Kindergarten Kids Math

Kindergarten Kids Math was created by Infinut and includes 6 different math activities for kindergarten students. This is my first review on this blog of an app that is in the Google Play market only. While android markets have certainly expanded greatly recently, it still lags behind the iTunes market when it comes to educational apps for young children at least in terms of quantity. Let's see how this android math app stacks up quality-wise. Price: $0.99 (there's a free version as well).

Device Requirements: Requires Android 2.1 and up.

Developmental Appropriateness: The six activities are Counting, Maze (where you follow a specific number to complete a maze), Sequence (fill in the missing number), Tens and Ones (use coins to make a specific amount), Add and Subtract. These activities are appropriate for kindergarteners, but what it's missing or where it could be improved is in the details. My biggest complaint is for Counting. See the picture to the right. Kids are asked to put a target number of balls in the container, going from 1-20 in order. A little boring, but ok, we're teaching quantity, one-to-one correspondence etc. But you can see in the picture that the balls line up in rows of 6. Yes, kids should be able to count by 6's, but it would make more sense, especially for beginning learners if it were by rows of 5's or 10's. These are more common quantities to count by especially as the numbers get bigger. Since it goes up to twenty, having rows of five would make it all even where you can have 4 rows of 5. It's just an easier number to group by (grouping being a good strategy!) Other little details that carry over to the other activities are that it doesn't count when you place each ball in the container nor when you tap on them to count them or once you've submitted the answer. These little details can go a long way to reinforce the material.  Rating: 3/5 (aim for around 5 years)

Balance: There are verbal instructions for each task. Maybe a quick demo would be better. For the Tens and Ones task, I actually did not really know what to do! It says, "Move 10 and 1 coins into the jars to make 5" Does that mean put 5 coins in the jars? When you press the "how to play" setting, it says, "Move 5 balls into the box using your finger." I think this needs some updating. Aside from that, it should really be saying, something with the words "cents" or "amount" to indicate that it wants you to add up some coins to make the target number. The instructions for Sequence sound a little weird to, but it's clear what to do. Rating: 3.5/5

Sustainability: For each task, it shows how much you've gotten through and there are hundreds of items, so it'll take awhile to complete everything. However, overall, I find these activities to be nothing more than drill. There's no goal or premise, the voice is not very engaging - so basically unless you're a kid who just naturally likes to do make activities, this won't be very motivating. Rating: 3/5

Parental Involvement: Nothing much here either. No settings to limit the range of numbers, reports - the only thing you can do is turn off the instructions. Rating: 3/5

Total: 12.5 out of 20 - 3 stars

Disclosure: I received this app for free for review purposes.

Creative Genius On-The-Go!

Creative Genius On-the Go! was created by Jr Imagination. It's a set of cards that have "What if's," "Imagine That!" scenarios and "Wack-tivities" that let kids' and families' imaginations run wild. Price: $0.99

Device Requirements:  Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1 or later.

Developmental Appropriateness: This is a fun game - who hasn't come up with crazy scenarios to pass the time on a road trip or something? But I never really thought of it as "educational" or as "creative thinking." But I guess it is! There's a nice explanation of skills included in the app, and it's kinda convinced me. BUT - of course the extent of learning/thinking depends on the players. You can get really into it and think of all these possibilities, but if you're not into it, this doesn't really inspire you to get into it. It's really just basically a bunch of cards with the scenarios and some possible discussion questions. There's no sound/narration either, so this is really meant for parents to play with their kids, at least the younger kids. Rating: 4/5 (aim for around 8)

Balance: So this is where I ask the question again, is this better as an app? I actually owned board games similar to "what ifs" and "imagine that", but they both had more of a game element to them. This app doesn't capture that game feel. It's just more of a launching pad for conversation. There aren't really any features that capitalize on the affordances of the device. You can take notes or save a specific card as a favorite - but that's really it. What about being about to draw or incorporating videos - make the scenarios come alive. Rating: 2/5

Sustainability: So, really, I don't need this app to play this game. These are scenarios that people have come up with on their own, or heard about from another person or game. Also, once you've read the scenarios here, you can just remember them and not need the app. What is here that makes me come back to this app? Rating: 2/5

Parental Involvement: This is a nice group game. There's a setting to make it show only scenarios for a specific number of people. The discussion questions are also good to help someone lead the conversation. Rating: 5/5

Total: 13 out of 20 = 3 stars

Hot Dots Jr.

