Kids and creativity

I think I’ve blogged before about the great iPad App “Playschool Artmaker”. Well, I discovered recently that you can use your own backgrounds. Photos that you’ve taken, can now be added to with the Playschool toys and other bits and pieces. So my kids have had a field day! Here’s one of Miss 7 and Mr 3 on the playstation, being cheered on by the PlaySchool toys…

And Mr 3 has decided that he likes ‘hiding’ the people in the photo by covering them with al foil. You just gotta love his creativity!

We also found out that you can make a whole “story”, using the photos and videos that you’ve previously made using the App. But I’d better not add one here; it’d be far too huge! You’ll just have to take my word for it that the stories my kids make are just so darn cute…!
(Oh, and in case you were wondering… No, this is not a paid ad. LOL!)

Tech-savvy kids

I love the fact that my children are digital natives. The screen of my MacBook Pro is covered with little fingerprints from when they’ve been using my iPad / iPodTouch, and have forgotten that they’re not on them anymore. When it comes to technology, their brains don’t ask “can I?”,  but instead “how do I?” – they automatically assume that anything is possible. Whereas I, and others of my (and surrounding!) generations ask “IS that possible?”
Mr 3, in particular, amazes me with what he works out. (And I find it funny when Miss 7 and Miss 4 also ask, “How did you do that?’!) Case in point: the app Vid Rhythm. It’s a cute little app, making cute little video clips from various sounds that you copy. Mr 3 figured it out by himself – and then kindly saved me a copy of his creation. I had no idea that he was even playing with this! He was on the iPod Touch in the lounge room, while I was making dinner one night. I only discovered it after he was in bed that night:

 

Favourite “Speech” Apps

I was asked in a tweet the other day about the Apps I have. And I realized that I couldn’t reply in a tweet, as I have far too many! So I’ve decided to dedicate a few blog posts to the topic. The question related specifically to apps that help with speech development, so I have categorized this first list into ‘word recognition’ and ‘encouraging speech through interaction’. Hope it might be helpful!

Word / Sound recognition (simplest to most complex)

1. I Hear Ewe – three pages of common sounds with very clear, short explanations

2. My Preschool Word – my kids love unlocking jewels by listening to the song of the word they just met – and then putting the image onto crazy photos!

3. Dot to Dot Numbers & Letters – simple dot to dot, with clear number pronunciation

4. Baby Cloud Apps First Words Free – clear pictures with spoken object names

5. Melvin’s Marvellous Words – a memory game using words

6. Little Speller… Three letter words – learn to spell with large pictures and clear word / letter pronunication

7. My First Words; Flashcards – categories with large pictures and clearly spoken words

8. A1 Spelling App – eight categories, with the words spoken by a child instead of an adult.

9. Phonics Genius – clearly spoken words in word families. No pictures, though.

10. Articulation Station – divided into sounds, and the sound placement within the word. Examples are given in words, sentences, and stories. A very thorough app!

 

Encouraging speech through interaction

1. VidRhythm (pictured) – this app really encouraged my youngest to copy the sounds and words, to make the music video. Of this entire list today, this App would be my favourite.
2. Puppet Pals HD – make your own puppet show using up to 8 characters and 3 backgrounds
3. Play School Art Maker – theme-based, choose which characters and objects you want to play, and record videos of your play.
4. Talking Gina the Giraffe / Talking Tom Cat and similar ‘Talking” apps.

Working differently, working smarter…

I was working on my iPad early this morning, then I was called away to attend to my children. Upon returning to the iPad, my first thought was that for some strange reason, it hadn’t put itself to sleep. Then I got closer and realized that it wasn’t that I could still see the keyboard on the screen, but that the screen was black and I could see the reflection of my fingerprint smudges. LOL!
So I’ve been thinking quite a bit about my iPad this morning. I use it a lot, and couldn’t live without it’s calendar – and I absolutely adore the iPad version of HootSuite, but I want to use it more. Currently, I’m using my MacBook for around 90% of my workload, I’d say, and I’m still using it in meetings / presentations etc etc. but it’s cumbersome, and I now have an iPad, so I want to do things differently. Work smarter, not harder (Well, I can’t fit any more into my life, so I need to work smarter anyway!) and this change might work for me.
So, I’ll keep on thinking about it… And let you know what I come up with!
(and yes, I’m guessing that for this move, from Mac to iPad, to be more successful, I will also need to figure out the problem with my Pages not syncing between the two, so that I can transfer my word processing over to the cloud rather than relying so heavily on my Word for Mac…)

