Book and Tech Wednesday: Raindrops and the New Microsoft Phone
Raindrops: A Shower of Colors by Chieu Anh Urban
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Spring is just around the corner and for young ones who are just beginning to learn their colors, Raindrops: A Shower of Colors is an excellent board book to teach them about animals and the various hues of the rainbow.
More and more I judge toddler books primarily by their illustrations.
When my daughters were quite young their little eyes feverishly gazed across the pages of vibrantly-colored books. And while their young ears heard the stories the illustrations really told the story. That said, the illustrations in Raindrops paints the entire story beautifully and the wording is ideal for young children whose brains are constantly learning new things.
What I love most about Raindrops is each page has a see-through raindrop of its respective color.
Why I love this book: Raindrops: A Shower of Colors is a perfect book for young children to read alone when they’re sitting on the floor using their tiny fingers to explore their piles and piles of board books. The illustrations in Raindrops are vibrant enough to capture and keep your child’s attention and the story is simple enough to teach them new insects, animals and colors without overwhelming them or taking away from their favorite things: pictures!
Discovering the Real John Henry + a Review of the TwitterPeek
Ain’t Nothing but a Man: My Quest to Find the Real John Henry by Scott Reynolds Nelson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Even though Ain’t Nothing But A Man: My Quest to Find the Real John Henry is a children’s book I had a real problem putting it down. That is certainly not to say the content will fly over the head of children. Rather, the content is so stellar it will keeps kids and adults alike riveted to the pages as the author recounts his quest to find the real John Henry. Read more after the jump.
TECH
On Christmas Eve I decided to take my TwitterPeek with me when I went shopping to see how it worked. I received the TwitterPeek to review and I wanted to take it out into the field, so to speak.
The TwitterPeek is a device that allows you to mobile tweet only. You can’t check your email and you cannot surf the Net. The only function of the TwitterPeek is to use Twitter.
Although I had some initial problems with it because apparently you can’t use the same email as the one that’s synched to your Peek ( if you have one), the TwitterPeek proved to be a great device, especially for those who can’t tweet from their phone.
The TwitterPeek allows you to see tweets come in, respond to tweets, write your own tweets and see your @ mentions. Additionally you can see images that people upload into their Twitter stream and read links.
Read More…
Apple Ipod Touch App
I am sitting here writing this post on my iPod Touch. I found a WordPress app so I now I can write a blog post on the go. I used to be able to post via email as well, but I greatly prefer the app.
Computer Health: Part I
All week we will bring pertinent advice about how you can keep your family computer healthy. There is nothing worse than a computer that no longer functions properly. Over the next seven days we will bring you expert solutions on how to keep your computer blissfully humming along.
Malware, viruses, identity theft and spyware account for about 80% of all computer issues resulting in downtime, reveals IT guru Chip Reaves. “It is estimated that the lost-productivity cost due to these alone is around $50 billion, and the associated IT costs of dealing with it has skyrocketed from $20 billion to $198 billion in the last five years.”
That is a lot of money and a lot of work-time lost. But Reaves, the National Director of Computer Troubleshooters, explains that there are certain simple tips everyone could adhere to businesses and individual computer users alike that will keep our computers (and wallets) in tip-top shape
1. Old Hardware. “Studies have shown that the likelihood of physical problems with computer equipment goes up significantly after 24 to 36 months,” says Reaves. “Consider replacing computer systems every three years, considering how inexpensive computers have become, one major repair bill could easily cost more than purchasing an entire new system.”
For more information, visit CompTroub.com.
Join us tomorrow when we share advice about power protection.
Jump Start World, a Learning Adventure for the Younger Set
If you are a big fan of the latest software technology and exemplary educational tools, you will be highly impressed with Jump Start World First Grade. Jump Start World offers first graders the unique opportunity to choose a character and then race through a 3-D world full of educational adventures where they can steer a boat to hit a correct number in a math game or put together a crossword puzzle that challenges their thinking skills, for example. Jump Start World encourages youngsters to build their math, reading and critical thinking skills. It even helps young children become more advanced in correctly using a mouse and familiarizing themselves with the computer.
If you are concerned about how Jump Start World can enhance your child’s education at school, there is no need to worry. Jump Start World is curriculum based on both National and State standards. Plus, the software helps you keep track of your child’s progress and also rewards them whenever they have mastered a level or completed an activity.
Jump Start World First Grade provides skills in math, including telling time and using fractions, reading where phonics are the building blocks of reading and spelling, as well as problem solving and leadership development skills.
Jump Start First Grade requires a broadband connection and retails for $9.99. Buy or download on JumpStartWorld.com.
New Social Network for Kids
I just spent an entire hour of pure, unadulterated, childish fun at GoLive2.com Kraze™. Playhut just released a free social networking, magical e-playground for children ages six and up and, in my opinion, it’s a pretty cool place for little ones to spend time online.
Although I am pretty efficient on the Net, it took me (a 32-year-old) a little while to work my way around the site because I am not at all familiar with sites where you can actually walk characters through different scenes and environments. But when I let me nine-year-old tool around, she got a hang of it pretty quickly and put me to shame quite honestly.
One of the things I like about GoLive2.com Kraze is Playhut created gender specific worlds, one specifically for girls, called Mystikats Kutties, and a world for boys called Wowbotz. Here, children can customize their own character, design their home, pick their clothes, earn coins, go shopping, play games, and meet online with friends who are also playing online.
The only thing I did not like about GoLive2.com Kraze was girls cannot customize the ethnicity of their characters and they only have a handful of pre-made characters to choose from. There could be a little more selection and diversity in the character choices.
Other than that, parents can feel safe with their children being online and creating their own virtual world on GoLive2.com Kraze.
Kajeet Cell Phone for Kids — A Must-Have
Since I grew up in the days predating cell phones I have always been skeptical about getting a cell phone for my children. My oldest, who is nine now, is getting to the point where she can work the TV much better than I can, so conceivably she could masterfully use a cell phone as well. So, we sat down and tried out the new kajeet cell phone for kids. She loved it and I did, too.
The Sanyo Katana cell phone from kajeet, which retails for $99.99, has a huge display screen and large keys, which are great for easy usability and fast functionality. Plus, here’s the thing: It’s pay as you go, so your kids won’t run up a $600 bill by talking to their friends for hours about nothing or texting to their heart’s content without realizing that text messages cost money! Parents can set up a budget for the phone that effectively limits the amount of extras kids can download like games, ring tones and wallpaper. And kids and parents can have a co-account which allows children, particularly teens, the opportunity to pay for some of the services they use or learn this valuable lesson in money matters: Cell phones and the extras that come with them are not free.
The kajeet Sanyo Katana also comes equipped with all the features kids love like a digital camera, voicemail, and speakerphone. Plus, the Katana comes with Bluetooth technology allowing kids the fun of hands-free communication.
The kajeet Sanyo Katana cell phone is a great gift for the holidays. But most importantly, it puts your kid’s cell phone use back in your hands while giving them valuable talking privileges at the same time.
On the web: kajeet.com
Nadia Simone: Age 2 1/2 years
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