Hot Dots Jr. was created by Educational Insights and aims to teach kids colors, letters, shapes, numbers, and patterns. It includes Ace the Talking, Teaching Dog. I like the idea of have a virtual "teacher" so let's see if Ace delivers. Price: $0.99

Device Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 3.0 or later

Developmental Requirements: In general, the activities assess appropriate skills for preschoolers and kindergartners. The app basically just takes kids through rounds of multiple-choice questions like, "Match the uppercase and lowercase letters" or "Which completes the sequence?" (By the way, using the words completes the sequence is too hard! Many little kids do not know the word sequence or even pattern. Many assessments use the phrase, "What comes next?" instead.) The difficulty in each round ranges, especially with letters, but there's no setting to select specific tasks. Some will be too easy and some will be too hard, but it goes fast enough where it's maybe ok. But it would be nice if parents and kids could select specific tasks to work on, or at least instead of a total score, it actually broke down scores by task. The activities remind me of actual assessments, but with less information.

Where I've set myself up for disappointment is with this whole Ace the Talking, Teaching Dog. To me, that means that Ace provides good instruction and feedback to help kids understand their answers - correct or incorrect. However, Ace does not offer anymore feedback than most apps, giving approval when correct, and maybe a bark when wrong. A "bow wow" tells me nothing. Rating: 3/5 (aim for around 4 years).

Balance: The tasks are very straightforward. The voiceover is clear and repeats the question. Sometimes, especially in the case of "which completes the sequence," kids who are unfamiliar with the tasks may need the prompt repeated, but also rephrased. Rating: 4/5

Sustainability: There doesn't seem to be a goal here, you get a score at the end of each round, but nothing else to really keep kids going, unless they just like answering questions. Rating: 3/5

Parental Involvement: Given the structure of the tasks, this is where I think it needs the most improvement. While its good to just have kids practice, there also needs to be instruction involved for them to improve and there is none within the tasks themselves. So what it needs is to provide parents with the knowledge of what and how to help their kids. Rating: 3/5

Total: 13 out of 20 - 3 stars

Disclosure - I received this app for free for review purposes

Yum Num's Galaxy

Yum Num's Galaxy was created by GoodHustle Studios, Inc. and is all about Captain Yum Num trying to save the galaxy with good food because the grim future holds only a galaxy where fast food is available. And of course, Captain Yum Num is a cat! Price: $0.99

Device Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 4.2 or later.

Developmental Appropriateness: First off, I'd like to say that as an adult, I found this app hilarious - in a fun way. It's got this 70's music, arcade game vibe. Not sure if kids would get that, but parents can enjoy a laugh. But let's not get too silly, cause we're on a serious mission here! It's Captain Yum Num's against the fast food industry! He has to first figure out what food he needs to make, then fly around finding the correct ingredients. Kids can learn what goes into "Ants on a Log" or Mac n'cheese. The actual recipes are also provided in a separate section. The whole premise, while funny - there's lots of little touches you'll have to see for yourself - can get a little slow and repetitive as Captain Yum Nums just cycles through the whole process with each dish. There's more watching Captain Yum Num's go from scene to scene than doing. My biggest concern is that the premise sets this up to be an app that teaches about nutrition and eating healthy. While many of the recipes are seemingly "lite" versions - like the pizza is made with tortillas (but still with 20 slices of pepperoni!) or the mac n' cheese uses skim milk, there's only a couple of vegetable and or fruit focused dishes. The dishes are more typical kid favorites rather than dishes with a nutritional focus. I wish this also provided some direct, kid-friendly information about eating healthy. Rating: 3.5/5 (aim for around 5)


Balance: The whole look is very stylized in an old arcade way. There are lots of scene changes though, which could just be lost on a younger kid. Television research has shown that the formatting, including scene changes, fade effects, etc. really does effect learning and attention. Rating: 3.5/5

Sustainability: While I know kids can laugh at the same thing over and over again, I think overall, this is fun at first, but gets repetitive - there's no different levels or challenges. There's a small goal of feeding the aliens, but it's easily accomplished and the goal stays the same.  Rating: 3/5

Parental Involvement: There are recipes available, which I guess in some kinda indirect way means parents should get involved and make those foods! Parents should take this opportunity to talk about nutrition and kids likes and dislikes. Rating: 3.5/5

Total: 13.5 out of 20 = 3 stars

Disclosure: I received this app for free for review purposes.

