ABC MAGIC PHONICS 3 Deluxe vs Categories Toonware

This app is designed to help your child master the letter-sound connection. This app uses four different games to help your child learn and reinforce their knowledge of which sound each letter makes. Each game involves seeing letters and hearing sounds. The child decides which sounds do and which sound do not match the letter(s) being shown. The child either identifies the correct answer by tapping or drags and drops the correct answer in its place. This app is the third app in the ABC MAGIC PHONICS series. This app builds on the skills learned in the first two apps of this series. Those apps were about teaching letter/sound associations using phonetic pictures. This app focuses only on the sound of the letter and does not use any phonetic pictures as cues. We recommend the other ABC MAGIC PHONICS apps as means to develop and reinforce your child’s phonics skills and reading abilities. Please note, that in this app, only the SOUNDS of the letters are used and NEVER the names of the letters. A child can actually read without knowing the common names of the letters, but a child only knowing the names of the letters cannot phonetically read. The ubiquitousness of the ABC song both at home and at school will surely give children the ability to name the letters. Many children, however, are not given the much-needed explicit instruction of the SOUNDS that the letters make. This app, therefore, is dedicated to helping children learn the SOUNDS that the letters make. Only lower case letters are used, which is the most effective way for teaching children letters since 95% of the printed word is lowercase. These games are designed so that children can do them independently after being given the basic instructions of how to play the games. The app has built-in feedback mechanisms to help the child to work independently. These mechanisms allow the child to learn at their own pace and in their own way. Some pictures may seem indiscernible, but don’t worry, the pictures, when touched, will ALWAYS say their name. The child NEVER has to know what the picture is ahead of time. Tapping on the image box will ALWAYS play the audio file that names the picture.

*** There are 20 categories with 230+ high quality pictures (supporting retina display) with matching voice prompts to facilitate selection. *** This app does not require internet connection, your kids can play anytime anywhere !!! Research shows that children learn to categorize objects in their environment in order to extend their knowledge and make sense of their experiences (Gelman 1999). Categorization skills also guide children in their rapid acquisition of conceptual and linguistic knowledge (Waxman & Kosowski 1990). ToonWare Categories for Speech and Language Therapy app is designed and developed by a certified Bilingual Speech Language Pathologist to assist children ages 3 to 7 years increase their communication skills. It helps children in the six areas crucial to literacy development – categorization of everyday objects/animals, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension and expression. The Categories app has three levels, making it challenging and fun at the same time. Throughout the three different levels the child has to be able to understand the relationship between the pictures shown and find the category to which they belong. - Level One (Easy), A picture of an item is shown and the child has to identify the category that it belongs to among 5 selections. - Level Two (Medium), Three pictures are shown and the child has to be able to understand the relationship between the objects and identify the category to which they belong. - Level Three (Hard), The child has to find the pictures that belong to the given category. Parents, speech language pathologist, special educators, and preschool teachers can use the Category app. Please send your comments, recommendations and bug reports to info@toonware.com. Our mission is to create fun, engaging, and stimulating education apps and make speech therapy a fun learning experience for children. Our apps are designed and developed by a certified Bilingual Speech Language Pathologist and educator with over 12 years of experience in various settings. For more information visit http://www.toonware.com.