Tales of the unexpected with The Boy, my pride and joy.
We're really embracing the world of science, technology, engineering maths in our house at the moment; The Boy is becoming so curious about the inner workings of things that there are nuts and bolts, pipettes and test tubes all over the place!
There were far too many enticing STEM activities linked up last week on Tuesday Tutorials to ignore, so I'm pulling together another selection of crafts and play activities which encourage the more technological and scientific mindset!
I have had a bit of a love-hate relationship with printers over the years. As a teacher they are an indispensable resource; I can't tell you how many letters and labels have been printed out for display purposes, let alone instruction sheets and activity cards, photos for display and children's books. I try to print out a lot in school, but there's some that needs doing at home as well and so a home PSC (printer-scanner-copier) is a necessary piece of technology.
It's saved my bacon many times, although the most infuriating thing is doing work downstairs and then having to take the laptop upstairs to connect it into the printer, almost as infuriating as the low ink warning sign coming on and having to find a shop that sells the ink cartridges the next day.
Several months ago we were sent a Kurio 10S tablet to review. I've taken a while to post this review because I wanted to be thorough and to ensure that issues which were present in the first model had been rectified.
They have been, and the 10S exceeds expectations!
Tomorrow morning is going to be chaotic. I just know it already.
Let me explain our weekday mornings in detail so you fully understand the problem.
We have two, possibly three, type of weekday mornings. We have Monday, Tuesday and Friday mornings which consist of my lovely husband doing the waking shift with The Boy; getting him up and giving him his cereal. Then at 7.30 they come and wake me up (thanks for the lie-in by the way) and I take over organising The Boy while Mr. TBaM showers and gets dressed for work. Then I shower and get dressed. Mr. TBaM leaves for work at 8.30 a.m. and I get The Boy dressed and take him to school. Luckily we only live two minutes walk from school so I can leave the house at 8.50 a.m.
That seems fairly straightforward, although it can be complicated by me having to wash my hair (every other day).
However, on Wednesday and Thursday morning life becomes that little bit more stressful! These are workdays for me and Wednesday is even worse because I have to leave the house by 8.10 a.m. Luckily my mum comes over and sorts The Boy out from 8.15 a.m. so we just have to concentrate on ourselves.
We're not good in the mornings.
At all.
What we could do with is some form of device to to help us:
Maybe a clone of me would be more helpful? Someone to do the menial tasks while I can do the more important bits? All of these things could be programmed, timed and controlled through an app on my mobile phone (which is never far from me). One swipe of the screen and his lunch is made, complete with jigsaw sandwiches and fruit kebabs. A press of my thumb and my hair is washed, dried and my make-up is applied.
Life would be so much simpler if there really was an app to make school mornings easier!
There seems to be an app for everything else!
Did you know that there is now an app which connects to your heating remotely? Like controlling the heating in the house while I'm still at school, so that when The Boy comes home from school the living room is toasty warm for him to snuggle up on the sofa and watch CBeebies. It would be so convenient on the weekend when we're out to be able to tell the heating to turn on an hour before we were due to arrive home.
As busy as a bee and operating at the centre of the home, the Hive system works to make life easier in today's busy world controlled by technology and the constraints of the working parent. Through a wireless thermostat, receiver and hub the heating and hot water in your home can be easily programmed using an app on smartphones.
What would you invent an app for to help daily life?
This is a sponsored post.
Before Christmas I was sent the brand new GTech Multi to review. It was a very opportune time to put a new vacuum cleaner through its paces considering the amount of glitter, tinsel, artificial Christmas tree needles (yes, they still drop them like a real one does), food crumbs and tiny pieces of wrapping paper (which seem to multiply) there was around the house. And we really did test it very well, there was a lot of glitter in this house.
We've continued to give it a rigorous testing ever since, mainly because The Boy really likes glitter!
GTech are a relatively young brand when it comes to carpet cleaning, but the expression 'new brooms sweeping clean' really does speak volumes in their case. I have previously reviewed the GTech AirRAM and couldn't have praised it any more than I did for the ease of use, in fact I did a video review where I poured two bowls of 50g of blue sand into my cream carpet, rubbed it in, and then compared the power of my Electrolux vacuum against the AirRAM's suction. As the GTech cleaner actually sucked up all of the 50g, plus another 3g of dirt in my (previously vacuumed) carpet. That wasn't embarrassing at all!
