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BrillKids Software / Little Reader - General Discussion / Re: Double clickin P-Animals (word + media)
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on: May 30, 2008, 04:07:08 AM
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Oops!! So sorry (for the incomplete thought in my last post on this topic). That's pretty much how I talk -so I'm not surprised that an unfinished thought crept its way into my writing. Anyhoo, I think I was trying to say that if the pointer could be enabled to "control" what part of the word was spoken, breaking the word into its individual phonemes (or into onset and rime)- this could really expand the potential uses of the program as far as helping kiddos learn how individual sounds or sound segments come together to form words. For example, my four year old is at the stage where she is playing around with isolating the initial phoneme of a word. If the pointer could control the pronunciation, she could use it as a "self-checking" feature after she hypothesizes about what the initial sound of the written word might be. So, she might see the word "cow" on the screen. Prior to it being pronounced for her, she could say "I think it starts with /k/" and she could then position the pointer over the "c" and it would say /k/ - thus "affirming" her guess. Okay, my initial point probably would have been much more clear on the first go around, but I hope you're catching my train of thought. It may have derailed a bit too much for the purpose of this program - but, who knows? - there might be a way to make this happen? Thanks for reading!
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93
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BrillKids Software / Little Reader - General Discussion / Re: Double clickin P-Animals (word + media)
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on: May 29, 2008, 06:21:18 PM
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yeah, I noticed the arrow as well, CCSimplicity. At first, I thought it maybe could be used to click on the individual graphemes of a word to hear their individual sounds, but it doesn't appear to have that function. Maybe this is something that could be a feature in the future?? I think the purpose of this program could really be expanded by As for the double clicking, I hadn't noticed that b/c I'm still too busy arm wrestling my kiddo away from trying to click on the keyboard and mouse himself!!
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94
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The BrillKids Forum / Forum Feedback + Questions / any problems after posting?
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on: May 29, 2008, 06:08:04 PM
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Hi all - I'm still finding this forum experience so interesting - what a great way to disseminate information and have meaningful discussions. I did want to ask if anyone is having trouble with the forum immediately after they post a reply. Basically, on my computer after I submit a post, the screen just goes to white - it doesn't return to me to anything. It works to use my browser's back button to return to the thread (is that the right word?) I was reading, but I just am wondering if it would be helpful (or possible?) to be returned automatically. Anyone else experiencing this?? Could it just be my computer? Thanks!
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95
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BrillKids Software / Little Reader - General Discussion / Re: How have you customized your Little Reader Word Library so far?
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on: May 29, 2008, 05:57:57 PM
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Yep! Added pics for mommy, daddy, and "baby's name" just a bit ago...it was really easy and it worked during playback too! I tried to add a file for his sister, Annabelle to the family word list. It looked like I was successful when I was in the word library, but it didn't show up during the playback mode. Not sure what I did, so I'll be looking into this. By the way, I also added more than one pic for some of the files (mommy, baby, etc) b/c it was so easy and this was great too. My older child (Annabelle) had fun clicking her way through the playback when I was finished. I wonder if there is a setting so that the word file (ex. "mommy") would reappear between each of the pictures presented. I still have much to explore - so forgive me if that is already an option and I missed it! Please let me know what step I missed when trying to add a word (sister/Annabelle) to the word list - then I will try to add others as well - "Gramma", aunts, and cousins. Thanks!!
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96
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BrillKids Software / Little Reader - General Discussion / Re: If there's one thing you could change about Little Reader...
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on: May 29, 2008, 03:57:24 PM
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KL - The "disable mouse + keyboard" function would be fantastic. I had posted elsewhere (can't remember now where - download thoughts, maybe?) that my son was too infatuated with the mouse and the keyboard to fully attend to the visual presentation - I was thinking I would have to transfer the word lists and use them on the TV but it would be so much easier to stay at the computer and pull up whatever set we wanted to do. I am going to try the auto-forward feature when my little guy wakes up from his nap. I think he may be less likely to "explore" the keyboard and/or mouse and just attend to the screen if he doesn't see mommy "pushing buttons" - thanks for calling our attention to this feature!
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97
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EARLY LEARNING / Teaching Your Child to Read / Teaching 2 Languages at a time (split from "When do I start?")
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on: May 29, 2008, 03:48:49 PM
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Noha, I agree with Maddy. Children very naturally blend words from various languages that they are exposed to. I don't feel there is any harm (to the contrary, several benefits) to hearing more than one language presented at a time. In fact, if a child hears a novel word (from another language) embedded in a sentence containing words from a more familiar language, he or she can learn from the context of the familiar sentence to gain meaning about the novel word. For example, "le chien is barking a lot!" would allow a child who is a native speaker of English to draw from his or her knowledge base and he/she would be able to correctly infer that "le chien" is another way to label a dog. (sorry to disagree with you, KL!)