The Tree I See

The Tree I See was created by Aridan Books and is a sweet story about friendship and helping each other out. It was conceptualized by a neurosurgery physician assistant and claims to have been designed to help working memory and re-call ability. Let's see how and whether it does so. Price: $0.99

Device Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 3.1 or later

Developmental Appropriateness: This is a solid e-book. The story topic is appropriate for young kids - maybe not totally exciting, but is a cute and heartwarming story about a tree who makes lasting friends in the forest by helping each other out.  The interactive features are relevant to the story and tapping on the characters will make them repeat what they've said in the story which is a nice touch to reinforce plot points. A feature I thought had a lot of potential is how the text is presented. It automatically appears in a box as it's being read and then goes away so kids can interact with the pictures. If you tap on an arrow within the text box, it enlarges in the center of the page. I thought this is a great opportunity for parents and teachers to focus kids on the text and help build their literacy skills. However, it does not highlight word by word, repeat if tapped on, provide definitions, etc. It only highlights a few words at a time, and you can press play to hear the entire text read again. It relies on the parent or teacher to provide extra support, enhancement, and reinforcement. So while I like the thought, it could have been taken further.


So what about improving working memory and re-call? From the iTunes description, it says it does so through "consistent illustrative theme and gradual character integration, to maintain focus and assist with the cognitive development of your child." Don't many books do this? Yes, the tree remains constant, and each new friend is added to the picture as they are introduced in the story. So illustratively, the story is updated and provides the cues for plot points, but the text does not update and build upon/repeat the characters as have been seen in many other children's stories. And for re-call, how are we measuring this? I thought maybe there would be prompts for kids to answer questions or to think about what happened in the story, but there aren't any. One great way to improve retention is to make things explicit and to verbalize it, and I don't see that here. So yes, while I think having the characters on the page repeat what they say in the text is nice, I don't otherwise see what else separates this e-book from other good e-books for comprehension and re-call. 

Overall, The Tree I See adds some nice touches to help learning, but maybe over-emphasizes the claims. Rating: 4/5 (aim for around 5 years)


Balance: For the most part, the interactive elements help to enhance the story. At times though, tapping on them make them all overlap, especially later on the in the story with more characters involved. Rating: 4/5


Sustainability: It took me a few readings to really start appreciating some of the touches here, so I think parents and kids will too and discover new things with each reading. Rating: 4/5


Parental Involvement: There's no laid out role for parents, but I think the text feature provide good opportunity and a good cue for parents to highlight words or plot points or whatever. Rating: 4/5


Total: 16 out of 20 = 4 stars


Of note: 100% of Net proceeds will be given to Autism Speaks for the month of May and June. Thereafter 10% of our proceeds will continue to be given to Autism Speaks. 


Disclosure: I received this app for free for review purposes.

The Singing Alphabet

The Singing Alphabet was created by the Ministry of Letters ltd (kinda sounds like some Harry Potter reference, doesn't it?) As you can tell from the title, it's an app that combines music and the alphabet, where each letter sings its letter-sound in an artsy, jazzy, kinda way. I'm probably not doing it justice with my description, so please take a look at the video below. Price: $0.99

Device Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 4.3 or later.

Developmental Appropriateness: I think the purpose of this app is really to get kids exposed to letters/letter-sounds and music/rhythms, as opposed to any direct teaching. It's pretty free form, where kids can choose whatever letters to start singing. It doesn't label the letters and my version shows only the lowercase. I can see it encouraging kids to try spelling out different words or their names to see what that would sound like. But then you realize that you can't use a letter more than once, so that limits the types of words you can spell correctly. I also think it's easy to get lost in the music and rhythm than to really focus on the letter-sounds. So overall, I think this is actually a cute app to get kids in music with some light exposure to letters. But learning potential may be low. Rating: 3.5/5 (aim for around 4).