At the time when I reviewed the AirRAM, my only criticism of it was that it didn't have a hose and therefore any attachments to clean the edges or the stairs.
GTech have solved that problem by creating the Multi.
See there's no cord? That's because it's one of the few cordless and powerful handheld vacuum cleaners around of this quality. With a run time of 30 minutes from charging, the Multi is perfect for cleaning stairs, the car, and all those awkward to reach places around cupboards and piano legs (or is that just my house?). It weighs 1.6kg so it very lightweight and not at all too heavy to use or manoeuvre. It also has a selection of attachments and devices on board to make it easier to clean all areas; long length crevice tool, upholstery tool, dusting brush, extendable hose and an extension tube (available free when ordering directly from GTech).
But the best bit about the GTech are the headlights!
Yes, they have installed headlights on a vacuum cleaner! However silly that initially sounds, the two small LED lights either side of the attachment area make hoovering in crevices, cars and stairs so much easier! They really help to highlight all the dirt and dust which would otherwise be missed.
As the 50g blue sand was such an effective review technique, I decided to repeat it with the GTech Multi. I don't have another cleaner to compare it against, however I wanted to see how much of the sand it could suck up. I actually had doubts that it would manage to be as effective as the AirRAM, purely because of the trigger button feature and the crevice nozzle.
I set to the task with my trusty digital weighing scales and blue sand!
While it didn't suck up all 50g of blue sand, I can certainly forgive it for missing the 1g (or less) of blue sand that it didn't suck up. Considering how much I rubbed it into the carpet, I felt it was very effective at vacuuming it.
Cleaning the Multi is not quite as straightforward as the AirRAM, but at the same time it's hardly onerous. The clear barrel pulls away from the main machine, the lid unclips and the filter in the middle can be removed very easily to wash out. There is a filter on the lid which should be unclipped and the dust removed from, as this is where quite a lot of fluff can collect. However, the whole cleaning process is quick and simple to do. And, if like my husband, you put it back together the wrong way up, then a red light flashes on the Multi to tell you that the filter is blocked.
We have used it to clean the car, and my husband commented that it made life so much easier that he didn't need to feed the extension cable through the porch window and position the car as close as possible to the house.
Priced at only £149.00 then I think the GTech Multi is an incredibly effective cordless and handheld cleaner.
UPDATE 06/09/14: I have noticed a decline in the power and therefore suction of the GTech Multi I'm sorry to say. I do clean the filter regularly but it doesn't seem to make much difference. It still works for light dirt around the edges of carpets and for cobwebs, but it is now struggling to suck up sand from the carpet in the car. The lights have also stopped working. A real shame for a machine with big promise.
I was sent this product for the purpose of this review, my opinion is honest and unbiased.
A while ago I was sent a NOOK HD+ to review. I'll admit that I was both sceptical and intrigued as to whether I'd like it; I am a big fan of my Android phone and our family iPad, and I wasn't sure that a tablet which is essentially an e-reader with additional capabilities would have a place in our lives.
It does.
However it doesn't have a place in our lives, because it is quite firmly mine.
Mean? No. The Boy has access to the iPad, his Kurio, his Innotab and on occasion our phones. My husband has his iPhone and a Kindle. I could create up to six profiles on it (parental controls are inbuilt), but I'm not going to. This is mine. All mine. And I love it.
The NOOK HD+ looks very similar to many other tablets on the market but with a matt black, non-slip casing and surround, and a lowercase 'n' as the home button. The obvious comparison to make is with an iPad, and the buttons to control the volume or power on/off are in directly opposite positions to the iPad, which can be confusing at times. The NOOK HD+ also has a small hole and hand grip in the bottom left hand corner which combined with the light weight, and the slightly smaller dimensions than the iPad, it makes it easier to hold one handed therefore aiding reading.
