How to support your little one’s learning their ABCs and 123s with fun apps
We are now almost two months into the school year and well on our way into ABCs and 123s! Yes, starting kindergarten is a monumental step in itself and challenges teachers, parents and our little ones in all aspects of play and learning. But now that routines are under way and emotions are in check (mostly!), how do we support and encourage our little one’s love for learning their letters and numbers without overwhelming them?
With our world moving at fast speed and mostly online, it’s no wonder that our children not only mimic everything we say and do but our use of technology as well. I don’t encourage a complete reliance on technology to support the learning of these important building blocks for reading, but supplementing it in a fun way here and there definitely helps!
We have a few favourite apps at our home that teach letters, letter sound knowledge, numbers, and some basic counting in a fun way! All of them are from the same app creator: Originator and are available for both Apple and Android devices. I always recommend trying the Lite or Free version of the app before purchasing just to make sure that it is something you and your little one will enjoy.
Endless Alphabet
My daughter loves this app because of the funny characters and the way that they try to mix up all of the letters. Little does she know that while she is putting them back in place, she is working on
- matching each letter to the letter shadow - learning letter shapes
- letter sound knowledge - the letters sing or say the sound that they make as you move them
- letter names - when the letter is back in its place, it’ll tell you what letter it is
- building vocabulary - when the entire word if put back together, the app will play a short video demonstrating the meaning of that word
Endless Numbers
In the same way that Endless Alphabet teachers letters and sounds, Endless Numbers teaches numbers! Little creatures will come by and bump it out of place and while your little one is busy getting it back into its place, the number will keep saying or singing its value/name. When back in place, it’ll play a short video demonstrating the value of each number. The higher the number, the more it starts to teach about how you can combine numbers together and even some simple arithmetic.
Their other math app, Math Tango, is geared toward the 6-8 age group and focuses on simple addition and subtraction. I’ll be trying this one with my 2nd grader!
And if you want more information about the apps, visit Originator Kids for short descriptions and app preview videos.
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Djurdjica Gacic is a Communicative Disorders Assistant and a strong advocate for client centered, functional, engaging and fun therapy that supports each person's social, emotional and life long communication needs. With over 10 years of experience, she enjoys supporting clients of all ages and abilities to achieve their goals and be successful in all of their endeavours!