Balance: If I think of this as an alphabet learning app, then I think the music aspect overshadows the letter-sounds. I think even if kids are singing along and making the sounds, they might not connect it to the sound that particular letter makes, but rather cute sounds these cute letters are making. It would be more effective if there was a "learning" section first, where the letters at least clearly annunciate their names and sounds and then have what the app currently is as the "putting it all together" game that they could play. From reading the description on iTunes, it sounds like there was clear educational intent for letter learning, so I will rate it as such. Rating: 2.5/5

Sustainability: This is an innovative way to get kids interested in music and letters. If kids like this kind of music, then I think they will enjoy coming back to this app. However, if this kind of music is not their thing, then they might not be engaged. Rating: 3.5/5


Parental Involvement: Parents might find this app engaging for them as well. They can spell words out with their child and see what music it makes. There's no explicit role for parents, but the app can easily be played together. Rating: 3.5/5

Total: 13 out of 20 - 3 stars

RondomTali London

RondomTali London was created by RondomTali Travel CC. The goal of this app is to help parents talk to their kids about an upcoming vacation - in this case, to London. It shows famous landmarks and people and also a sports activity, which is fitting for the upcoming Olympics (but is London otherwise known for it's sports?). Kinda a neat idea - Price: $0.99.

Device Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 4.3 or later.

Developmental Appropriateness: I really had no idea what to expect from this app, but I did think this was a very timely app, given the Olympics. Kids follow Tali on her trip to four destinations. On each page, it shows you the landmark, like Big Ben and the Buckingham Palace, labels it, and there are some interactive elements like you can "tickle" Big Ben or see fireworks around the London Eye. The most relevant interactive feature is kids can put the appropriate hat on characters on the Buckingham Palace page - like the tall black hats on the guards. But upon closer look, it's not all exactly accurate like the crown goes on Tali instead of the queen and there's a unicorn and lion, who gets a crown as well. There's also a sports page where it shows a bunch of different sport icons, labels it, and then it does a quick demonstration of that sport. And that's about it. So I guess although I didn't know what to expect, I guess I expected more. I don't think this has all that much content or really makes you excited to go to London. There's no fun facts or reasons for why kids might want to see these places. I guess it's still a good conversation starter for parents to use, but parents will definitely have to fill in a lot of the blanks. Rating: 3/5 (aim for around 6 years).


Balance: As you probably already picked up, many of the interactive features are not relevant to visiting London. Parents may even have to tell their kids that they will not be seeing a lion in front of the palace! For the purpose of this app, I really don't see why it was necessary to include a unicorn or a ticklish Big Ben. I think it should set realistic expectations for the upcoming trip. Rating: 2.5/5


Sustainability: Again, there's not much here to keep kids coming back at all. And, this is only specific to London (looks like they will be releasing other cities). Rating: 2.5/5


Parental Involvement: Although I see parents using this with their child, and having conversations about their upcoming trip, it's not because the app offers any role to the parent. There are no prompts or suggested activities and topics. Actually, I think parents need to be involved because the app doesn't offer enough info on its own. Rating: 3/5


Total: 11 out of 20 - 2 stars


Disclosure: I received this app for free for review purposes.

Count-A-Licious

Count-A-Licious was created by Brainster Apps. It's an introduction to numbers kinda app. It may sound weird to phrase it like that, but there really are many steps to learning what numbers mean and this app really targets those initial steps. So while a narrow focus, it's the foundation to learning math. Price: The initial app is free, but after the first level that concentrates on the numbers 1-5, there's an in-app purchase for $0.99, and that gets you up to 20.

Device Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 4.3 or later and also Kindle Fire.

Developmental Appropriateness: There are 4 games: Number Show, Counting Game, Tracing Game, and Treasure Crits. Ok, really only 3, as the last one there is more of a fun, reward game. Brainster Apps has also made my job easier by clearly stating what their learning intentions are: 1) Recognize number sounds, 2) Recognize numbers visually, 3) Understand that numbers have a sequence, 4) Understand that numbers are associated with a quantity, 5) Understand that numbers in the beginning of the sequence are associated with smaller amount of objects and latter number with more, 6) Introduction to writing numbers. Do they achieve these objectives? Yes. I think together, the three games, albeit very simple games, are done well. They sequence the numbers whenever possible and also associate the numbers with objects fairly often. I think these games do a good job of showing and teaching, but I do think this app is missing an important step. While the games all show the number to object correspondence, I guess we don't actually know if the kids "get it" - not with these games at least. It'd be good to have an additional game where the kids are asked to find/choose/tap - whatever you want, a target number of objects. Then we would know for sure that they've absorbed what these three games are aiming to teach. Rating: 3.5/5 (aim for around 3 years).


