TOS Review - Talking Shapes

I was thrilled to get a chance to review the new online PC version of Talking Shapes: A Supplemental Curriculum for Early Literacy from Talking Fingers Inc.


   WHAT IS TALKING SHAPES?

This is a computer based system that is comprised of a set of 7 on-screen stories about two sisters from long ago who invented the alphabet. Each story builds upon each other as they present several new letters, sounds, words, and games designed to help children learn to read and write.



As you work through each book, the grayed-out ones become colorful and clickable.

I received a one-year subscription to an online version that I accessed through my computer browser to be used with multiple users. It is not an app, so I didn't need an iPad or iPhone to use the product, though the information that accompanied the new PC version mentioned that it does work best with a touch screen. My laptop has a touch screen, but it only worked for us when we used the mouse with the letter formation exercises.

After logging on, the child selects Book 1 to begin a story that is read to them as they click to the next page. At the end, letters were presented in the form of easy-to-remember shapes that form each letter and the child is asked to say the sound and then draw it using the computer mouse. When the child is done for the day, or if you lose internet connection, the story will pick up where your child left off.

There are also games that reinforce each letter-learning skill along the way.

The program is designed as a complete preschool curriculum to give preschool children, age 4-5 years old, practice drawing letters, building words, and starting to learn the connection between the spoken words and the written alphabet. Each book presents a story, three spelling games along with a reading game.

Upon the completion of each book, your child receives a bronze, silver or gold trophy depending upon how they score. If they receive a bronze or silver trophy, they are able to go back and try for the next level up. Click on the Owl Scholar at the bottom left of the home screen to be able to see your child's progress. When the child has finished section 3, 5, and 7, they will be given the opportunity to play games that will assess their progress and produce a spelling and reading comprehension score.

Research reveals that reading and speech go hand in hand, so it's important for the child to understand that the shapes their mouths make create various sounds. This is called phoneme awareness. Talking Shapes combines learning phonics along with phoneme awareness.

How Did We Use It?

And, there's more:

I was asked to have my child use this at least 2 times a week throughout the review period. My daughter is a little above the recommended age range, but I figured it never hurts to reinforce foundation reading skills. I sat down my daughter, and she began to make her way through her first book. It didn't take long before she was delighted to discover that for the sound of the letter "e", the program chose to emphasize it by using a phrase - "Every Elegant Elephant"! She loves elephants. She easily accomplished what was asked of her through the exercises and games.

 

 

What Did We Think?

This on-screen program offers hands-on learning with fun, interactive learning activities that is a great way to reinforce phonics and phonemic awareness that goes into learning to read, speak, and write.

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TOS Review - Talking Fingers

My child had reviewed Talking Fingers when she was younger, so I was curious to see what Read, Write & Type from Talking Fingers Inc. was all about when I had the opportunity to review this creative learning program.

What is Read, Write & Type?

Read, Write & Type is an online program that teaches children how to touch type while improving their reading skills by using a multi-sensory and phonemes (letter sounds) approach. It introduces letters as characters in the story/game. It is online at their site, and they also have a CD version available if you prefer.

There are 40 lessons that are intended for a child in the K-2 level, up to age 9 or to be used as ESL English as a Second Language. The program has assigned characters to each of the letters on the keyboard. The student proceeds to go through the lessons that are a series of interactive game-like learning segments. The idea behind the learning game is that there are 40 phonemes sounds that are represented by 26 letters in the English alphabet.

Find out more about details of how the program is set up, what skills it teaches and research to back it up!

Letters on the computer keyboard are introduced as pictured characters who live behind "windows" that correspond to the location of that letter key on the keyboard. The student interacts hearing proper phonetic sounds of each letter, speaking the letter sounds or words in some cases, using the mouse and keyboard, typing the letter sound as it corresponds to pictures whose name starts with that letter, and combining letters to work through various activities, such as getting Jack across a jungle gym on a playground by typing a series of J-space, then J-A-space, then J-A-F space, etc. Eventually, the student is typing words and then sentences using the proper left/right hand placement on the keys.

As part of the game play style of lessons, a green blob monster, named Vexor, is supposed to represent a computer virus, I believe. Vexor has stolen the letters on the keyboard, and with the help of Leftie and Right Way, the student works to get each of the letters back. Vexor also introduces new characters (letters). Whenever the typist gets it right, it makes the green blob angry.