The operating system is based on Android OS and I really like the way that the interface has been adapted. In the past I haven't been a huge fan of Android tablets as I've found the interface not as user friendly as the iPad, but the NOOK's display is very simple and cleverly organised.
There's a ribbon of apps to scroll through at the top of the home screen, the selection can be edited to suit the user. There are also shortcut buttons at the bottom of the main screen; library, apps, web, email or shop. The library is particularly well organised and sub-divided into; Books, Magazines, Films & TV, Apps, Children, Newspapers, My Shelves, My Scrapbooks, and My Files.
Whenever a new mobile device enters my hands I install certain apps on it first of all: twitter, Facebook, Gmail, WordPress, Angry Birds, Cut The Rope, Candy Crush, and the all important Instagram and photo editing apps. And this is where my only problem lies with the NOOK HD+. Because it is essentially a more sophisticated e-reader tablet, and therefore there's no camera. And logically because of this you wouldn't need to download a photo sharing app, would you? This I found frustrating as my photos automatically upload to Dropbox so I could use still use Instagram after downloading them, plus I like to network on there. But it's not the end of the world, just a minor inconvenience and it actually means that I use the NOOK for different things than my phone or the tablet.
Magazines, books and newspapers are the biggest feature pushed on the NOOK, which makes sense for an e-reader. In the Summer of 2013, Barnes & Noble were very wise and added the Google Playstore to the OS which meant that the Kindle app could be downloaded and previous books purchased (and used on other devices) could be accessed. Prior to this e-book downloads had been quite costly. Despite all the other capabilities of the NOOK, I feel that for me its selling point is the magazine subscriptions and book reading functions. I don't tend to use the Kindle app on my phone (too small) or the iPad (too heavy) but have read several books on the NOOK as it has a different 'feel' to it, and I don't just mean physically.
As mentioned, my other favourite aspect of the NOOK is the magazine subscription facility. I don't buy magazines in 'real life' as I don't like the clutter around the house (there's too much anyway!), I end up with ripped out pages stuffed onto the kitchen shelf which never get looked at again, and it's not very eco-friendly. I now have subscribed to several cookery magazines on the NOOK, which are stored in the library. Additionally there is a very nifty little 'scrapbooking' feature which enables the user to virtually 'rip' out a page and save it in a scrapbook or category.
I've got fifteen scrapbooks on my NOOK HD+ which enable me to easily access recipes under different categories, so much more efficient than one hundred pieces of faded paper shoved into a cookery book in the kitchen!
The screen is very high quality, almost as good as the iPad3 to compare visually (the NOOK HD+'s 9" display is 1920×1280 pixels with 256 PPI, the 9.7" iPad3 display i 2048×1536 with 264 PPI), the difference in PPI (pixels per inch) is minimal making it not far off the quality of the Retina display on the iPad3. This makes game playing and watching films a complete pleasure and a high quality experience.
The NOOK HD+ that I was sent was the 32GB model, which has double the space of our iPad3 and will last a very long time as it is not cluttered with all of The Boy's games. However, if I do need to increase the storage space, then there is a an expandable microSD slot.
Sales of the NOOK HD+ decreased in the last few months of 2013 which I think is a shame. I'm sure that the introduction of cheaper Android tablets from supermarkets have affected NOOK's sales, but I think the quality is incomparable. I use my NOOK daily, often in preference to my phone (which is giving me RSI style symptoms) and the iPad (because of its weight), and because the functionality of it is different.
The NOOK HD+ 16GB is available from £129.00 and the 32GB from £149.00 in a variety of high-street and online stores. While it doesn't have the complete capabilities of a standard Android tablet due to the lack of camera, it is an investment that I think is thoroughly worthwhile, especially as it allows for up to six profiles to be created with parental controls, and utilises the Google Playstore. I wouldn't be without it now.
For other bloggers' opinions, please see the reviews on Geekalicious and GeekMummy's first post and second post.
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I was sent this product for the purpose of this review, my opinion is honest and unbiased.
We like technology in this house.
A lot.