Balance: While the special effects that happen as you count make it fun and engaging, at times, the sound effects are louder than the voice counting, especially in the Counting Game. Seeing the cool effects will already be taking kids attention away from the counting, so it's especially important that they at least hear the numbers loud and clear. Rating: 3.5/5

Sustainability: Cycling through the games gives it a nice feel of variety. Throwing in the just for fun reward game is nice too - and I think it's a game kids will get a kick out of. Since this app targets a narrow skill set and only goes up to 20, kids may master and bore of this app quick - although the goal is to master it, so I guess I can't complain! Rating: 5/5


Parental Involvement: This is a one-player game (it does allow for multiple kids to have profiles) and of simple games so maybe parents don't have quite as much of a role, but can still reinforce the material. there is no review/progress monitoring for parents. Rating: 3.5/5


Total: 15.5 out of 20 = 4 stars

Kids Crosswords

Kids Crosswords was created by Learning Touch. It boasts 100 words, 10,000 puzzles, and 10 levels of increasing difficulty. I like crosswords so let's go. Price: $0.99

Device Requirements:  Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

Developmental Appropriateness: Ok, I must admit, I was at first disappointed. I was expecting crossword puzzles. Yes, for kids, but some form of here's a clue, figure out the answer. This is more of a put the words together. There are pictures, and you make the word for that picture and the words cross and intersection. But even on the highest level, you can just tap on the picture and it tells you the word. But, after I got over the initial realization that this was not a crossword puzzle app, I thought that this was actually a pretty good phonics app. The 10 levels may seem like they only increase in difficulty by a smidgeon, but the progression actually makes sense - although I'd still like to see it get into a larger range of words and combinations of sounds or even not providing the labels for the pictures so kids have to figure it out. For what's there, throughout the process, it very clearly sounds out everything, from the letter options to as you place them correctly. The blending of the sounds together could be smoother - as is it's very separated so it's hard to hear how all the sounds together make up the word.


I've let go of wanting this to be more like a real crossword puzzle, but I do have to say that the developers still could have given the crossword aspect a little more thought. For example, all the pictures start off in black and white. For one, it's a picture of a painter, and the target word is actually red. But there would have been no way for someone who was trying to figure it out to get "red" from a black and white painter without tapping on it, thus eliminating the fun of "figuring it out." Rating: 4/5 (aim for around 4 years).

Balance - Everything is very simple and focused. I like that it doesn't allow you to do anything until it has completed sounding out and saying the words. Rating: 5/5


Sustainability - Although it seems like there's endless puzzles, there are really only 100 words and animations. Another reason I'd like to see a larger library of words is because a lot of the words start repeating, even within one level. This could get repetitive, and kids will just start memorizing. Rating: 3.5/5


Parental Involvement: There's not much to do here for parents. It'd be great if it could what words the kids are struggling with or at least a list of the words that appear on each level or just some sort of review for parents to generalize and reinforce. Rating: 3/5


Total: 15.5 out of 20 = 4 stars


Disclosure - I received this app for free for review purposes.

Butterfly Math

Butterfly Math was created by Bugaboo Math Games for Kids. It's a math drill kinda game, but with a little twist. Instead of coming up with the answer, you are given the answer and asked to come up with the problem. So x+x=7. What does this twist do in terms of learning? Price: $0.99

Device Requirements: Android 2.2 and up

Developmental Appropriateness: So the question here is does it require different cognitive skills/math knowledge to come up with the problem instead of the answer? I think so. It requires more flexibility in thinking - at least at first until you have it all memorized. And from a more practical view, kids don't practice this way of solving math problems as much in school. So in the least, getting the answer is something that may feel more automatic to them while getting the problem may require a pause at first.

