Steve Jobs was a true genius… in many aspects, but the amount of wisdom from himself and his amazing team that built the iPad 2 is ingenious by itself! The imaginations used to develop such a product and the numerous available applications are forever remembered for strengthening the minds of my kids. (and my own!!) For those of you who have their doubts about another “gaming system”… which I hate to admit was me—the iPad is so much more than that. I honestly would not have thought to buy the “device.”… a lot of money… now I know it is worth every penny!
Let me just describe my favorite things…
To start off easy, with why moms would love it!! I use it for:
· Online banking…easily accessible = pay bills as I am going through the mail!
· Betty Crocker app… find and save recipes for future use
· Wilton
· Cozi – online calendar... I can update cozi.com from any computer with internet!!!, but the iPad’s cozi schedule is easy to keep track of! Really helps Daddy have a quick view of the week ahead
· And of course my blog… where Joe reads it!
Of course, there are fun games to explore for adults too: angry birds, Sudoku, word search, etc… So mommy really enjoys it but I mostly enjoy watching how quickly BOTH of the boys pick up the information within the amazing apps! AND its bribery tactics that come with it!... All of a sudden: Isaac is a better eater! And Trevor is a good bath taker! Joe and I enjoy the laptime/bonding time we have together when it is “itad”time (what Trevor calls it!) We still read books, and play board games, but it is a different type of “learning” and the kids don’t even know it!!
Isaac’s favorites:
· Little Explorers Firehouse Adventure—8 mini games that let you act like a fireman
· Alphabet Tracing – Trace capital and lowercase letters and numbers with your finger… Also says an object that starts with that letter (Trevor “draws” on the tablet – AND repeats the word!!)
· Super Why –(One of Mommy’s favs for Isaac) PBS Kids application “Helps your kids achieve the power to read.” You are 1 of 4 super heroes and you practice the alphabet, rhyming, spelling, writing and reading – I know Isaac is good at this one… because you watch him and he purposely picks both wrong answers first just to see what the super hero will do... Amazing game!
· Tic-Tac-Toe –Isaac really beats me at this—and it is fast and easy… He will win and say “yeah!” And moves right on, same when he “losted”…So a good game for learning sportsmanship too!
· Choo-Choo lite—is a free version (can buy more) where trains need help switching tracks to pick up passengers…Trevor loves to see them “cras” (Crash!)
· Monkey Math School
· Alphabet Find – Find capital and lowercase letters, numbers, colors and shapes (it talks to you=also good for Trevor!)
· Interactive Alphabet – (we have lots of Alphabet ones, but this one is the favorite) You get to “play” with each letter… A is for Apple… then you can eat away at the apple by touching it… bites appear until you hit the core!
Trevor’s games: (He enjoys all of the above ones too.. and watching Isaac play, which I think is great for him= he is listening to more words, and learning patience/sharing.)
· Toy Story 1 (the interactive book)—this one was free... may just purchase more… typical book that reads to him—you can control the page turning, or the computer does it for you... can interact with each page... It’s fun discovering what each one has.. also has some cute games attached to it!
· Monkey Preschool Lunch Box (counterpart to Math School ALL DAY! – again, the monkey brings you through games.. puzzles, matching, colors
· Shape Puzzles—the animals one is free (can buy more – of course) jigsaw puzzles with a cute turtle that tells you the name of the animal when completed!
· Let’s Count – Trevor just starting counting!!!!! Couldn’t be happier! – this is a cute app from Laugh and Learn (like the toys) that counts animals – nice pace for Trevor who currently skips 3, 4 and 7, but says 11…12…and 14 sometimes! (WOW right??!)
The next few speech dedicated ones were a little more $$$, but worth it:
· Speech Stickers – You pick a boy, girl, kitty, monster, or alien to pronounce a beginning or ending sound and place the sticker on the “page.” Then, when you have placed 5 “stickers” (or you can set it for more—and the Parent controls when the kids has completed the sound to get another sticker) Trevor chooses how to get rid of them… =The train takes them away, boots squish them... Balloons raise them “way into the air,” etc! He loves that part!
· ArtikPix --Uses flashcards and matching (and the computer pronounces the words clearly!!) The parent chooses which “sounds” to work on and it picks words that begin, end, or contain in the middle sound – then you can flip through flashcards, or play matching while it repeats the words for you… Sometimes Trevor “taps” the same card too many times = the computer has to catch up to him… and repeats the word as many times as he tapped (good and bad) depending on Trevor’s mood!
· Speech with Milo is pretty good too… We have “Verbs” and sometimes Trevor “shuts down” when we play Milo ... because I think it is too challenging and he hides in my arm until I change the “game”… so a good challenge for the future??... For example Milo will say, “Fly”… “Milo is Flying”…Too many words to concentrate on.. but it is a good program for developing words and phrases!... would like to try a different version, but don’t know which one yet
· Smart Oral Motor – is a cute duck that gets you to move your mouth and tongue to strengthen those muscles, you can select how many times to do each action—he is cute, but a little too slow moving...Trevor enjoys him!
Most of the applications were free or 99 cents. I like to find the apps online (google search) and read about them first.. esp, if I am going to “pay” for them. But there is a “genius” button on the iPad… once you use a few of the apps= it suggests more for you!
Finally, as promised – our favorite iPad apps... please share your favorites in the comments so we can expand our collection!! We thoroughly enjoy the time the iPad allows us to share together! And most importantly what Trevor has already achieved with it. If anything the confidence he has gained to “speak” verbally back at it! It has already opened doors for him! I HIGHLY recommend it and the ever growing library of applications to anyone who wants to strengthen their child’s scope of learning, especially for speech! Great family Christmas gift!!
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