And The Boy is incredibly adept at using the technology that we have, in fact he's the one who has shown me various shortcuts on the iPad. No matter what the device is, he seems to be capable of picking it up and using it instantly. Interestingly I recently attended a conference about the impact of iPads in the classroom and how they affect learning, the survey of parents conducted demonstrated that they believe tablets are intuitive and that children don't need to be taught how to use them. The Boy's practise would indicate that to be an accurate assumption.
The conference also highlighted that most parents (75%) see it as essential for children to have access to tablets like touch-screen mobile devices in order to keep abreast of technological developments and to aid their learning, which I found really interesting and also reassuring that their learning potential (not just their play functions) were being acknowledged. A recent survey by Lifeproof (award-winning maker of all-protective, everyday cases for smartphones and tablets) showed that seven in ten parents feel their children are brighter because of early exposure to technology, and while four in ten parents admit that they sometimes use their smartphone or tablet as a high-tech babysitter to keep their children entertained, nine in ten also believe that using gadgets can be educational for their children.
Now I will put my hand on my heart here and 'fess up that I have been in the supermarket and handed The Boy my phone or the Kurio tablet (which has a rubberised drop-proof case as standard) to keep him amused while I'm shopping. Possible letting him play with my expensive smartphone might not be the best way to keep it in one piece, but then he's not the one who dropped it on the road, shattering the gorilla glass screen of the Samsung Galaxy S3, I was.
That's why I was incredibly grateful when Lifeproof sent me one of their cases for my phone, my husband has already reviewed one for the iPhone 5 earlier in the year, and it was probably just as well mine arrived when it did as I dropped it in sink of water last week…
Baroness Floella Benjamin, OBE commented on the research: "Gadgets are a part of everyday life and are here to stay – but should be used as part of a child's creative development along with other stimuli. There has been much written about the use of gadgets by children, and technology is becoming a vital part of everyday life – but of course, as with everything, should be used by children and teens in moderation.
"Children shouldn't be passive when it comes to technology, they need to be in touch with it, and learn to be creative and inventive, because ultimately there are many long-term benefits."
We tried restricting The Boy's access to the iPad and actually have found that it makes him crave it more, so we tend to let him have a little bit of iPad time for ten-twenty minutes every day or two, and he loves playing with the problem-solving and logic puzzles; reassuring as I know that these are areas that we are focusing on in school!
While we're lucky that The Boy hasn't damaged one of our devices, the average parent has spent £110 in the last year fixing gadgets, while two electrical devices have been broken by children in the last 12 months alone. The most common cause of damage is items being dropped in the house, while spillages and gadgets being lost were also seen as everyday occurrences.
For further information and to explore the full range of LifeProof cases visit their Kidproof page.
Posted in conjunction with Lifeproof for which I received a phone case.
During the Summer, The Boy was fortunate enough to be sent the new LeapFrog LeapReader (for 4-8 year olds) to review. I was intrigued to see how this was any different to a few of the LeapFrog products that we have, namely the Tag Junior and the Scribble & Write, and was pleasantly surprised to see that it actually incorporates the best bits of many of the pre-existing LeapFrog learning toys.
Essentially the LeapReader does two things:
It also is marketed as developing listening skills because children can listen to audiobooks and trivia quizzes (there is a headphone jack port to prevent disturbing those around them), but for me this isn't the biggest selling point.
The LeapReader looks like the Tag reading pen (it also works with most Tag books), but with added extras; there is a 'nib' (in addition to the scanner for reading) which means that it can be used for 'writing' on the special paper provided with certain packs or books. It also has play/pause and next/previous track buttons, along with a 'home' button for audiobooks, and volume controls.
There are several different ways to interact with the LeapReader when reading a book, options to 'read the page' along with 'sound it, say it' and 'games' mean that each page in a book can be explored extensively. The purple book icon allows a child to hear the story read, and the green star starts up a game or quiz. This is great for first stage readers, those who want to read independently but don't have the decoding* skills or phonological awareness to 'segment and blend'* a word.
As a primary school teacher I am interested in the way that these type of learning tools use phonics to help a child 'read' independently. I'm a harsh critic of those that use the incorrect pronounciation of phonemes, it is counter-productive to their reading skills and makes a teacher's job harder. Therefore I was interested to see how the LeapReader did; was it going to be guilty of using the schwa, the 'uh' sound that so many of us learnt when reading, which is actually wrong?