Although it might not have been the developer's intent, this way of thinking does kinda prep you for principles like commutativity (3+4=4+3) and inverse (3+4=7; 7-4=?). So this is some untapped potential that I haven't really seen in other math apps. However, here I go again with the need for support and feedback. Nothing is really offered in terms of that. When you get the answer wrong, it just doesn't move on until you do or until the time runs out. So no strategy help is given, hints, prompts, nadda. Also, if kids rely on a certain combination - like if they always choose 3+4 = 7 instead 5+2 or 6+1, then the app should prompt them to try a different way. Further, support that highlights and reinforces the principle that these problems lend themselves to would be amazing. Rating: 3.5/5 (aim for around 7 years).

Balance: There's a game between the levels, but I don't think it detracts from the learning. It actually seems like a good motivator, and the theme of the game (catching butterflies) is related to the butterflies in the task, so it's not taking you to a whole different experience or anything. My only question is whether the colors of the numbers draw attention to certain numbers more. The orange really pops, but sometimes, when the a number is blue and on a blue butterfly, it's not as noticeable. This may affect what numbers kids choose to solve the problems. Rating:4/5

Sustainability: I think this is a nice combination of game and skill. Kids will really like the catch the butterfly "reward" game that adds onto your score. For the content part, you can set it to do different operations (add, subtract, multi, divide). And with the game, there are levels that get increasingly harder. It saves a high scores list, separated for each operation type. One note though that it'd be nice if kids could choose something other than butterflies - in case butterflies really don't interest them. Rating: 4.5/5

Parental Involvement: So not much here for parents - there's no "review"at all - other than maybe the high scores list, but that may be confounded by kids being really good at catching the butterflies instead of solving the problems. If there were prompts as suggested above, that would give parents prompts to reinforce the material as well. Rating: 3/5

Total: 15 out of 20 - 4 stars

Owl and Cat

Owl and Cat was created by De NitroLab. It is an e-book based off of a poem by Edward Lear. The first three scenes are available for free so you can see what you're getting, but to get the rest of the book is $.99. Price: $0.99

Device Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 4.3 or later.

Developmental Appropriateness: This e-book is a little different - it was designed to promote parent-child book-reading and so does note have a "Read to me" function. Parents or an older person must read this book along with a young child. What it does include is a nifty style of incorporating interactive features. You can move most of the objects/characters around and at the same time. So you can kinda act out the story or whatever else you want to do, creating a different kind of storytelling experience. The text really takes a backseat to the interactive features. While I understand, and like, that the goal is have a more creative joint storytelling experience, this is still a book-reading experience. Rating: 4/5 (aim for around 3 years)

Balance: So given all that you can "play" with, and the fact that the text is not straightforward and in more of a poem form, I'm afraid the text will just be lost. The text itself is pretty small on some pages and the font is harder to recognize for little kids. Rating: 3/5

Sustainability: I think the illustrations are cute and kids will like them and want to play with them. Hopefully, with some guidance, they can come up with many different scenarios to act out. Rating: 4/5

Parental Involvement: This is the strength of the app - that it really does require a parent to be involved and to really take part in the whole experience - not just read the text. Rating: 5/5

Total: 16 out of 20: 4 stars

Makego

Makego is an app created by Chris O'Shea, a British artist and designer. He uses  "technology to make the unimaginable come to life. Inventing new approaches that explore play, human behavior and engagement through interaction design and the visual arts." What does that mean in terms of Makego?  Price: $0.99 (on sale right now).


Device Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later.

