Reading Apps for Kids

Like most parents, I would love to see my son spend time using a device such as my iPhone or iPad for educational purposes. So occasionally, usually after he’s spent too much time playing Fruit Ninja or Crash Bandicoot, I go out to the App Store and search for something educational. I can’t say I’ve found that killer education app but I have found a few apps that are not too bad. Perhaps, there is no educational app that can replace Fruit Ninja but I’m planning to keep trying. Here are the three latest titles I downloaded:

1. Park Math HD
2. Montessori Crosswords
3. eReading: Gulliver’s Travels

They are okay but not used very regularly. I’ll go over the good points and bad points of each.

Park Math – this app is designed to teach kids to count, add, subtract and sort. On the positive side, the graphics are simple and nice. There is interaction where the child has to perform tasks – sorting animals, moving items into the hippos mouth, picking the right answer to a math questions (simple addition and subtraction). It has 3 levels so your child can work his/her way up. On the negative side, it is simply too repetitive to hold Isaac’s interest. He’s used it twice but he says it’s “boring.” What more can I say to that?

Montessori Crosswords – I got this app because Isaac is a Montessori kid and I thought it might be something he would understand based on the method. I like that this program has tips for the parent to use with their child (have I done that? no). It also has 3 levels. It allows you to focus on specific sounds. And if they get the right answer, it has a fun yet simple activity as a reward. Isaac enjoys getting it right so he can do the activity. But he cheats. Even when he doesn’t need to. So my suggestion is that they allow us to turn the hints off. I think this app would be used if I did it with him but frankly that’s not why I bought it .

eReader Gulliver Travels – this is a full color story book (abridged) that your child can have read to him or read on his own. The pictures are beautiful – especially on an iPad. It is easy to use. I was surprised that Isaac has gone back to read it on his own several times. I wished they had more books available. I like a classic title like this and hopefully they will add more of the same.

Do these apps really help him? I don’t know but I like the multi-front approach. I’m trying to get him learning from every direction I can!

Have you found any good educational apps for kids? Let us know in the comments.

The Epitome of a Boy Book

A book for boys

If Shark vs. Train isn’t the perfect book for boys, I’m not sure what that book would look like. This is a book that certainly has all the key elements needed to attract any boy:

1. Competition – in a variety of fun “boy” categories such as burping (a perennial favorite), bowling, pie eating, ping pong, diving, video games, sword fighting. I could go on.
2. Pre-school trash talking – they call each other names like soot-spewer, mackerel breath, etc. Nothing serious but just right to make your little guy laugh out loud.
3. Humor – the illustrations completely support the premise and make the storyline more fun.
4. Brevity – not too many words but enough to keep the story moving.

It is one of those fun books that your child will enjoy over and over. We don’t own it but we get it from the library every time we run across it. And Isaac always finds it just as amusing as he did the last time. And the very cool thing: the first time we checked the book out I was reading it to him, now he is now reading it on his own.

Shark vs. Train was written and illustrated by two guys who clearly haven’t forgotten what it’s like to be a boy (Chris Barton, author and Tom Lichtenheld, Illustrator). I’m not familiar with their other titles but for boys everywhere, this is their pièce de ré·sis·tance.

It is a great read for any boy under 8.

Could You Write A Children’s Book?

If you’ve ever thought you could write (or illustrate or both) a children’s book, check out this post from The Pioneer Woman: Twenty Steps To Writing A Children’s Book. She is just about to release her first Children’s book, Charlie the Ranch Dog. It features her two dogs, Charlie and Suzie, and their life on her Oklahoma ranch. It looks like it will be great fun to read.

I have to admit that after reading what seems like thousands of children’s books to Isaac over the last several years, I’ve occasionally had the yen to write my own. Sometimes I get inspired by a great book. And sometimes I find a type of book he loves, like graphic novels, but there are just not enough of them to keep us in reading material. And I think “I should write more of these, kids love them!” Maybe someday…

How about you?

Moo, Quack, Giggle: Fun Books To Read

We love the Click, Clack, Moo Series by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin. We hadn’t read them for awhile but we got Thump, Quack, Moo: A Whacky Adventure at the library the other day and I’m appreciating them anew. Isaac enjoyed it so much we did a video review (he likes one page).