I was very pleasantly surprised to hear it doing a fairly decent job actually. Common letters which can feature the 'uh' sound if mispronounced are: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w. Out of those it correctly pronounced f, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, with it unfortunately using the 'uh' sound on b, c, d, g and w. I can forgive it c, d and g (they are quite tricky) but not w. Maybe that's just me being fussy, but I don't think it's helpful for such a potentially excellent learning tool to be getting some right and some wrong. However, I was very pleased to see the LeapReader explain to the user that certain letters blend together to make a different sound (e.g. e+e = e, e+a = e, i+e = i) although I'm confused as to why it uses the letter names and not the sounds to explain this (see the above video for more information).
Essentially I like that this gives the child more control over their reading, allowing them to 'read' independently once they have learnt the basics from a parent or teacher.
* Decoding is the process that readers go through when they are working out what the sounds in a word join together to make. Segmenting is splitting it into phonemes (letter sounds) and blending is joining these back up together to make a complete word.
In the review pack that we received was a 'Learn to Write Letters with Mr. Pencil' book, which also has separate practise writing paper.
I really like the story of the Doodlebugs which guides the child through the book, and the way that they can practise on both the book and the practice paper which has been included in each section. The Boy very quickly realised though that once the paper has been 'written' on, then it's been used and there is no replacement for it. He can go over it again once or twice, but then the reader can't pick up his 'writing' correctly and it doesn't work as well. That is frustrating. The other point that he found frustrating is that the LeapReader is determined to finish the instruction he's saying and will not be interrupted. The Boy worked out very quickly what he needed to do, but wasn't able to start until the Reader had finished the instruction; it has caused a few 'grrrs' from both him and me when using it.
The LeapReader does pick up very quickly if an error has been made, and it has really helped him to find another way of practising letter formation without it feeling like I'm schooling him. As a left-hander he does find that sometimes the plastic rim around the nib gets in the way and marks the paper before the nib does, which confuses the LeapReader. It mean that he needs to check his pencil grip more frequently, so it isn't really a bad thing. The book covers upper case angular letters first (L T F E I H) rather than 's a t p i n' (initial letter sounds which children are taught to read) or 'curly caterpillars' (a c d e g o q s f – the first letter formations taught). However, it can be good for children to experience different fonts and formats, and therefore it's 'all swings and roundabouts'. If it engages children in writing and allows them to feel accomplishment then the order is pretty harmless.
The story used to teach children the letter formation is fun and engaging. The technology identifying the writing is very clever and it encourages correct pen grip.
When I posted a picture of the LeapReader on Instagram, someone commented that they'd be interested to see this review as they felt it was a parent's place to teach their child to read and write, not to leave it to a piece of technology. I do see their point of view and of course the primary learning resource for any child is a parent or carer, however I know from professional experience that there comes a time when a child wants to do things independently and not be reliant on adults all the time. They want to feel that they are in control of their learning, and that they can manage without help; using an inanimate object like this (just like using a dictionary to learn a word's meaning) can be a boost for their confidence and help further consolidate what a child has learnt with an adult's help.
The LeapReader is a learning tool that can be used in a variety of ways, the appeal of this toy is that it gives a child control and independence to further their reading and writing skills. Overall I think it is a very good resource, particularly for promoting letter formation and sight recognition skills.
The LeapFrog LeapReader is available from a variety of toy retailers and online here with a RRP of £39.99 and includes a LeapReader, activity sampler book, and Learning Paper writing sheets. Supplementary books typically cost from £12.99-£16.99 (The Learn To Write Book is £16.99).
I was sent this product to review as a member of the LeapFrog Blogger Panel. My opinion is honest and unbiased, and based on my experience as a primary school teacher of twelve years, and a mother of a four year old son.
As a primary school teacher with the responsibility for ICT in the school, I take e-safety very seriously. At the beginning of each academic year, the first few weeks are spent going over how the junior school children can protect themselves and their online information, both from predators and cyberbullies. I use the CEOPs site as it gives resources for teachers and parents, as well as workshops for children to explore.