Developmental Appropriateness:  So this app does not really have any "educational" content, at least not in the way that the apps I've been reviewing do. But what makes this app so interesting is the innovative way it's blurring the line between virtual play and "real world" play. I at first didn't get what Makego was about - until I saw the picture and video below. Ohhhh.... I get it, the iPhone becomes the toy - (and this does seem more fitting to be used on an iPhone rather than an iPad because of the size). Without "real world" toys coming into play, the app really doesn't come to life on its own. But when used as intended - to augment the traditional sense of pretend play - that's when it gets interesting. Research has shown that pretend play is important to children's cognitive development, so if this app helps to get kids engaged in it, that's a win. It currently provides three premises - race car, ice cream truck, and boat. So it gives kids an easy start to create their own world and story. Further, it brings in a sense of realism - so rather than the kid making the vroom vroom noise, the app does or rather than pretending there are customers for the ice cream truck, the app provides them. While this added sense of realism is nice, is it taking away from the pretend play aspect that helps cognitive development? The child is now taking on less roles mentally, they are not the car nor the customers. But on the other hand, maybe it encourages the child to develop a richer pretend environment by adding on details and providing some interaction that the child may not otherwise have had on their own. I don't know the answer. Maybe like with almost all research, it's a little of both - this will lead some children to run away with their imaginations, and lead other children to get less creative because they are using the app as a crutch. But I do like this app as it opens the door to viewing digital devices in different ways. And maybe in the least, buying this app is way cheaper than buying a toy car, ice cream truck and boat (of course assuming you've already purchased the iPhone for yourself). Rating: 4/5 (aim for around 5 years).

Balance: Some of the interactive features are nice, like actually being able to sell virtual ice cream. Some might be a little limiting in terms of creating a world outside of the app. For example with the boat, the boat develops so many holes that need patching (why does the boat break so much in the first place?!) and ducks keep coming up for bread that it might keep the child from creating his or hers own world around the boat. Rating: 3.5/5


Sustainability: Pretend play can be endless. And I think kids will really enjoy the novelty of using the iPhone as the toy itself. I can't wait to see what new vehicles are next. Rating: 5/5


Parental Involvement: Parents may have an added incentive of keeping an eye on their device to get involved in the pretend play. ha. A goal of this app is to create an opportunity for cooperative play, and I think this app successfully does so, at least for the beginning when the idea of this type of device usage is so novel to children and adults. Rating: 5/5


Total: 17.5 out of 20 = 5 stars

Montessori Revolution

Montessori Revolution was created by MEDL MOBILE and is based off of the Montessori method of teaching. One of the main tenets of Montessori schools is a hands-on approach, that movement is important for learning and cognition. So on one hand, I can see how the interactivity of an iPad may go well with this tenet, but on the other hand, moving things around on a 2d screen is not the same as real world movement. Does Montessori activities really translate to apps? Price: $0.99 (for the initial drawing activity plus one of your choice - the rest are in-app purchases).

Device Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

Developmental Appropriateness: There are currently six available activities. With the initial purchase, I received The Canvas (freeform drawing), and The Moveable Alphabet. I then purchased The Short Bead Stairs (math) and The Pouring Exercise. Note - I originally wanted to purchase The Pink Tower as I know that as a staple Montessori activity, but received an error message instead. Anyway, back to my question of whether these activities translate well.... I think some better than others. The drawing activity is like other drawing apps - kids who like drawing will like this app. The alphabet activity functions fairly well where you would drag the letter to it's place, as you would a letter block or magnet. It also provides a clear breaking down of the letter-sounds for each word, and letter-sounds for each letter option. These activity seems to be more traditional, and thus the easiest of the Montessori activities to translate to an app. The other two activities work less well. The pouring activity, is exactly that - you pour objects from one beaker into another. While the innovation of translating this into an iPad activity is kinda cool, the movement of pouring using the iPad is not really the same movement of real life pouring. You do not feel the weight lessen as you pour nor does the overall motion seem natural. And further, it seems like there should be more of a goal to this activity, or at least more examples of pouring from different containers or different amount of objects. I was most disappointed with the Short Bead Stairs. This is also a pretty staple Montessori material. There are different colored connected beads to represent each number. The activity here asks for a number, say 3, so you would move the strand of 3 white beads over. First, the number they ask for is the same color as the beads of the right length. So you can just match color rather than number. But where this really falls short is that I think these beads could be used for so much more, but this app does not take you there. Often, these beads can be used to help solve basic math problems, like 2+3. So you could take the 2 red bead rod and the 3 blue bead rod (or whatever colors they are) and line them up with the 5 bead rod to see that they are the same amount. The beads also help in that you can count the individual beads, which you cannot do in this app. So in sum, I like the ideas of this app, but some of these activities do not maximize on the original intent. Rating: 3/5 (aim for around 4 years)