The series includes:

• Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type
• Giggle, Giggle, Quack
• Thump, Quack, Moo: A Whacky Adventure
• Duck for President
• Dooby Dooby Moo

The series starts with Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type which is about the cows finding an old typewriter and typing letters to the farmer requesting improvements in their living conditions. The series continues with Giggle, Giggle, Quack where the duck gives the farmer’s brother the business while the farmer is on vacation. The duck must be popular because he is featured in Thump, Quack, Moo: A Whacky Adventure and again in Duck for President.

The books are easy to read although there are a few words that may be tough for a beginning reader. They are entertaining for reading to a child of any age. The illustrations are colorful and fun and the stories are hilariously told. But, seriously, why shouldn’t the cows have electric blankets? I’m sure there isn’t anyone who hasn’t wondered how those barn animals stay warm all winter long. Or whether or not the ducks would use the diving board if available.

My favorite is the original, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type. Isaac prefers Giggle, Giggle, Quack the best because that duck is pretty funny. But you can’t go wrong with any one of them.

How do you keep your child reading over the Summer?

I’m happy that school is almost out (we have only 4 weeks left) but I am concerned about losing momentum over the summer especially where it comes to reading. In previous years, I’ve taken advantage of our local library summer reading programs for Isaac. They usually give the kids a goal for each week and they get weekly rewards and the chance to win a big prize at the end if they complete all the weekly assignments. I will probably do that again and it may be more fun for Isaac as he can actually read books himself instead of being read to. I think that holds new and exciting possibilities for this year as long as I can keep him from picking books that are too hard to read on his own.

Of course, there is always the “just read as many books to him as he can stand” strategy and I have certainly employed that over the past few years. However, I want to do something more formal or structured. Something akin to a real plan.

Back when I was seriously considering homeschooling, I purchased a workbook based on Charlotte Mason theories called Language Lessons For Little Ones. The workbook focused on practice writing letters along with some question and answers on poems and paintings that were included in the book. I loved it! Isaac did not. This is one of several reasons he is not being homeschooled . I was tempted to buy another of these workbooks to work on this summer but I resisted the urge. Isaac would thank me if he knew.

Next week I am going to Isaac’s school with him for a VIP night where he can show a person of his choice what he does at school. I’m hoping to pick up a few pointers of projects I can continue working on with him. I’ll be looking for work he is already familiar with and won’t realize that I shouldn’t know about. The nice thing about a Montessori child is that they are taught to work independently and if I can discipline myself to guide him a little (and not fall into the bad habit of “entertaining” him), he is quite capable of working on lessons on his own.

What are your summer reading or learning plans? Do you know of any good workbooks or other learning tools for keeping kids from completely forgetting what they learned during the school year? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Is Your Child Ready To Journal?

I often mention my favorite book of ideas for teaching your child to read, Raising a Confident Reader, and how it emphasizes the importance of writing in a child’s journey to reading on their own. Isaac mentioned to me recently that he was doing a journal at his preschool. Of course, I wondered what exactly would a five year old write in his journal? So I check it out from time to time when I go to pick him up from school. He usually writes about a three or four word sentence for each entry. And he always draws a picture to illustrate. The “articles” (and I use that term loosely) have been along the lines of:

• I like Star Wars.
• I luv Halo.
• I finis my work book, yay!

It is not great literature but it is so amazing to me. At five years old, he is writing about something that is on his mind and illustrating it. Wow. I’ll say it again, never underestimate your children. They are capable of more than you realize.

Have you found any fun and unique ways to get your kids writing? Please share them in the comments!

Give Your Kids A Place To Read

I recently set this area up in our living room for Isaac to have better access to his books and to encourage him to read. And it’s working! He spent most of the weekend getting books out and looking through them. We also took the opportunity to go through all our books and get rid of the ones we don’t like and will never read again. We took them to Half Price books and they gave us $23 for them which we let Isaac use to buy 5 new books. He was thrilled.

I got this great idea to set up an area for Isaac from the Litlad blog. I think it is really going to encourage Isaac to read more. Even though he can read very well on his own, he doesn’t do it. Maybe he thinks I need to be there too but hoping this will help with that transition.