Been busy…

So I’ve found the time to blog for Bloxham Marketing today – which has meant that I’ve had less time to write a post here, on my personal blog. Because I’m trying, in-between helping Miss 4 make a rocket ship (see left)

and supervising Mr 2 on my iPad (see right), to organise Mr 2’s entry into  the Early Childhood Developmental entree at Tullawong Primary College. So I’m going to cheat a little, and paste that entry below.

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Image-based promotion

Posted on March 12, 2012 | Leave a comment | Edit

Over the past two weeks, St Paul’s has had a poster campaign running at Morayfield Shopping Centre. We used the same posters that we had up over the Christmas period last year – and I’d like to credit the record number of enrolments the school received, to these posters. Well… it may not have been to these exclusively, but nevertheless…!

And last week, I was inspired by @connectyou‘s post on the new Covers for the Facebook Page Timelines – to be rolled out on the 30 March, but which are able to be ‘published’ beforehand. So yesterday, I got busy. Evidenced by three cover photos. Check them out!

Caloundra Christian College:

St James Lutheran College:

And last but not least… St Paul’s Lutheran Primary School:

So – what do you think?

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And now all I need to do is create Cover photos for the Bloxham Marketing page – and for my personal one too, of course!

Starting young

I love that my kids are starting engage with technology at a young age. I honestly believe that it will set them up for an easier life.

Source: photographersbling.com via Denise on Pinterest

Miss 7 loves photography. Since I came home from #iPadexplore last week and showed her the ‘Water my Photo’ app, she’s been busy manipulating her photos – I especially love the fact that she put her “Ariel” barbie doll in the water (sparking the ‘wet shirt’ comment that I found hilarious enough to tweet and add to fb yesterday). At the moment, Miss 4 is playing with VidRhythm on my iPhone, and Mr 2 is on my iPod, busy getting a radioactive mouse to eat some un-caged cats in Mouse Maze. Yes, these are games, which in a way makes what they are doing no different to sitting in front of the PS2, or the TV. But what I like is the way they are regulating their own play. And more often than not, they’ll choose to challenge themselves with literacy games or mathematical quizzes. Just this morning, my daughters were on my iPad, taking it in turns to spell the words on ‘Word Wizard’, so that at the end of the quiz, all three of them could play with the interactive game at the end. And I just love that.

L: Three cherubs interacting with the post-spelling game on Word Wizard.

R: A photo taken by Miss 7, of Dave the 3D dragon and Proto the little 3D monster, from the String AR App, superimposed on the carpet of their (messy!) bedroom.

Toys for toys?

Today was Day 2 of LEQ’s Mini-conference, exploring iPads in education, on the Sunshine Coast. Again, another very cool day of exploring what iPads can do; how Apps, App chains, and even the tool itself, can be leveraged for better outcomes for our kids. Very very very cool stuff.

Amongst the myriad of sessions and workshops were two standouts for me. Firstly, the very tactile ‘app-cesseries’ – extra bits and pieces that accessorise the iPad (or iPhone, iPod, etc) to give it added functionality. My favourite – in the photo – would have to be the mini-Mater (from Disney’s Cars movie) that you could move on the iPad to explore the world of the movie.

 

And the other standout would have to be my extreme surprise at one of Greg O’Connor’s slides. Still can’t believe it, but there was a screenshot of hmmm… up there. Yes, you read right – he had my last night’s blog entry “The Good Stuff” up there on the screen, and was talking about this ‘cool blog he had found last night’. Absolutely INCREDIBLE!!! I was just so surprised, so grateful, so humbled! (If you ever read this, Greg – thank you SO much!) Absolutely stunned to think that everyone at this conference had, in a way, “visited” my blog. How COOL!!!

