Create your own DINO TALES learning adventure

It's my goal to raise children who forever see the world as an exciting place where they can always be learning.  That means that I am forever on the hunt for new and exciting ways that my children can learn.  I love when I am able to find a subject that fits their interest and is also presented in such a fun fashion that they don't immediately recognize that they are learning.

With the DINO TALES app, available in the App Store, your child can not only enjoy a fun learning experience - but create their own story! “The game combines a fun exploratory world with a beautiful story book to encourage children’s reading, writing, listening and speaking skills.” explains David Miller, award-winning educational expert at Kuato Studios. DINO TALES allows your child to capture their session of play and turn it into a digital storybook.

Aimed at children aged between 4 and 10, DINO TALES is designed to strengthen literacy, reasoning, and inquiry skills - in and beyond the classroom. The game has also been developed alongside pupils and teachers to ensure that language and content are age-appropriate, and that all opportunities for learning have been explored.

Game Features

• Hatch 6 baby dinosaurs to play with and nurture
• Discover an island teeming with prehistoric wildlife
• Use Word Wheels to ask Darwin, the talking dino, any questions you have about dinosaurs
• Explore an epic land filled with caves, forests, rivers and even an erupting volcano
• Enjoy the musical boneyard, river rapids, boulder bowling, lava slides and more
• Unleash your creativity with the Berry Blaster to make your dino stand out from the rest!
• Fill a Storybook with your own Dino Tales, to be personalized and read with others
• Collect loads of fossils and minerals to add to your Treasure Trove

While playing DINO TALES children will uncover a wealth of paleontological facts and fictions, enough to satisfy the most curious of minds. Using the intuitive Word Wheels, children can construct thousands of questions to ask Darwin, the in-game learning buddy, who answers in a child-friendly voice.

Parent Corner

I love this feature within Dino Tales. The Parent Corner is a pin-secure area where you can set your child’s reading age, session length and get email notifications when your child creates a new Dino Tale. It's great that you can customize it to your child and keep up with their app activity.

What others are saying

Fantastic Reading and Dinosaur fun

The kids set their age the minute the start the game and have fun meeting new dinosaur friends on each new level. What I love particularly is the fact that you have the game- which is fun and entertaining but can touch the bottom right corner to ask random "dinosaur facts"--- it's such a great way for kids to raise their confidence for reading as well as teaches them fun new facts to share . Best new reading app I've seen in a long time!! - Jennifer Arcuri

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COSI - Columbus, Ohio

During our recent trip to Columbus, Ohio - we had the opportunity to visit COSI (Center of Science and Industry)! I love taking the kids to places where they will not only have fun - but learn. COSI is a fun and interactive environment that helps to increase the natural curiosity that children have.

COSI, Columbus, Ohio's dynamic Center of Science and Industry, inspires the scientists, dreamers, and innovators of tomorrow. Opened in 1964 at Memorial Hall in downtown Columbus, COSI moved in 1999 to a new 320,000-square-foot home designed by internationally-renowned architect Arata Isozaki, creating one of the largest modern-built science centers in the United States. COSI continues to represent a significant investment in the economic development and community revitalization of downtown Columbus.

In 2008, COSI was named America's #1 science center for families by Parent Magazine. Since 1964, COSI has engaged with over 30 million people from all 50 states and around the world, both on-site and through its award-winning outreach programs.

At COSI, you will find a wide assortment of interactive science exhibits. We spent a lot of time in the Energy Explorers area. The kids learned how energy is generated, how we use energy and how we can conserve energy. Through various activities, they could see the affects of different energy choices and consumption.

Savannah testing a bicycles energy against the energy it takes to walk or drive a vehicle.

 Joey loved the Curious George exhibit that is available through January 5, 2014. 

Let’s Get Curious!

Letting curiosity and inquiry be your guide, explore familiar buildings and locales from the Curious George™ book series and television show on PBS KIDS in Curious George™: Let's Get Curious! The exhibit presents key concepts in science, technology, math, and engineering, which are woven throughout the exhibit. Activities invite children to learn like Curious George – through direct experience and problem solving! Included with COSI admission or Membership.

The Curious George exhibit had a farm where the kids were able to experiment with wind machines and the effects of wind on objects.  They explored the Produce Stand and even 'worked' for a while at the Construction Site.

While we were there - my little daredevil also decided to ride a unicycle. Not only did Savannah ride a unicycle but she rode it in the air at a height of 2 stories!

"It’s all about balance. COSI’s High Wire Unicycle—the only one in the world—challenges you to ride a unicycle across an 84-foot cable while 17 feet above the ground. If your sense of balance isn’t world-class, don’t worry. The Unicycle’s 250-pound counterweight drops the cycle’s center of mass to well below your feet, keeping you safely upright at all times."

Since Joey was too short to try the unicycle - he and I experimented with floating hot air balloons, creating a stop motion movie, controlling robots and launching a 2 liter bottle through the air!

There really are so many fascinating things to do and learn while visiting COSI!

I wish that we lived closer to COSI. It would be an amazing place to visit often. We were only able to spend a few hours there and weren't able to see or experience nearly everything. It's definitely on our list of places to revisit.

Some of their exhibits change throughout the year - so check their sit often to keep up with new activities to experience!





COSI.org | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

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ABC Games for Pre-K by Kid's Academy

As a mother, I am always on the hunt for educational resources to use in aiding my kids inside and outside of the classroom. Heading into our fourth year of home education, I've found that it's beneficial to use interactive educational tools in the classroom and supplemental programs outside of the classroom. Kids seem to learn better in a creative environment. In fact, my daughter's reading improved when she began using a hands-on, supplemental reading program we found online.  If your child is anywhere from 2 years old to 5 years old - now is a great time to get them started on education apps by Kid's Academy.  Starting my daughter on programs like this age the age of 5 was a great supplement to her Kindergarten reading course. 

