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ABCmouse.com – Ham with Jam, Dan & Jan, Hen in the Pen, Big Pig & Little Pig, To Run is Fun, Big Bug & Little Bug

FREE for a limited time – 6 beginning reading apps!! These educational apps for the iPhone/iPad are from the ABC Mouse word family beginning reader series. I chose to downloaded The Hen in the Pen to review the series. Each story emphasizes words from a particular word family. There are also easy sight words in the stories. There are several ways that the books can be read: Read to Me, Read with Pause, I Can Read It, and Hear the Words. I really like the Hear the Words option. It allows the child to read alone but tap any word that he/she gets stuck on. There are parent tips on the title page that explain word families and sight words for beginning readers. There are also parent tips throughout the books. The illustrations are colorful and support the text so that kids can use picture clues as they read. The story lines are very simple. But, that is not a negative thing because these apps are more about the process of reading than the actual story. When my son was an early reader, he loved books like these because he could read them “all by himself” and that alone makes them worth downloading 🙂 And…. they are currently FREE.

Common Core Standards met:

K.RF.3 – Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. c. Read common high-frequency words by sight (e.g., the, of, to, you, she, my, is, are, do, does). d. Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ.

Recommended!

ABCmouse.com Ham and Jam - Age of Learning, Inc. Ham with Jam    ABCmouse.com Dan and Jan - Age of Learning, Inc. Dan and Jan

ABCmouse.com The Hen in the Pen - Age of Learning, Inc. Hen in the Pen     ABCmouse.com Big Pig and Little Pig - Age of Learning, Inc. Big Pig & Little Pig

ABCmouse.com To Run is Fun - Age of Learning, Inc. To Run is Fun   ABCmouse.com Big Bug and Little Bug - Age of Learning, Inc. Big Bug and Little Bug

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Kids Academy · ABC Alphabet Phonics App HD

Montessori 2Montessori ABC for Kids HD

FREE for a limited time – Kids Academy · ABC Alphabet Phonics App HD. This educational app has two sections: animated flashcards (to teach kids the letters/sounds) and traceable worksheets (to teach kids how to write the letters). The flashcard section has cute animations to teach kids letters & sounds in a fun way. The writing section has two modes (right-handed and left-handed) to teach upper and lower case letters. The app is designed to have multiple users and parents can track their children’s progress. Nicely done!!

Common Core Standards met:

  • K.RF.1 – Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print. Recognize and name all upper and lowercase letters of the alphabet.

Montessori ABC for Kids HD: Learn and Trace Alphabet Letters - Kids Academy Company

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Quick Math +

FREE for a limited time – Quick Math+, an educational app that encourages the development of mental math skills. Kids race against the clock to improve their scores. Handwriting recognition allows the players to write the answers directly on the screen – a very slick feature. There are 4 game modes: solve, memorize, compare, and swap. Each game has 4 levels: beginner, intermediate, advance, and extreme. At a beginning level, this app helps to develop math fluency. Once kids have mastered the basics, the app introduces order of operations & parenthesis, negatives numbers, and indices. LOTS of great practice for multiple levels of math students in this app. It can be shared among students and it tracks each student’s progress – perfect for the classroom. The math gets progressively harder as students improve their skills. I love how the app encourages self-improvement and legible writing! Teachers could assign 10 minutes of practice each day for their students. I am sure the results would be significant. What a fabulous tool for the classroom!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/quick-math+/id703287370?mt=8&uo=4

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Grandpa’s Workshop

FREE today for Grandpa’s birthday – Grandpa’s Workshop, an adorable educational app for preschoolers. Kids join dancing grandpa in his workshop. There they play 7 educational games such as Puzzle Fix-Up and Paint the Project. They also watch short videos of real tools in action. Kids will love helping grandpa build and they will learn in the process. Concepts addressed through the games are: colors, numbers (1 -12), fractions (1/2, 1/4, 1/3), spatial relationships, measuring, observation skills, and vocabulary. I love this app – it seamlessly integrates important educational content into fun games. And, little ones will learn how things work. I especially like the when Grandpa asks for a high-five – so cute!

Highly recommended!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/grandpas-workshop/id555310530?mt=8&uo=4

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Adventures of Puppup: Lost at the Zoo

Adventures of Puppup

FREE for a limited time – Adventures of Puppup: Lost at the Zoo. Julia takes her Puppup, her stuffed dog, to the zoo. Children are introduced to 16 different animals as Puppup befriends them. The story is told from the perspective of Puppup  – what he wanted to do and what he did while Julia and her dad rested. Kids will enjoy this cute story with fun animations – jumping fish, monkey-dancing, waterskiing, zebra-riding, and more.

When I was teaching, we had a class stuffed bear (with a journal) that went home with a different child every weekend. The bear then wrote in the journal about his weekend adventures with that child. It was a fun way to encourage writing and reading. This book would be great introduction to that sort of project. 🙂

The Adventures of Puppup: Lost at the Zoo - Fletcher Grayson

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The Tooth That’s on the Loose!

FREE today – The Tooth is on the Loose is an e-book for the iPhone/iPad. The setting is the old West and a shifty, wiggly, little varmint named T.B. Wiggly is on the loose. Kids will be delighted by this legend, narrated by Sheriff Tex. The language is rich and fitting to the genre of the story. The story is illustrated in a cartoon-like style with animations, sound effects, and hidden activities throughout the tale. Coloring pages are also included. A really fun story for kids who are ready to lose a tooth. Another great educational app!