In this post by Linda Waters (mobile tech blogger, marketing executive at mSpy and writer about smartphone apps, cell phone monitoring and their benefits for families) ways in which parents can help protect their children from cyberbullies are explored and explained.
Technology says that bullying is no longer limited to street corners or schoolyards. Cyberbullying occurs everywhere, at home, through email, mobile phones and social networking sites 24/7 with the involvement of hundreds of people. The victim of cyberbullying feel angry, humiliated and in some cases goes for a suicide attempt.
“Threatening, humiliation or harassment of a teen or child by another child or teen using net, email, text message, online forum, chat room or social networking website is called cyberbullying.”
Cyberbullying doesn’t involve face-to-face contact or physical strength. Cyberbullying can be used for humiliating someone in front of many people as cyberbullying could be witnessed by hundreds or even thousands of people. Cyberbullying is done usually by sending taunting or threatening messages through email, some cyberbullies break into the email account and steal person’s online identity for humiliating and hurting him. There are some cyberbullies who create a site or social media website page solely for targeting someone. Boys often cyberbully by sending messages of sexual nature or by the messages that contain threatening content. Girls have got their own way of cyberbullying: they commonly cyberbully by spreading rumors and lies about someone, exposing secrets or excluding someone from their friend lists.
Cyberbullying makes a person feel sad, hurt, angry, isolated, helpless and even suicidal in worst cases. It results in problems such as low self-esteem or depression.
Cyberbullying may occur anytime and anywhere and in the places where a person is likely to feel safe and protected, it means one can’t escape cyberbullying.
Mostly cyberbullying is done by an anonymous person so it becomes very hard for you to know who is behind it and you feel kind of more threatened.
Cyberbullying could be witnessed by hundreds or even thousands of people, thus, it can be more humiliating than physical bullying.
If you ever face cyberbullying, it is recommended:
If your child:
Parents are recommended to prevent cyberbullying of their child before it begins. Following are the things that parents should teach their kids about cyberbullying:
Featured post
We are a big fan of games in this house, both tangible board and card games, and those on the iPad. Therefore when I were offered a selection of 'appCards' to review, I jumped at the chance to try out something that crosses over from one to the other.
AppCards are a perfect game to take on journeys or holidays, as well as for use in the house, as they take up such little space. The pack of cards and the tablet or smartphone is all that's needed to play. We were sent 'Sound Bingo', 'Colour Slam' and 'PimPamPet' to test out and took them with us when we went on holiday to Dorset recently.
We had a go of 'Colour Slam' because I always take age guidelines on games like this with a pinch of salt, but I'd agree that it's best suited to children aged around the '8+' guideline; my 7 year old nephew and 10 year old niece love it. It's a very bright and funky game for the 'tween' generation, and fun to play with friends. It involved each player having four cards and trying to colour match the combination shown on the screen. Good fun for 8+ age bracket.
'PimPamPet' is one that foxed me I'm afraid, and that's more to do with my inability to understand games like this. In this word and general knowledge 'beat-the-clock' game which involves being provided with a topic by the app on the mobile device, and then using the seven cards from your pile to come up with an associated answer. However, there's an added level of 'robbing' from other players which led to this Leo the Lion becoming frustrated. Again this game is for 8+, and possibly not stroppy mummies who've not slept well!
The best one for us (as a family with a pre-schooler) was Sound Bingo. In this, there are four different coloured sets of cards, which makes it like a bingo board. Up to four people can play and each choose a colour which they select on the app, this lets the app know which colours to throw into the random generator of sounds. Players lay their cards out face up and the app plays an unknown sound. The player who has that sound declares it, and they swipe the screen on the mobile device to confirm. Once they have all their cards claimed, then the shout 'bingo'. This is a very simple and easy game, perfect for the 4+ age recommendation.
AppCards are produced by Jumbo (the company behind the jigsaw puzzles and the iPieces games) and cost £9.99 each, available from a variety of retailers.
I was sent a copy of these products for the purpose of this review, my opinions are honest and unbiased.