Thinking back to my Kindergarten days - I remember the large and colorful alphabet cards that were used to teach me the various letters and their sounds. In those days, personal or school computers didn't exist - so brightly colored alphabet cards were used to grab the student's attention. The visual of the different letters - an apple for the soft 'a' sound and a bright, yellow ball of yarn for the 'y' sound - will never be forgotten.  Though I'm reminiscent of the alphabet cards that hung above my teacher's chalkboard, I enjoy seeing updated alphabet learning tools online.

With the exciting advancements in technology - my children will have their own memories of learning the sounds and how to blend them together to form words. One of the funnest and most effective resources for this is Kid's Academy and their ABC Games for Pre-K (Montessori Phonics-enabled Alphabet HD) available on iTunes and the Android Market.

I enjoy allowing my children to improve their skills or learn something new with online programs and apps because they are animated which grabs their attention and they are interactive. Being able to interact with something gives them a hands-on experience that I find adds to the learning experience and growth.

To this day, my daughter will talk about the different characters and events that were a part of her supplemental reading program.  It caught her attention and made it fun for her.

If you are wanting educational resources, you should also consider the following factors that make Kid's Academy and their ABC Games for Pre-K worth your child's time.

 

-   For kids aged 2-5

-   100+ amusing animations

-   70+ charming characters, exquisite design, and original sounds

-   The app helps to develop their memory and motor skills

-   Kids can learn ABCs at their own pace, they can pick flashcards randomly

-   Parent's Area with Progress Chart and profiles

Keep up with Kid's Academy

Kids Academy   |   Facebook   |   Twitter   |  iTunes   |   Android   |   Pinterest

*This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.

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Signs your child needs Summer tutoring

It’s important for all parents to keep an eye on how their children are progressing and developing at school. Parents who see their children falling behind the pace, or who want to give their children the best chance to fulfill their potential, often choose to seek extra tutoring. This simple step can provide a huge boost and dramatically improve any child's future prospects.

In truth, deciding whether a child needs tutoring is often relatively straightforward. Poor test scores, a lack of understanding, and classroom misbehavior should all serve as warning lights. Frequently the situation is actually worsened by the parents, however. They refuse to accept that extra tutoring is the answer, leaving the child to struggle in class, all the while feeling more and more disheartened. It's important to understand that if a child needs a little extra help it is nothing to be ashamed of - many other children are in the same boat, after all.

In many cases, the issues stem solely from a lack of confidence. This can easily hold a child back, and cause a downward spiral to start. If a child lacks self-esteem, they often fear tests and exams. This leads to poor results and report cards, which only serve to lower confidence further. This familiar pattern can then lead to the child rebelling, or refusing to apply effort in class. Tutoring can help a child escape this vicious circle and begin to rebuild his or her confidence. A tutor can tailor activities to the child, and provide the valuable one-on-one feedback that is often impractical in a classroom with 30 other students.

Summer tutoring is also frequently recommended for children who have high levels of academic talent. The pressure these children feel can be very high, as they are constantly expected to stay ahead of the class, and any slight drop in grades can cause disproportionate levels of concern. In addition, these children often feel under-stimulated in the classroom, and require extra tutoring to excel and display their natural intelligence. Without it, they can settle into a rut, completing schoolwork without any issues, but never really stretching their own capabilities. Private tutoring can ensure gifted children are frequently pushed to make the most of their talents, and inspired to keep learning by studying topics they find interesting and stimulating.

Huntington Learning Centers offer tutoring over the Summer that can make a huge difference to how children view and engage with education. By attending one of the tutoring centers, children can get ahead with schoolwork, cement their understanding of concepts they struggle with, and generally feel happier at school. Many parents wait until a child is struggling before they look for tutoring. While this is a natural reaction, being proactive and acting in advance is beneficial, as it prevents the child from feeling like a failure and falling behind.

Research has shown that private tutoring and the positive effects of a focused program of study can make a real difference in the long term - but it's important to choose a good tutor that the child responds well to and enjoys working with. The effectiveness of any paid tutoring should be monitored as - if there's no discernible difference after three months - it may be worth switching.

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Little Pim

My daughter absolutely loves getting to learn foreign languages.  Most of her foreign speaking abilities have only been developed randomly... words she picked up on from cartoons or missionaries explaining the language of the land where they live.  She has been absolutely thrilled to be able to have Little Pim and to begin diving into a better understanding of a brand new language.

Little Pim is an award-winning foreign language learning series for young children.

Our series makes language learning easy, fun and effective.

Little Pim features our unique Entertainment Immersion Method™, which combines animation and real kids to teach simple words and phrases for everyday activities.

Little Pim is available in 10 different languages {Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Spanish}, and includes videos, apps, music, books, flash cards and more.

Episodes are designed and paced for developing minds. Each video is segmented into 5 minute episodes to accommodate a young child’s attention span, and encourage pausing for parent interaction.
Our series is specifically designed so that parents can follow along, even if they don’t speak the language themselves.
Little Pim engages a child’s natural love of play, watching real kids and learning through repetition. Children get very attached to the lovable cartoon panda bear, Little Pim, who serves as the series’ teacher and guide to each child’s language learning adventure.

We encourage you to watch Little Pim with your little one and repeat the words together – it’s fun for kids and adults!

Visit LittlePim.com for more information and to order your set today!

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