaying difficulty level.  Different screens are provided for each operation.

Other Notes: The full app doesn’t include any advertising or email links; it does include external and social media links in the Parents & Teachers screen and the Omega Labs information screen that can be accessed from the main page.  The free lite version includes the above as well as an in-app purchase options.

What We Liked:

Since I installed Mathtopia+ on the school iPad (mostly used by our oldest girl), I’ve found our 10-year-old ‘sneaking’ time on the iPad and playing it for fun.  Do I mind if she’s hiding somewhere with the iPad answering math fact questions as quickly as possible to develop mastery and fluency?  Ummm, no.

To me, that’s always one of the key signs of a successful educational app.  Not only is it directly educational, it’s also engaging enough to ‘call out’ to its players, encouraging them to come back and play again, and again, and again.  The gem-matching puzzle-style is well proven to be addictive – the addition of math facts to the mix is just incredibly creative and effective – I love it.

The combination of gaming process and math facts is smooth, so that the application of math knowledge is essential to game progression.  One of the big motivators for children is feeling like the academic skills they learn in school have a purpose – here they do!  You need to solve those math questions to move ahead in the game, to earn points, to blast rows of gems, intrinsic motivation – Mathtopia has it in spades.

I also taught my 7-year-old to play and she rates it highly as well – it was exciting for me as a mom to see her put those budding math skills to use.  I love how the levels start so simply, allowing even young children to access the game, and then build up to mastery of all of the core math facts. Your child can stick to the levels for facts they’ve been introduced to and progress as they are able.  Even if you have an older child in need of remedial math fact practice, the app design is perfect for learners of all ages, not childish at all (even fun for adults!)

This is definitely one to try out in the free version, it’s pretty easy to get the hang of it once it’s in your hands and your children can practice addition for free!

What We Didn’t Like:

The app doesn’t include a pause button, sometimes we fake it by hitting the quit button and then choosing the resume button.  It takes some practice and experience to figure out the bonuses and tools (shuffle and hammer) and there are no verbal instructions for pre-readers.  I’d love it if the High Scores board was divided into operations, instead of overall mixed scores – this would help family members compare their performance in addition vs. multiplication etc.

Overall:

Mathtopia+ is so compelling you might find you and your children sneaking time on the iPad to play this educational game.  Combining comprehensive math fact practice in all four main operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) with the addictive game-play of three (or more) jewels in a row matching games, something about this app makes you want to keep going and going!

Buy this iPad app now for $3.99!

Download the free lite version to try this iPad app before you buy for free with IAP!

Have you downloaded this app?  Let us know what you and your children thought – leave a comment!