Pea of Sweetness

Orphs of the Woodlands at Tangletree {Star Toaster Review}

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We love educational apps. This is especially true when we’re constantly out and about like we have been lately. I love that we can take learning on the go! Our daughter has been using Orphs of the Woodlands at Tangletree from Star Toaster.
Star Toaster Review
Star Toaster offers interactive books with fun, educational games. Their online interactive book, Orphs of the Woodlands, is used and loved by many. They recently introduced the Orphs of the Woodlands at Tangletree, an app for iOS. It’s recommended for ages 7+, though it is noted in the app information that it’s made for ages 9-11. It really brings the Orphs of the Woodlands to life right there on an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch running iOS 8.0 or later!
Orphs of the Woodlands at Tangletree offers a 122 page illustrative interactive chapter book. It has 75 lessons that contain a variety of subjects including: science, grammar, math, vocabulary and arts as well as thinking skills and life skills. It is all presented in such a fun, unique way!

Star Toaster Review: Orphs of the Woodlands at Tangletree

Orphs of the Woodlands at Tanglegate Review
Aurora has really been having fun with Orphs of the Woodlands at Tangletree. Although she is reading a book and answering educational questions, it just feels like fun. It gives her tasks as she has to take care of the orphs (animal orphans) and complete jobs to get supplies for the orphs. I am really impressed by this layout. They include so much learning, and it’s all done in a way that encourages her to keep going and learning new things so she can complete the jobs. As someone who loves animals it particularly resonates with her because she loves helping the animals.
Aurora is 8 and is reading at about the 2nd – 3rd grade level, but this educational app was challenging for her at first. What I discovered, though, is reading the story wasn’t the challenge. She just wasn’t sure how to take the next steps. For example, as she is reading there are links built in to the story. It’s through these links that they are taken to a lesson, which they need to complete the jobs. The jobs contain questions that are based on the lessons.
Orphs of the Woodlands at Tanglegate Review
Together we worked through it to find what the best way is to approach it. Aurora does best when she reads the entire chapter first, and then she goes back and clicks on the links for the lessons. After she has completed the lessons she goes to the town to see jobs that are available to her. She then visits her goals to see if she has earned enough gold stars through the jobs to complete any goals.
Aurora has been using the Orphs of the Woodlands at Tangletree on my iPhone 6S with iOS 9.3.3. It has run smoothly without any issues.

Parent Features

Star Toaster Review Orphs App
There are special features available to me as a parent as well, which is very helpful. I can see her progress and work including how many lessons and job she’s completed in the various subjects. Additionally, I can add other users. So, as our other two children are able to read at that level, I can add them as well. In the case of multiple children parents are able to view progress for each child.
Overall, we have really been enjoying Orphs of the Woodlands at Tangletree. It’s a great app full of fun, educational experiences. It’s presented in a way kids enjoy. Parents are able to keep track of progress, and multiple users can be added. Plus, there will be at least one more book added in the future! Kids get to learn while having fun and feel accomplished when they reach their goals and help the orphs!

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Other members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew had the opportunity to share a Star Toaster Review as well for the Orphs of the Woodlands at Tangletree app. See how they’ve been using it with their families by clicking on the banner below.
Orphs of the Woodlands at Tangletree Review
 
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Educational Apps from the Creators of Reading Eggs

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We are always on the lookout for great educational apps. They are perfect when we are on the go and for use when one child is using the computer and I need an independent activity for one of the other children as well. They’re perfect for using in our homeschool, in a waiting room, in the car, etc. The possibilities are endless!
Reading Eggs
Disclosure: I received downloads of the apps to facilitate my educational apps review. Regardless, all opinions are my own and those of my family.
The creators from one of our favorite educational resources, Reading Eggs, offers a number of educational apps for learning on-the-go! Their apps are now available for a range of devices including the iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. Whether you have young children working on reading skills or even math skills, there are a variety of educational apps available so you can choose the app (or apps) that are perfect for them! The apps range from Preschool (ages 3+) to ages 6-12.
For our review, we received Eggy Alphabet and Eggy Numbers to 100.

Eggy Alphabet

Eggy Alphabet is an alphabet games app recommended for ages 3+. All three of our children (ages 4, 6, and 8) have been using it. I was able to create a separate account for each of them, which is nice because it saves their information, and they don’t get upset if their siblings do better or worse than them.

