When I first read the name, Talking Fingers, Inc., I thought it had to do with sign language. I’ve never taught any of our little ones to sign (or felt the need to), so I almost didn’t check into them much when the review opportunity came up. I’m so glad I didn’t let my first impression stick. The companies name is referring to using your fingers to talk, but in the writing and keyboarding sense. Clever! Their app aimed at early learners, Talking Shapes iPad App, is what we have been using.
Through stories and fun activities, my younger ones were learning about the shapes of the letters, their sounds, how to write them, read simple words and spell the same words. Whew! All that in just one app? Yes! There is even voice recognition for your child to speak in practicing the letter sound. This part didn’t work so well for us as intended (perhaps because there is not a quiet corner in the house?), but I love that this was asking them to do more than touching the screen. Truly interactive learning!
My 4 and 6 year olds were my users (intended for those Pre-K to K learners) and thoroughly loved it. They didn’t feel as though they were “doing school” and asked for their turn (and repeats) often. Three days or so a week, I directed their time with the app. Choosing the specific activity, making sure they were following the directions, etc. The rest of their time, they navigated and chose for themselves.
 |
| iPad learning — the keyboard is not used, just holding the iPad up. |
For my youngest (4 year old son), we focused on the stories and the interactive drawing of the letters. This was perfect for where he is developmentally. He is also working on some speech delays. This app has been awesome for him to practice some of our target sounds (and reinforce being consistent on others). He had the most trouble with speech recognition (but I don’t fault the app — we often have trouble recognizing what he is saying). He had started randomly copying letters – from letter magnets on the fridge, papers of his siblings, etc. This let him tie the letter shapes he was encountering elsewhere with the sounds these letters make. The shape of the letter was shown in the shape of something that begins with that letter’s main sound (‘F’ in fox, ‘T’ in tree, etc.). Perfect for him!
My six year old daughter used all of the app’s activities. She loved listening to the stories the best, but is really starting to get the games. She is not very competitive – doesn’t generally care about getting right answers, etc. Her success with the games in the app are starting to change that a bit. The positive reinforcement are so encouraging for her. Prior to our time using this app, she didn’t think she could really learn to read. After she had become a little competent, I explained to her that what she was doing in that game was reading. She was so thrilled!!
This is our first experience with a learning app for the still-fairly-new iPad (that is Daddy’s). After seeing the progress (and how much fun they are having) we will not be so hesitant about the iPad as part of learning and not just entertainment. I do have a small problem with the letter tracing, and address it for my children with pencil and paper practice. In the app, the can touch anywhere on the letter, (beginning at the bottom, in the middle, anywhere) for drawing it. I wish there was a way to have this only recognize the starting at the top model to not encourage bad habits. This is another reason why I sit with them while working (“start at the top”, “start at the left”, etc.).
The Talking Shapes App for iPad is available for $5.99. We have loved this techy addition to our preschool and kindergarten learning. It might be a prefect fit for your home, too!