Balance: Overall, the app is presented in a clean, organized manner, similar to a Montessori school. This is down to the "shelves of activities". Where I do think it could use some improvement is on the instructions. You are presented with a pretty busy instruction screen (see pic). I think that some of these instructions could also be embedded in the activities as prompts. For example, in the alphabet activity, if there is no response for awhile, the app could prompt the child to tap on the picture to hear the word. Or if an incorrect response is given, then a prompt could be given to tap on the letters first to hear the sounds. It's great that this type of support is there, it just may be overwhelming to be presented it all at once and only on a help screen. Rating: 4/5


Sustainability: Some apps are more engaging than others. The pouring one is least (at least of the ones I tried, but I'm hoping the two that I didn't are better!). Once the child has figured out how to pour, then what? I know that another tenet of Montessori is no extrinsic rewards. While that's fine, the activities do need to have some sort of goal, don't you think? At least the alphabet has 3 levels that kids can work on and master. Rating: 3.5/5


Parental Involvement: This app provides a reporting feature where parents and or teachers can see what the child has done and how much time was spent doing it. It's item-level information, which is great for those who have time to look everything over, but I think it needs to also include some more general information. Rating: 3.5/5


Total: 14 out of 20 - 3 stars


Disclosure - I received this app for free for review purposes.

Alphatots

Alphatots was created by Spinlight Studio and is designed to teach your little ones the alphabet by capitalizing on what digital media has to offer. When reviewing apps, I always ask, "Could I have done this same activity with traditional materials (i.e. books, flashcards, etc.)?" I look for apps that show me why I should spend my money on it instead of using what I may already have or buying the traditional version. Alphatots does so. Price: $0.99

Device Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.
Android:  Requires 2.2 and up.


Developmental Appropriateness: The alphabet takes years for children to fully understand. At first children learn the sequence, usually through the alphabet song. Next, they start to learn the individual letters, but not in sequential order. They tend to learn letters that are linked to say their own first name or something they know, such as "K" for "Katie" or I think the most commonly seen in books is "A" for "Apple." This app presents both the alphabet song and each letter linked to a common word. Where this app differs from your typical alphabet book or activity is that the words they link to are verbs, adverbs, or adjectives like "quiet" or "grow" - words that are harder to demonstrate in static form. For each letter, children have to complete an interactive activity that demonstrates the linked word. There is also a voiceover that provides a bit of reinforcement with some humor. This app is great for young kids just learning the alphabet because it combines both a traditional and effective way to present the letters and also demonstrates how technology can help enhance that experience.

The app falls just a little short in a few places. First, although on the main screen, you can switch the letters from uppercase to lowercase, within each activity, both are present. The words only use the lowercase, and the uppercase letter is right next to the word. Children learn the upper case first. So the presentation of the word in the corner may be a little confusing to the younger kids and could in general be more prominent on the screen. Maybe present the word twice, with both upper- and lower-case?Second, the voice over could repeat and further reinforce the letter to word linkage so that the child does not shift his or her focus completely over to the interactive element. It's only said once for each activity. It should at least also be repeated at the completion of the activity. Or even show the letter and word again, emphasizing the first letter. Finally, some of the activities may be hard for the younger children. Rating: 4/5 (aim for around 3 years).

Balance: The overall presentation is very clean. Again, I would add in more repetition and emphasis of the letter and word so that the kids don't forget about them as they engage in the activities. Also, some activities present a tool to use (i.e. with "grow" you would tap on the shovel and drag it to start digging)  while other activities just require you to use your finger (i.e. to cut the strings on balloons, you would just drag your finger through the string - no scissors or tools are shown). This may be a little confusing for kids to know what to do at first. Rating: 4/5

Sustainability: The activities are fun and not only help with letter knowledge by vocabulary as well. You can go through them in sequence or select individual letters. Kids will probably pick favorites based on the letters they like (like ones related to their name) and activity. It would be great if there were different rounds with different words and activities. Having a library of words would be something an app could do that a more traditional format could not. Rating: 4/5

Parental Involvement: Parents should repeat and elaborate the letter linkage and meanings of the words so that it reinforces the purpose of each activity. Given the young age of the target age here, this is should be an activity to do together, so this is a nice and interesting change from a typical letter book or flashcards.  Rating: 4/5

Total: 16 out of 20: 4 stars


Disclosure: I received this app for review for free from the developers.