There are a variety of activities within Eggy Alphabet. 208 activities plus the Letter Game! The kids learn to identify letters and phonemic sounds. There are different levels available so our preschooler can start at the very beginning, but our 6 and 8 year old (who both have reading delays due to their special needs) can start at a higher level and still benefit from the Eggy Alphabet App.
eggy alphabet educational apps
All three kids really like Eggy Alphabet App. The only activity that I have heard any complaints on is writing the letters because they all have fine motor challenges, so it is challenging for them. Yet they still ask to use this app, which tells me they really enjoy it! I can see how they are enjoying it! I know they are learning more when they are enjoying what they’re doing! Plus, it definitely has come in handy for on the go as well!
I love that Eggy Alphabet not only saves progress, but rewards the children to keep them motivated and has a way for me to see the stats as well! I can see the total time they’ve spent working on the app, how many eggs they’ve earned, how many activities they have completed, etc.

Eggy Numbers to 100

Eggy Numbers to 100 is a math skills app recommended for ages 5-8. Our 6 and 8 year old have been using it. Unlike the Eggy Alphabet App, though, they cannot have separate accounts in this app. For the settings, you can only add one name and then pick the voice accent. From what I can tell, though, it doesn’t have saved progress, though, so it doesn’t really need to have separate accounts.

Our daughter has really taken to this app, but our oldest son doesn’t have as much interest in it. He is very motivated by rewards, so I think the fact that it doesn’t track progress is a big factor in why it doesn’t appeal to him as much. The activities within the app, though, are exciting and fun, which is why our daughter enjoys it so much. Within this app children learn counting, estimation, addition, subtraction and multiples.
Eggy Numbers App
We definitely don’t use this app as much as Eggy Alphabet – especially since our preschooler can’t use it as well. He really doesn’t like to be left out! But again, it has come in handy on-the-go! It offers additional activities to give the kids extra math practice in a way they enjoy!
Overall, we’re excited about the educational apps offered by Reading Eggs. We are excited to check out more of them! The kids really love Eggy Alphabet, and we hope to check out more of the apps that are similar to it! These apps are perfect for motivating kids to practice their reading or math and offer parents a solution for keeping kids busy in times when they may be out and about, sitting in a waiting room, etc.

For More Information:

Visit the Reading Eggs App Page
Follow Reading Eggs on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube and their blog
 

FarFaria – a Great Reading App with over 750 Books!

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Disclosure: I received a subscription to facilitate my FarFaria Review. Regardless, all opinions are my own and those of my family.
FarFaria Review
We love books around here! Our kids aren’t yet reading on their own, though our oldest two (ages 8 and 6) are starting to get the hang of it! Reading time often means family time! We read together during our homeschool day and often at bed time as well. That why I was excited to be introduced to FarFaria – a great reading app for children ages 2-9 with access to over 750 books!
Yes, I said 750! Awesome, right? 750 books and no room taken up on your bookshelves. Plus, the more we explored it, the more we loved it! Not only does it have a really appealing UI (for both kids and adults!), but it also has great features! Not only can you access a wealth of stories, but you can choose for the app to read the stories or read them yourselves. There is a pop up with the options “Auto Play,” “Read to Me,” and “Read Myself.”
Another great feature of FarFaria is that there is a Parents section. You have to enter your date of birth to enter, and then you have access to more information. In the Parents section you can learn more about FarFaria, leave feedback, and get a break down of the reading levels. This is also where you can access account login and find information to connect with FarFaria.
FarFaria Review Preschool Playground
Each book is assigned a reading level: P for Pre-Readers, 1 for Beginning Readers, 2 for Progressing Readers, 3 for Early Fluent Readers, and 4 for Fluent Readers. It also recommends grade levels, but because our children have special needs and are delayed in reading, I found the descriptions to be much more helpful! Of course, I allow them to choose higher level books if they would like but still encourage them to try to read along when they can.
You may have noticed in the image that it says “Preschool Playground.” All books in the Preschool Playground are P or 1, so if you have a preschooler, it’s a quick way to find the perfect books. Plus, the explore menu offers a variety of choices that are targeted to a specific theme. The other options are Animal Kingdom, Adventure Island, BedTime Bluffs (which are, as you might guess, perfect for bed time!), Mt. Make Believe, Fairy Tale Falls, Classics Grove, Genius Jungle (geared toward education! We love this one!), GoodLand, Looney Lagoon, and Sing Along City (and yes, they sing!). Within each area you can sort books by Title, Most Popular, Newest, and Reading Level.
FarFaria Giveaway
Another feature I appreciate is that you can add books to your Favorites. So when there is one we really like we can simply add it to our favorites and easily access it! Overall, we definitely enjoy FarFaria and would recommend it to any families with young children!
Monthly full-access subscriptions to FarFaria start at $3.99/month, and it can be downloaded for free on iPad and Android Devices.

