Category: app

Learning Languages with Langmobile #Review and #Giveaway

Learning a second language is a high priority to me for my children. It is a fantastic skill for them to carry forward into their school and later on their professional careers. For me knowing that language acquisition is easiest during the ages of zero to five, puts a little bit of pressure to get started early!. This is often called the “critical period”. Yet I still want them to have fun and enjoy learning a second language – not the second language classes I had where we had to memorize conjugating verbs but never learned to understand and speak Italian!

Langmobile is based out of Saint-Lambert, Quebec. They offer high quality workshops in music, yoga, English, Italian, French and Spanish, along with pre-school activities and camps. Langmobile has developed a program that helps parents bond and interact with their children while teaching a second language. Langmobile actively includes parents in the learning process to help learn and teach them at the same time. They have taken the research that they have put into their programs and developed an incredible app that assists parents in teaching children English, Spanish and French.
The Langmobile app incorporates new teaching methods that place the interaction between parent and child at the core of the learning process. The Langmobile app features fifty lessons in English, Spanish and French. Each lesson contains a video, song and printable materials (teaching sheets, colouring sheets and more!). The apps use adults to bring languages to life. The apps feature original music composed by Langmobile’s team of experts.
yoga , music workshops, English classes, Italian classes, French classes, Spanish classes, Saturday classes, after school activities, preschool activities, day camps and specialized services to CPE and private Daycares – See more at: http://www.langmobile.com/quality-workshops/#sthash.hbdLhMKb.dpuf
yoga , music workshops, English classes, Italian classes, French classes, Spanish classes, Saturday classes, after school activities, preschool activities, day camps and specialized services to CPE and private Daycares – See more at: http://www.langmobile.com/quality-workshops/#sthash.hbdLhMKb.dpuf
When I first download an app I like to spend a couple of hours looking through the app myself to allow myself to become familiar with the teaching aspect, how it works and so on. As soon as I opened the app up and let the first video play my children came running (both my two and nine year old!) at the energetic music and singing! They were engrossed in the app!

My favourite features of the app were:

  • easy and quick download
  • music was energetic and great at catching my children’s attention
  • repetitive; allowing the words to be easily learned
  • informative parent guide with instructions on how to use each word/video, including also colouring books, craft activities, activities on the go, lyrics, words to practice and cards to print out
  • the parent guide allows you to minimize the amount of time spent directly on the app itself for parents that are worried about too much screen time
  • loved that I was able to interact and be part of the learning process (versus just reading it aloud and hoping they absorb what you are reading to them)
  • incredibly fun way to learn a new language (all of us were dancing and singing along!)
  • even though it is designed for teaching children 0-5 years of age, my nine year old loved it as well!
  • easy to navigate between pages on the app
  • app is designed to be able to download onto Apple devices and Android

Langmobile is offering four individuals a chance to win their own copy of the app! US and CAN residents can enter via the Rafflecopter below.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received a copy of this app in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

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“You Can Be Anything!” with the Snoopy iPad App

I grew up with Snoopy and can never resist a favourite character from my youth! How can you not love how sweet Snoopy is?
I was very excited to review the “You Can Be Anything” Snoopy App from Story Panda. In this digital adventure Snoopy teaches children that they can be anything! This interactive story is a great way to start the conversation with our children on what they want to be when they grow up.
The You Can Be Anything Snoopy App was a great book to read with my son (it also has a mode where the story could be read to him) on our iPad. Snoopy had us laughing and learning lots of new careers and roles each one of us plays in life. Snoopy plays many roles in this great app inspiring children everywhere that we are special and we can be what ever we want to be.
The You Can Be Anything Snoopy App is full of animation, 3D effects, narratives and cool sounds. It also has a create mode where your child can create their own story to go along with the animations. My son had so much fun creating his own silly story using family names. He spent over thirty minutes on the app creating his own version. He was so proud of it at the end! He came up with cool jobs, neat story lines and was even able to change Snoopy’s clothes.
The You Can Be Anything Snoopy App was a huge hit in our home and for only $2.99 you can also explore this interactive story and create your own!
If your not following Story Panda yet you can find them on Facebook and Twitter.
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React Mobile: Families Putting Safety First

The hardest part of being a parent? Learning how to trust and let your child venture out into the world. I am constantly scared for them. It is so much easier to ensure their safety when they are with me! 
The day will come when I have to let them out. When they will want to walk to school either with friends or alone. They will want to head to the park to meet their friends without Mom or Dad tagging along. As terrifying as this is as a parent, it is a right of passage for children as they grow into young adults.
I was recently introduced to a  mobile app called React Mobile. React Mobile is designed to fit into the lives of busy families and students. It is fairly common for many individuals, regardless of age, to carry a cell phone. I will personally be purchasing a cell phone for my son when he begins to want to walk home from school. React Mobile is an app for your iPhone or android smartphone that allows you to easily call for help with the push of a button.
So how does the React Mobile app work?
In an emergency, users are prompted to call 911. At the quick push of a button, users can send their GPS coordinates to a select group of emergency contacts via text message and email. Users can also send out an alert message to their Facebook and Twitter accounts.

The React Mobile app has quite a few everyday uses (many that you hope to never have to use!). The app’s premium “Follow Me” feature allows the user’s family to follow them in real time if they are concerned for their safety. At any time the user can send an SOS alert to have their family monitor and track them. There is even an “I’m Safe” button that the user can tap when they have arrived safely at their destination (pretty smart right?! This is one of my greatest concerns for my children – knowing they have arrived safely to their destination).

Check out their video below going over the app:

                   

You can never be too safe with the personal security of your loved ones! The React Mobile app takes personal safety to a whole new level on mobile phones. To download this free app head over here.
 
You can follow them on Facebook and Twitter for more information.
Disclosure: This post was a sponsored post. The opinions expressed are my own.
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