The Tooth That's on the Loose! - SachManya LLC

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PEEP and the Big Wide World apps

FREE for a limited time – 6 PEEP and the Big Wide World apps from WGBH, the producers of the animated series of the same name. Major funding for these educational apps is provided by the National Science Foundation. These apps are designed to teach science to preschoolers (3 – 5 years) in a cute, fun way! The games begin simply but become more challenging as kids are successful. Each app also includes a “Try This Anywhere Activity” for you and your children to do together based on the lesson in the app. Your child will LOVE learning with Peep and friends. And you will too!

PEEP  - House Hunt

PEEP and the Big Wide World House Hunt: Kids turn over leaves to pair animals with their homes in a match game that demonstrates that some habitats are home to many different animals.

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/peep-big-wide-world-house/id536554271?mt=8&uo=4

PEEP  - Hide & peep

PEEP and the Big Wide World Hide and Peep: Peep and friends are hiding in the tool shed. This app helps kids practice their observation and memory skills.

Download link:https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/peep-big-wide-world-hide-peep/id536312346?mt=8&uo=4

Peep - Paint Splat

PEEP and the Big Wide World Paint Splat: Kids join two quirky characters named Quack & Chirp to experiment with mixing colors in a fun, silly way!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/peep-big-wide-world-paint/id536621786?mt=8&uo=4

Peep - Sounds

PEEP and the Big Wide World Sounds Like Fun!: Kids explore music and sounds as they mix and match sounds with this app. The characters represent different musical rhythms.

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/peep-big-wide-world-sounds/id536623915?mt=8&uo=4

Peep - trash

PEEP and the Big Wide World Trash Stash: Kids practice their categorization skills by sorting objects using increasingly sophisticated criteria.

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/peep-big-wide-world-trash/id536624731?mt=8&uo=4

Peep - Quack's Apples

PEEP and the Big Wide World Quack’s Apples: Kids roll Quack’s apples into a pond – testing and tweaking the design of their route as often as needed. As they play, they are practicing the engineering design process!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/peep-big-wide-world-quacks/id536623428?mt=8&uo=4

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Collins Big Cat Story Creator Apps

8 of Collins Big Cat Story Creator apps are currently FREE again for the iPad. Collins Big Cat is a reading series used by over 9000 schools in The United Kingdom. Titles included are: Playing Story Creator/Around the World/ Farmer’s Lunch/ In the Garden/ It Was a Cold,Dark Night/ My Bike Ride/ The Steam Train/At the Dump. These apps normally sell for $3.99 each so take advantage of this great offer if you have young readers/writers in your life.

These educational apps, geared towards children ages 4+, include an animated story (with hidden surprises on every page) and a story creator. The story creator allows the child to transfer what they just read into writing. Children can create their own story using the scenes, characters, etc. from the book. There is also the option to record the child’s newly created story. Nicely done for young readers/writers!!

Highly recommended!

Playing Story Creator

Playing Story CreatorCollins Big Cat: Playing Story Creator - HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

Around the World       Collins Big Cat: Around the World Story Creator - HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

The Farmer’s Lunch       Collins Big Cat: The Farmer’s Lunch Story Creator - HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

In the Garden       Collins Big Cat In The Garden Story Creator - HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

It Was a Cold, Dark Night       Collins Big Cat: It Was a Cold, Dark Night Story Creator - HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

My Bike Ride        Collins Big Cat: My Bike Ride Story Creator - HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

The Steam Train       Collins Big Cat: The Steam Train Story Creator - HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

At the Dump

At the Dump   Collins Big Cat: At the Dump Story Creator - HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

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Bug Games HD

bug games

Singing crickets! Bug Games HD is FREE for a limited time. This super cute educational app for preschoolers has 4 sections: Cricket Concert, Bee Word Builder, Ant Tunnel Builder, and Spider Dot-to-Dot. In the Cricket Concert section, kids can select a song to hear the crickets sing together or they can tap on each cricket to play the song on their own. In Bee Word Builder, kids hear the phonic pronunciation of individual letters as they use them to put words together. Ant Tunnel Builder requires kids to rotate puzzle pieces so that the ants can march through a completed tunnel. Spider Dot-to-Dot has kids connecting dots in numerical order. Kids collect sticker rewards along the way. This app has a nice combination of learning games for preschoolers – cute, fun, & engaging! Who knew playing with bugs could be so much fun. 🙂

Bug Games HD - by Busy Bee Studios - Busy Bee Studios

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My Beastly ABCs

My Beastly ABCs

FREE for a limited time – My Beastly ABCs, an educational app featured in USA Today’s Top 10 iPad Apps for Kids. Kids join a young boy (who is reluctant to get out of bed) on a magical adventure through a not-so-ordinary day! Told in rhyme, the story recounts the boy’s day as he encounters 26 friendly monsters (one for each letter of the alphabet) from all over the world. Kids join in this interactive tale as they play hide & seek with a Boogey Monster, learn how to floss from a Vampire, uproot a Mandrake family, and much more. The app is narrated by Jim Dale with whimsical background music & great sound effects. It has 3 play modes: with narration, without narration, or auto-play. Everything about this app is top quality – beautifully illustrated with the perfect amount of animation & interactivity. There is also an index that gives kids monster facts & descriptions. Kids can read and learn about each of the beasts’ unique characteristics and place of origin. Lots of fun!!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/my-beastly-abcs/id578158826?mt=8&uo=4