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Leap Into
Phonics My son calls "Leap Into Phonics" the "cow-pig" game because the icon for the program is a cow, and the picture for the first activity is a pig. However, this software is about much more than cows and pigs. It's about a dog with binoculars, trained seals, a xylophone playing zebra, an opera singer, and many other characters who will help teach your child important phonics skills. "Leap Into Phonics" was designed by the Douglas County School district in Omaha, Nebraska. and is suitable for home as well as classroom use. This program is divided into eight components consisting of one or more activities. The numbered components are displayed like a game board allowing the child to click on the game he wishes to play. The components include: 1. What Makes the Sound?, 2. Nursery Rhymes, 3. Rhyming Games, 4. Parts of Words, 5. Beginning, Middle, and Ending Sounds, 6. Alphabet Factory, 7. Sounds in Words, and 8. Making Words. Teacher Options are accessible with a password. Here you may add or delete names of registered students, view or print progress reports, and use the Path Tracker. The Path Tracker is both a lesson planner and evaluation tool which allows you to decide where the child will start and stop on the game board. "Sounds In Your Environment." is a very basic activity in which the child identifies a sound with what makes the sound. For example when the child hears an oink, he should click on the pig.. In the second part of this activity, the child hears three sounds and then clicks on the one which came first, middle, or last. In addition to the farm, your child will hear sounds from the city, neighborhood, and kitchen. "Nursery Rhymes" consists of four activities. First the child listens to the rhyme and watches the animation. Then the nursery rhyme is repeated as the words are highlighted. In the third activity, your child is asked to click on each word as it is read. In the last activity a silly word is substituted for a more familiar word in the rhyme. For example "the mouse ran up a 'vine'" (instead of 'the clock'). Three pictures are shown below the rhyme, a tree, a vine, and a zebra. The child is to click on the silly word. The dog with the binoculars is the star of the first activity in "Rhyming Games." A picture is shown in each lens of the binoculars. Then your child is asked a silly question such as "What can you take for a walk, a dog or a frog?" The child clicks on the correct response. In the second activity, the child sees a picture, then chooses two more pictures which rhyme with the first one. In the third activity, a silly opera singer takes the stage. She says three words, and asks your child to repeat them. Then she repeats just two of the three words, and asks the child to identify the missing word.As in the other activities each word is written, spoken aloud, and represented by a picture. Your child will be so busy watching the gum balls bounce across a set of drums and into an animal's mouth in "Parts of Words," that he won't realize this game is actually a lesson in syllabication. The number of gum balls corresponds to the number of syllables in the name of each animal. For example there is one gum ball for frog, but three for kangaroo. The drums are numbered 1, 2, 3, and the correctly numbered drum lights up when the word is pronounced. In the second activity, Zeke the Zebra plays sounds instead of words on his zany xylophone. A word is pronounced (ex.. cat), then its different sounds are given (ex.. c-a-t). Next your child clicks on each key of the xylophone to hear the separate sounds repeated. In "Beginning, Middle, and Ending Sounds" the child listens for specific sounds in various positions in words. There are six different activities in this component. In "Puzzle Fun" each time the child correctly answers a question, a piece of puzzle is removed to reveal part of a hidden picture beneath. The next three games use a variety of animated characters to help the child identify beginning, middle, and ending sounds. My favorite is the last activity, the "Rhyming Door Game," which reminds me of the old "Let's Make A Deal" show. The child clicks on doors to try to find words which rhyme with a key word. "Alphabet Factory" is another favorite at my house.. The child clicks on any letter of the alphabet to hear the letter name, watch animation, hear words starting with that letter, and watch the letter drawn in both upper and lower case. I love the silly animation in this activity. My favorites are the "K" shaped father and son kicking a ball and the snake slurping spaghetti. The "Sounds in Words" component helps the child learn to make new words by changing letters in a key word.Puzzle pieces, helicopters, and trained seals help teach skills about changing beginning, middle, and ending sounds. The last game, "What is the New Sound?" reminds me of those brain teasers where you have to change one word to another in a certain number of steps. The child clicks on bubbles to transform pup to cup to cap to map to mat to bat, etc. The final component is called "Making Words." In this activity, an accordion plays words. First the word is shown and pronounced, then the child selects the matching picture. In the last two activities, a truck driving bear and a pair of elephants teach blending beginning and ending sounds. This program is designed for ages 4-7, but I chose it for my 3 year old because he has a developmental speech delay. He can easily navigate through the activities, and I'm delighted to hear him answer questions, and repeat words and sounds along with the whimsical animated characters. His correct answers are rewarded with a variety of positive responses including trumpet fanfare and applause. When he responds incorrectly he hears a silly sound like a boing or clatter, and is gently nudged to the correct answer after two or more wrong answers. When I was a middle grades language art teacher, I saw how tough reading and spelling can be for children who haven't had adequate training in phonics. I think this software is an excellent tool to introduce, supplement, or reinforce phonics skills. Therefore, I would recommend "Leap Into Phonics" to any parent who is concerned about his or her child's language development. |