Letters

Recently, my mother…and father…and sister…and preschool teacher/aunt all asked me if my daughter was mastering her phonics.  They reminded me that at 18 months, my nephew knew the alphabet.  He walked around the house reciting, “The A says uh.  The A says uh!”  After hearing him hum from A to Z, I couldn’t get the lyrics out of my head and found myself singing the alphabet song at work.   So, when my family asked if I was reviewing phonics with my little one and I said no, you can imagine the shocked and appalled faces staring back at me.  You would have thought I said I didn’t feed my daughter dinner or give her a bath at night.  Don’t get me wrong.  I understand the importance of an education.  More so, as a former  middle school reading teacher, I witnessed firsthand what happened when students fell into the achievement gap.  But I also knew that as a working mom, I didn’t have time to teach my toddler a lesson when we got home from an extremely long commute. Then I found out about Cypher Kids Club Letter Adventures.

The interactive phonics app stand outs, because the program is in 3D.  You don’t have to have a special gadget to use it.    I just ordered the flashcards on Apple’s website and downloaded a free app onto my iPhone.  The cards are also compatible with an iPad or iPod.  Once the cards arrived about a day or two later, I snapped a picture of each card, and the app brought learning to life.  The educational tool was a perfect fit to my busy lifestyle, because my daughter could navigate the program while I cooked dinner.  Of course, I assisted, but since the program talked to her (with an entertaining robot), she stayed occupied and engaged.  The robot showed what upper and lower case letters looked like and made their sounds.  The program is designed for kids three and up, but it still held the interest of my 16-month-old who giggled and repeated some of the words.  I won’t force her to memorize the alphabet, but know it’s possible since my nephew did so seven years ago!

Watch this video to see the cards in action. First Caitlynn checked out the flashcards.

DSC_0451

Then she got a closer look.

DSC_0455

Once she approved the activity, I snapped a shot of the flashcard with my iPhone’s camera and Letter Adventures came to life. It wasn’t long before the learning game created giggles and smiles.

DSC_0462

I ordered more than one set of flashcards and plan to give one to my friend who has a daughter Caitlynn’s age.  We’re always on the lookout for fun and educational activities.  Think it makes a great Christmas gift, especially with the free and fast shipping.  I also picked up the Numbers Adventures.

To get the latest information about #CypherKidsClub, the interactive cards and where to connect, check out the following websites:

Please note, I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and  Cypher Kids Club #CBias #SocialFabric.  All opinions are my own.

 

About The Author

Vlog Mom/DFTM Creator

Not long ago, Heather Hopson hosted a television show in the Cayman Islands. Today, she's back home writing a different kind of story as a new mom. In her 15 years working as a professional journalist, this by far is her best assignment! Growing up, she dreamed of becoming Oprah Winfrey. She was the features editor for her school’s newspaper and a teen talk show host for her city’s most popular radio station. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Michigan State University. After graduation, she worked as a television producer and reporter at CBS, NBC and Fox affiliates throughout the U.S. Instead of heading to Chicago to join Ms. Winfrey on her set, she bought a plane ticket to the Cayman Islands instead. She arrived five days before a category five hurricane! She lived in paradise for seven years, hosted an award-winning television show and traveled the globe with a government delegation. She also served on the board of directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters and spearheaded a Send a Kid to Camp campaign. Then, she relocated to Washington, D.C. to obtain a teaching certification and instruct 8th grade reading at a high needs middle school. She later returned to her hometown of Pittsburgh, PA to raise her daughter Caitlynn, now 4-years-old. During her 10-month-stint as a stay-at-home mom, Caitlynn inspired her to create this blog, and Diary of a First Time Mom was born on Mother’s Day 2012. Two years later, she expanded the family to include 20+ writers. Currently, Heather serves as the communications director at Allies for Children. In addition, she is the owner of Motor Mouth Multimedia, which ranked #49 in Startup Nation’s Home-Based 100 Competition sponsored by Discover Card and Sam’s Club. Recently, The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz Endowments selected Heather to receive an Emerging Black Artist award to develop Diary of a First Time Mom.

7 Responses

  1. Brandi

    My daughter would love, love, love these! I’m going to have to check it out before we go on a road trip this Friday. It looks like Cypher could keep her busy!

    Reply
    • newmom0608

      Thank you! I’m always on the lookout with something that’s both fun and educational. Please feel free to share some of the interactive learning activities you do at home.

      Reply
    • newmom0608

      It’s amazing how hi-tech kids are nowadays. My 10-year-old nephew just turned in a slideshow project on general surgery at school!

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.