October 20, 2011

App Thursday: Smarty Ears House of Learning & Speech Journal


House of Learning
Description:
The House of Learning is an app developed by a certified Speech-Language Pathologist, and it serves both as a tool for learning and playing. We know that children will learn best when interacting with an adult partner to guide their learning, and we encourage parents and teachers to use the “House of Learning” as an activity that can promote immense learning opportunities when using the correct techniques.

Here are some ideas on how to use the house of learning to help your child practice language skills:
Tips for teaching language skills
Tips for teaching prepositions

Many children have difficulty with using correct prepositions such as “on, in, above, on top of, under, next to, to the right, to the left”. The House of Learning is the ideal iPad app for helping children understand and practice these skills while playing.

Guided house builder: Instead of letting the child play the app independently, try playing next to them and telling them exactly where to put each object. Use complete phrases such as “ place the sheets on the bed”, “place the cup on the table”, “ place the shoes under/above the bed”.

Silly house builder: How about setting up the house before your session and putting the objects in “silly” places such as “the bed on top of the pillow”. When it is time for your session, you ask your student what’s wrong with the image and get them to guide you verbally to place the objects where they belong. You should expect them to say complete phrases using prepositions “the bed goes above the pillow”.

Following one or multiple step directions can be very challenging for some children with language delays.
Guided house set up: Guide your child along the game with one, two, three or more step commands. Such as “Get the ball”, “Get the ball and place it on top of the bed”, “Get the ball, place it on the bed and move the girl close to it.”

Story Telling
It is possible to take a screenshot when you are done with the scenes. Why not use these screenshots to let your students build a story? Here is how we can do this:
Set up the scenes and place the people where you want them to go.
click on “done” to display the camera button.
Click on the camera button to take a photo of the scene.
Choose to save this scene to the library;
Go back to the scene and prepare the scene for the next screenshot;
Repeat the steps.

After you have completed the “story” you can print and share with your students or ask them to create their own.
Additional screenshots are below:






Speech Journal
Description:
Speech Journal is a customizable voice recorder that lets you pair recorded messages with your own imported images and image sequences.  Uses for Speech Journal include:
- Customized picture sequences
- Multi-step picture schedules
- Multi-step directions
- Articulation drill and carryover
- Expressive language exercises
- Individualized social stories
- Sample conversations
- Personal diary
- Creating family vacation picture albums

Speech Journal can also function as a basic voice output augmentative communication device for children with limited verbal ability.

Any image from your photo album can be imported into Speech Journal. In addition, iPad2 users can use the on-board camera to create new images within the application. Once you have selected an image, you can create a voice recording to go with the image. Once you have completed a recording, you can play, erase, or save the image/recording pair. You may also add more recordings and images to the recording, creating a slideshow. Previously saved recordings may be re-opened and have as many recordings and images added to them as you like.

Speech Journal gives parents and speech language professionals an unlimited amount of flexibility to create speech activities and generate speaking opportunities that best suit the needs of their children.

Mobile Education Tools is a member of Moms with Apps, a collaborative group of family-friendly developers seeking to promote quality apps for kids and families.
Recommended Ages: 3-6, 6-10, 11-12



Categories: Special Needs

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