Phono Learning Center Review and Giveaway!

***Amy was the winner!***Phono LC home

This is the last app review in my month long series and it’s a goody!  I see a lot more traditional articulation than I do phonological processes–though they do come up.  And as any pediatric SLP can tell you, addressing processes with artic techniques is inefficient if not futile.  Cycles is best practice here.

Phono Learning Center by Smarty Ears takes that into consideration and even helps guide the clinician through appropriate targets. (There’s a great overview written by the author–Mary Hudson, MS, CCC-SLP–too.)

Phono LC targets

Create your player (or import from Therapy Report Center) and click to edit your targets. You can choose from primary–things like final consonant deletion–or secondary–things like palatals. Each choice then asks which specific phoneme to work on within that parameter. For example, you might choose “s clusters” but then narrow it to /sk/.

Phono LC balloons

The first activity, Balloons, is primarily for auditory bombardment.  Pop a balloon and a pic is shown and said.  My littles love popping the balloons!

Phono LC match

The next activity has them repeating words that fit the criteria you’ve set up (and sticks with the words you’ve just heard) in a matching type game.  This is designed to be easier than regular “Memory” since the target is in the bottom corner and you keep flipping cards until you find the match.  This is much more appropriate for the younger ones that are typically your phono kids.

Phono LC basketball trio

Now it’s on to the paper toss—a favorite of one of my students.  The pic shows up, you say it, then touch the paper to crumple into a ball.  Now it’s time to toss it into the hoop.  It took a while for my little guys to catch on to how this happened.  Not overly frustrating, just tough enough to get them to stick with it longer than usual.

Phono LC puzzle.png

The final activity is a puzzle.  Again, the target words are the same (per cycle protocol) and you simply drag and drop over the puzzle (you don’t have to find the exact spot) to make a little scene.

If you want to change targets mid-stream a quick double tap on the child will bring you back to their profile for edits.  Data is collected throughout the session and stored.

This will be a go-to app for me with all of my phonological processing kiddos for the first part of every session and I usually try to limit my use of the iPad with the youngest ones I see.

I was given a copy for review by the developer but all the opinions expressed here are my own.  And I have a copy to giveaway ($19.99 value)!  To enter, give us a thought on jigsaw puzzles.  (I could happily work on one for an entire evening with a glass of wine and conversation, though it never actually happens around here.)  You have until Wednesday, April 1, 2015 at midnight EST to enter and the winner will be chosen at random.

Remember, I have THREE other giveaways going on right now! 

TPT Hunt and Hop! (Pick up 11 freebies and enter the raffle for additional prizes–this one ends tonight!)

OperaVox (an app for voice analysis)

Articulation Scenes (a fun and different app for articulation)

 

 

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This Post Has 28 Comments

  1. Ann F

    jigsaw puzzles-both frustrating and satisfying at the same time.

  2. Latrice S

    Jigsaw puzzles are fun! The more pieces, the better!

  3. Sumi Wilson

    My kids love jigsaw puzzles! We’ve been working on two 100 piece puzzles for over a month. It’s so motivating for them.

  4. Lisa E.

    Puzzles…I love having one set out on a table, ready to be worked on during a spare moment. However, my cats love to either eat the pieces, or knock the pieces off the table to places only they know (and they aren’t telling!) So…I love doing puzzles. Just not with the cats. 🙂

  5. Joan O'Brien

    Ditto on a few of the above comments – I love jigsaw puzzles, but with three curious cats at home, I’m limited to having one out for any length of time. The idea of a Friday night with a puzzle, wine and conversation sounds lovely! And I’ve even become a fan of using them in therapy with kids who enjoy them. They offer a nice calming activity when I want to ‘drill and practice’ artic or grammar forms. Thanks, Kim, for a chance to win a free app!

