Best Apps for Elementary School Kids
Image source: blog.childandfamilydevelopment.com
Speech therapy is going digital. Many speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are beginning to incorporate iPhone and iPad apps into speech therapy sessions. This high-tech education helps engage children in the learning process.
With the thousands of apps out there for every possible purpose, it can be difficult to wade through all of them to find one that is right for your child. For starters, talk to your child’s SLP; she may already be using certain apps with your child. You can download the same apps to use at home to help accelerate your child’s progress. Otherwise, find an app that is right for your child’s unique needs (like vocabulary building or pronouncing “r” sounds) and make sure that it is age-appropriate.
Here are a few speech therapy apps for elementary school kids.
Tom is a friendly cat that can help coax some words out of your little reluctant speaker. Children can “pet” Tom to make him purr. Children can talk to Tom and he will repeat the words in a funny voice. While this app isn’t specifically intended for speech therapy, it can make speech fun for children and encourage more vocalization.
All About Sounds – Initial Position Words
This app uses colorful pictures and engaging sounds to help children learn specific sounds. Children can play a game to match cards and name pictures. When they touch a picture, the correct sound is produced. Customer reviews indicate that children find the game to be fun and at least one SLP has recommended it for use in speech therapy.
Image source: itunes.apple.com
Speech with Milo – Verbs
This app uses playful animations instead of flashcards to teach verbs. Milo is a mouse that will bounce, dance, eat cheese, and perform numerous other tasks to teach children verbs. This app helps children expand their vocabularies. The app also has background music, which can be turned off.
Speech with Milo – Prepositions
This app uses the same mouse as Speech with Milo – Verbs, but it teaches children prepositions. Milo moves around to demonstrate various location words, such as “behind,” “above,” and “inside.”
This app won the 2010 IEAR Language Arts App of the Year award. It helps elementary school kids learn how to construct sentences correctly. The app features audio clips and animations that help make learning fun for your child. It also offers 100 pictures and encourages children to create sentences about them. Parents can also use the app to track their child’s progress.