Another thought: I feel that it is very important for children in a bilingual family to hear their parents speak in the language that is most familiar to them. Too often I work with parents who felt they had to only speak English to their children - unfortunately, their knowledge of English was fairly limited at that time. What happens in that situation is that the child is not exposed to underlying components of a language - semantics (word meanings and how words are related), syntax (information about word order), and pragmatics (how language is used to convey different intents). If the parent was speaking the native language, the child would be more able to "pick up" this information, which would then allow him or her to apply it to the second language being learned. By the way, although kiddos often initially combine both languages, eventually they are able to speak both languages separately (as you said you were hoping would happen).
Just my two cents! Thanks for reading. Good luck with everything!
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The BrillKids Forum / Forum Feedback + Questions / Re: Great job
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on: May 29, 2008, 05:18:58 AM
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I want to add to the "great job" sentiment. I haven't ever experienced forums/discussions/threads prior to this website, and I am finding it extremely fascinating, well thought-out, and organized. People from various places with vastly different backgrounds can share their thoughts, gather information, and get to know others out there who are interested in maximizing the early learning potential of kiddos easily and quickly! Also, I am not having any difficulty navigating through the forum topics, reading posts, or posting replies - which means that this website must be pretty user-friendly (I am not known for being very computer savvy). I am still stumped by "PM" - I'm assuming it means a private message? Don't know how to do that - but mayhaps it's not necessary for me to know at this point. :crazy: Take care all and thanks again for a fun experience so far!!
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99
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The BrillKids Forum / BrillKids Announcements / Re: Little Math and Little Musician - a Sneak Peek!
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on: May 29, 2008, 05:01:44 AM
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wow- Little musician sounds so great! I am amazed at how attune to music my kiddos have been since day one (actually even in utero I really felt they were both connected to music!) and am so excited for a system that would allow them to start understanding the mechanics of music better - how different tones are visually represented and how different rhythms are notated...how exciting! Maybe it could also expose them to the terminology associated with the dynamics of music - how music is played... staccato/legato or the intensity or changes in music...crescendo, etc. I know that my four year old has picked up just a few of these from tv programs and it has been helpful in softening her voice in quiet places! Rather than telling her "be quiet" during a church service or in the library, I can say "diminuendo" or "pianissimo" and have her change her ways. Looking forward to it for sure!
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100
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Downloads + Collaborations Discussions / Free Downloads / Re: What's your free download wishlist?
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on: May 29, 2008, 04:48:08 AM
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These are all great ideas for additional groupings - I think it would be good to consider the type of words that kiddos typically acquire first. The ones previously mentioned (around the house items, outdoor items, vehicles) are all important words that appear pretty early on in a child's vocab. Also, I think parents often tend to expose kiddos to words that are in other categories (such as body parts and clothing) too. If these were familiar words to kiddos, it would help with early direction following as well (consider: putting on a shirt - put your head in, now your arms go in) Yep, definitely need to expand food items for sure I agree that it will be nice to "level" the word lists- as parents could easily get overwhelmed and not know where to start - however, it will vary quite a bit from family to family as far as what early words are valued - still, a basic hierarchy will be great. What do you think of the colors being divided into two different groups (main colors - red, yellow, blue, green, purple, orange -- and group2 - for the others??) Just some thoughts!
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101
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Downloads + Collaborations Discussions / Free Downloads / Re: How do you like the downloads?
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on: May 29, 2008, 04:30:38 AM
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Well, my almost 10 month old was very excited about seeing the animals on our computer screen this a.m., but he was so distracted by wanting to touch the keyboard. I have been reading more on the website about how I can convert the files to a slideshow that he could view on the T.V. and think that will work quite well (as soon as I can figure out how to do it!). My other question is... would there be a way for the child to advance to the next screen by touching anything on the keyboard (without navigating away from the Little Reader program? I know nothing about computer programming - so I may be asking a very naive question - if so, I apologize!)
I have another question regarding the program overall... that is, how does one make decisions about whether the child is gaining awareness/knowledge of the words being presented? Is there a certain number of times you are to present the word lists? Do you have specific tasks that parents are supposed to do after the presentations? This info may already be on the website, and I just haven't come across it yet...just curious.
Overall, I really am enjoying the quality of the downloads and am hoping to explore it more with my little guy tomorrow! Thanks for all of your efforts! -Leanna
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102
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Parents' Lounge / Introduce Yourself / Mom to Nate and Annabelle
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on: May 28, 2008, 05:47:35 AM
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Hello all - Hopefully this is the right way to post - Lappy asked me to post in the parent's lounge to introduce myself. I am a mother of two - Baby Nate (almost 10 months) is the reason I stumbled my way into the BrillBaby world, but I also have a 4 1/2 year old named Annabelle. I am also an SLP (no, not a slow, lazy person - a speech-language pathologist ) so I am obviously fascinated with how children acquire speech and language skills (and reading is comprehending written language). This interest has definitely expanded as I have watched my older child navigate her way through learning early literacy skills. Plus, now that I have two children (and work full time outside the home), I am anxious to find interesting, "time-friendly" ways to stimulate my younger child's learning - I don't want him to be short-changed! I am excited for him to wake up tomorrow so that I can show him all of the files that I just downloaded - I peeked at the animals section and was impressed with the presentation and the clarity of the pictures that follow each word. Looking forward to reading others' posts and sharing in this learning experience. Thanks and read ya soon!
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