  6. Annette Macher

    I LOVE jigsaw puzzles. My fondest memories of them are the New Year’s Eve activities of my family while growing up. Every year my father would buy a new puzzle and we would try to get it completed by midnight. To this day, I have a jigsaw puzzle out on New Year’s eve.

  7. Tracy G

    I haven’t done a puzzle in ages!! I think I just got some inspiration for fun with my kids this weekend! Thanks!

  8. Erin M.

    Jigsaw puzzles are a family Christmas and vacation tradition.

  9. Julie

    I get my love for jigsaw puzzles from my grandfather. Funny how it went from him doing all the work as a child to me doing most of the work…

  10. Carol

    I love to use puzzles in therapy for artic or language and my kids never complain when I get out a puzzle to use. One of the best puzzles is called, “IZZI” by Thinkfun, “the puzzle with almost a zillion solutions!” My middle and high schoolers like it as well as my young elementary kids.

  11. Deb culbertson

    My husband and I “worked” on a thousand piece puzzle over the winter. It was actually very relaxing and rewarding, especially when placing the last piece of the puzzle.

  12. Janis Giordanelli

    I could work on jigsaw puzzles 24 hours a day! Once I start one, I just can’t seem to stop until it is finished.

  13. Julie J

    A winter scene jigsaw is a holiday tradition for our family each Christmas.

  14. Melanie

    I enjoy doing jigsaw puzzles but with 2 little kids at home it is impossible to do right now.

  15. Ruth morgan

    Love puzzles and have had fun family time with some we’ve picked up at thrift stores.

  16. M. Parker

    They were very popular when I was a child and I loved them then and still do. Glad for the big comeback of them.

  17. Michelle

    I loved working on jigsaw puzzles with my grandmother growing up. I am very fond of those memories that I had with her.

  18. Susan S.

    I love jigsaw puzzles. DOn’t do many anymore because of time constraints.

  19. Dani Kaplan

    I love jigsaw puzzles! I wish I was able to work on them more often!

  20. Harriett Hughes-Rex

    Haven’t done one in years, but my older son now 23 loved them when he was little. After going to the shore one summer, we bought a Guy Harvey Blue Marlin one with about 500 pieces. However it was on sale because the box was destoyed and was in a ziploc bag. Fortunately, my husband got a t shirt with the same picture. We used it as a guide. We were almost done and my younger son grabbed the last piece. We finally found it & I framed it. It is hanging in our Living Room as a reminder. We laugh about it now but it was not funny at the time. Took us so long to finish!!!

  21. Anne Page

    I have happy memories of my mom and aunt talking and putting together a puzzle at the kitchen table. I haven’t worked one in ages! This app looks amazing, thinks for bringing it to my attention.

  22. Melanie

    I loved putting jigsaw puzzles together with my dad when I was young. Now I enjoy watching my husband put them together with our daughter.

  23. Lisa Martin

    I enjoy making my students laugh at my corny jokes – so, I would be the comedic actress

  24. Amy

    I like jigsaw puzzles – I wish we had room to keep one out in our current home. I like to work on a big one here and there over the course of a few weeks. I have fond memories of the one we had one on our wall that we had finished, glued together and framed when I was young.

  25. Diya Loveson

    A year back I installed an app called woodzie puzzle for my then 18 month old – the ease with which he moved the pieces with his tiny fingers amazed me! No more missing pieces , no scattering around – jigzaw puzzles on the ipad are great!

  26. Kayla

    My mom loves them but I cannot get into them. I have a feeling my kitty would enjoy them though…

  27. Meagan Lawson

    I love using puzzles in therapy. When I have time, I like to put the pieces face down and weave them in a path around my room. They have to follow the path and collect all the pieces, getting one piece for each question they answer or word that they say.

  28. Kelly Lawson

    I love jigsaw puzzles!

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The views expressed in this blog are my own and are intended to inspire other speech-language pathologists in their own practice. If you are a parent, teacher or other educator, these ideas are not intended to take the place of treatment by a certified clinician. Read full disclaimer here.