So yes, these were my highlights of the day. And if, by any chance, any of my readers also happened to attend the LEQ conference, please feel free to add below what your highlights were. And if you weren’t – then I’d love to hear what you think of the Mater truck!

(Oh, and I’ll be writing a blog post on the other great Apps / links, on the other page – “The Good Stuff”. Hope they’re helpful!)

Any views on Android out there?

I had a long conversation today with someone I respect. Owns a computer shop, but doesn’t sell Macs. And when I mentioned the iPad, I could almost see him recoil. When I pressed him for his opinion, he then offered ‘They’re too easy. They don’t make you think.” A better alternative, in his opinion? An Android.

So, dear readers, what do you think? Used one before? Got one? What’s YOUR opinion on them? I’d love to get your thoughts…

Of chocolates and iPads

I absolutely LOVE chocolate. The real stuff though – not a fan of chocolate icecream, chocolate milk drinks, chocolate powder etc, because it just doesn’t taste the same. Dark chocolate doesn’t do much for me either. (Yes, I know it’s supposedly ‘healthier’ – but still!) But dairy milk chocolate – and especially white chocolate (which I know isn’t ‘really’ chocolate at all) is absolutely scrumptious. I’m partial to Turkish Delight, Chomp bars, Caramello Koalas and those yummy red-covered Lindors but my all-time favourite would have to be Raffaello. It is without parallel, in my opinion. That being said though, I’m chocoholic enough to overlook my preferences when there’s chocolate in front of me.

So hubby walking in last night with a HUGE box of ‘Fundraising’ chocolates presented a minor dilemma. Perhaps I should mention that this is the first time in exactly 20 years that I’ve had a box of fundraising chocolates in my house (yep, finished Year 12 in 1991. Who could have believed that two decades have passed that quickly…?) and I’m just a little concerned that I’ll need to pay for the whole box. Soon. (That Caramel Koala was really quite yummy this morning! And it’s only 7.42am as I write. Having enough to actually SELL is not looking too promising…)

Admittedly, I’ve been up since 3.30. Playing with hubby’s iPad for the first time yesterday made me realise that there was a lot in this world that I was missing out on. So I’ve been researching everything “i”, from iPads and iPods to Macbooks (and Macbook Airs and Macbook Pros). And I found out some interesting things doing so. Did you know that as a student in QUT’s MIT(LIS), if I buy a Mac, I can get an iPod Touch free? That sounds cool. And did you know that TechCrunch is giving away an iPad2? So I’ve entered that competition as well. (I might not have WiFi where I live, but I guess I can plan more trips to Caloundra or Caboolture, hey!)

Anyway, here’s hoping. Wish me luck!

Bummed!!!

I blogged the other day about the i-envy that I suspect I have. Hubby had brought home a new phone (no, not an iPhone, but close enough, in comparison with my current one!) and I realised that I was just a little bit envious. I forgot to mention in that blog post that he had also told me he had been given an iPad a few months ago, and it was sitting in the techie’s office at work. Still in the box.

Yes, I screamed at him (mock scream, of course, BTW) and have been nagging at him for the past two days for him to bring it home so I could have a play. Check it out for myself, sort of thing. He had to find it, of course, but I guess my desire must have sunk in, because he brought it home with him tonight. Put it next to the HUGE box of chocolates that he had also brought home today, part of Miss Six’s school fundraising drive.

And you know when I realised that I really had it bad? When I opened the iPad box first. Instead of the chocolates. And I’m a chocoholic. Sad, really.

But the worst bit was? After ALL that excitement? I can’t really use the thing. No internet out here. No WiFi, no connecting to anything. Hence my purchase of the Telstra USB I’m using right now. Which makes it a bit tough to use an iPad!

So. All in all? I’m bummed. What’s the use of being super-excited about the iPad2’s smart cover (sorry, but I feel the need to include the link again, here. It’s just SO cool!) if I can’t even use the darn thing?!! Bummed.

Maybe hubby will agree to move?! LOL! Seriously though. Hmm…