For More Information:

Visit the FarFaria Website
Connect with FarFaria on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest

Giveaway!!!

Would you love a FarFaria full-access subscription? One winner will receive a 3-month subscription to FarFaria for iPad or Android devices. The giveaway runs from 7/10 – 7/24 at 10:00pm Central Time and is open Worldwide! Enter the giveaway now!

A Great Reading App for Young Children

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Disclosure: I received a free app download to facilitate my Reading App review. Regardless, all opinions are my own and those of my family.
Do you have young kids learning to read or have a classroom of young kids learning to read? Whether you’re a homeschooler, teacher or a parent looking to encourage reading, Rhyme to Read is a valuable app!
Rhyme to Read is a beginning reading program made up of 20 books. It can be used for beginning readers or readers that may need additional help. The only recommended prerequisite is a knowledge of letters and consonant letter sound connections. Our older two children (ages 6 and 8) are both delayed readers due to their special needs, so I was definitely looking forward to trying out the Rhyme to Read app.
Rhyme to Read - Reading App Review
The Rhyme to Read app was created by two educators. Lynn Klaiman is a learning specialist and Sara Hines has a PHd in Special Education. This alone intrigued me since we have three special needs kids. I felt like I was going to get an opportunity to introduce our kids to something special from those that understand special needs. I was definitely right!
Our whole family has been enjoying Rhyme to Read. My original intent was to work it into part of our homeschool day and have each child use it individually so they wouldn’t have distractions and could easily focus on what they are reading. What ended up happening, though, is our preschooler wanted to get involved, too, so it has now become part of our nighttime story time! We’ll all gather around, and our oldest son and daughter will each read one of the books (or a few!). Even our preschooler (age 4) has started recognizing some of the words!
What really stands out about Rhyme to Read is it truly is structured in a way to help kids build upon what they have learned. In addition to being progressive, each book highlights a short vowel sound (4 books per short vowel sound) and word families (like bat, cat, rat). Plus each word family is color coded so they recognize the word families. Our kids are very visual, so the color coding really stood out in their minds. They could clearly see how the word families relate and had a much easier time reading those words because of this feature. It also repeats and re emphasizes the word family to really help it “stick.”
Rhyme to Read Reading App Review
Color coding the word families also helps them to recognize the differences – that words begin with different sounds. This really helps stress the phonemic sounds, which has been key to our children’s learning. Phonemic awareness is really what has helped our children start to overcome their barriers, and Rhyme to Read definitely provided them with it. They are happy and confident when reading the books on Rhyme to Read versus being frustrated, which is often the case.
In addition to phonological awareness, Rhyme to Read does also introduce sight words. Sight words are in black font to help them recognize them. I always get nervous when sight words pop up because that is one of the things our kids have struggled with most. The way it eases into them, though, and then offers a page at the back to review them really helped them to recognize the sight words, which is a huge step in their reading! There are thirty-five common sight words total that are previewed the first five times they appear.
All three kids really enjoy the characters and pretty much know them by name now. Since their names are often part of the word families this has once again helped them to recognize the word family. I truly love that they do enjoy it as well! Plus I love that it has really been a great way to wind down together enjoying reading for once. Even if we’ve had a stressful homeschool day, this is reading time we all enjoy together.
Rhyme to Read is available on the App Store in 2 versions. The 1st Version is free and includes Book #1. You can then opt to make in app purchases of the additional books at $.99 each. The 2nd Version includes all 20 books for just $9.99 – a great value! We have been using it on our 2nd generation iPad with the current iOS, though it can be used on Apple devices with iOS 6 and higher.

For More Information:

Visit the Rhyme to Read Website
Connect with Rhyme to Read on Facebook

*Giveaway Coming Soon!*

Stay tuned! I’ll be sharing a giveaway of the full Rhyme to Read app soon! 3 will win! It will be open worldwide ages 18+. Check back soon to enter to win!