And, then there is a bonus blimp that allows the child to play a "game" to get bonus points that show up on a certificate.




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How Did We Use It?

My 9-year-old sat down at my laptop and got the chance to experience the learning game. She worked through lessons online that were delivered to feel more like a fun game than learning time.

What Did We Think?

Overall, it's an interesting, fascinating, multi-sensory and fun concept of learning letters, especially if you have a young child. My daughter is a fluent reader with a high Lexile score for her age and was already familiar with all of the keys on the keyboard, so she was really almost too old to fully appreciate it. Throughout the learning game, you receive clear instructions as to what to do next which is great if you're new to or struggle with using the computer keyboard or need extra time to comprehend what was introduced. If you are faster than the game anticipated, however, because the characters seemed to have a pre-set pause after each instruction; if you try to type the answer too soon, before the instruction is complete, the program won't recognize the keystroke or mouse click. Sometimes, the cadence of the process didn't correspond with her interaction. She would type a letter, but it was too fast for the program to pick up on it, so it would proceed to re-instruct her even though she had typed it correctly. Though, she did seem to enjoy it overall. As a parent, I would have appreciated something other than a green blob monster virus as the main character as it added an angry element to give a game-like adventure feel, but it made her laugh. Another aspect I liked about the program is how when the child logs back in, even though it starts with a song you wait through every time, it then takes you directly to where they left off in the previous lesson.

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Visit on Facebook, Twitter @ReadWriteType , and YouTube.

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Read what other members of the TOS Review Crew thought by clicking on the picture below:

TOS Review: Hearing, Saying, Touching, and Seeing Letter Sounds with Talking Shapes iPad App

   

I was asked to review the Talking Shapes iPad App from Talking Fingers, Inc. with my early-reading/writing daughter.

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The app is geared toward children who are in Pre-K through Kindergarten level. It uses cute stories and memorable picture cues to integrate the use of letter sounds and letter shapes.

What makes it unique is how it uses phonemic awareness concepts of hearing, saying, and seeing each letter sound.  It essentially takes letter shapes and creates a full word picture of learning so children use all of their senses to form each letter. It is a really fun first-step learning app for reading, writing, and speech.

Here's how it sounded and looked when my daughter used this app:

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It connects each of the letters with an animal or object to help the child form a word "letter" picture that will pop into their minds whenever they hear that letter sound. For instance, the letter "C" is represented by a curled up cat, the short "E" sound is represented by an Elephant with feet and trunk pointing to the side. The letter "L" is represented by a Leg and foot. Once a new letter shape is introduced, it remains consistent throughout the stories and games.

The main menu allowed my daughter to choose whether she wanted to hear a story read to her, draw letters, or play letter games.

The games included activities that help to associate the letter sounds within words and sentences.
Price:
The Talking Shapes iPad app is available for $5.99.
What's Included:
All I needed was an iPad with iOS 6.0 or later, access to the iTunes App store, and a set of little fingers. The iPad we used is an iPad 2, not even the newest generation. Yet, everything ran perfectly.
How We Used It:
Since the program is recommended for Pre-K through K level children, I knew my daughter was on the older end, at age 7. However, I have been a bit concerned about how she is forming her letters when she writes, so I was anxious to use an app that taught this in a fun way. As expected, she easily maneuvered the screens within the app while I pretty much just looked on and helped her with logistics. For instance, sometimes she would speak too softly for the mic to pic up her voice when asked to say a word. And, sometimes, even though she had just been shown how to form a letter shape, she would still start from the wrong end just to fill in the lines in the picture.

What We Thought:
We had fun with this app. I knew my daughter was on the older end going into it, but I still feel as if she learned more about proper letter formation after using this app. I also think that the association of the pictures to each letter sound is a very clever way to make the letter learning stick.
The stories were fun, and the animations and shapes used to form the letter sounds were vibrant and completely appropriate for an early writer/reader age child.
I will note that my daughter absolutely loves elephants, so we were especially pleasantly surprised to see the elephant being used to form the short "E" sound.
I think the app would be a very useful tool for any child who is learning letter sounds and shapes. We used it at home, but I could see it just as easily being a fun app to tote along to use in a waiting room or in the vehicle during a long trip or while sitting to wait for an older sibling.

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Please read what other members of the Review Crew thought about the Talking Shapes iPad App by clicking on the picture below: