Educational Apps for Kids: Speech Tutor Pro #speechapps #articulation #SynapseApps

The Speech Tutor Pro app is one of my go-to apps to introduce oral movements for sound formation. What's great about this app is that it covers a wide variety of articulation concerns in a way that is technical enough for speech-language pathologists to score clients in-depth, but accessible enough for parents to use on a basic level as well. (As an SLP, I definitely geeked out a bit over the target sound options in the card deck section and the articulation screener.) The $39.99 price tag may seem a bit steep at first glance, but for those of you with articulation clients, this app is well worth the investment. Speech Tutor Pro describes the app as a culmination of nearly a decade's worth of work designing apps for speech therapy, bringing together the content from 5 of the most well-known apps in the industry. It's no surprise after seeing all of the detail that went into this app. Check out my experience with it below...

Educational Apps for Kids: Peekaboo Studios Reading Comprehension Apps

Whether you're an SLP, teacher or parent looking for an easy way to improve reading comprehension skills in school-age children, Peekaboo Studios has provided a fantastic solution. Their reading comprehension apps span the grade levels from 3rd to 8th grade and provide a handful of engaging passages at each level. This week, I've trialed the Peekaboo Studios 3rd-6th grade Reading Comprehension Bundle with my clients and I can't say enough good things about it. The passages are well-written, the questions are on-point and the data collection options make my life so much easier. I love that I can track all of my students at once and email the list of scores to myself or send them individually to parents. It certainly beats carrying workbooks around, too! For $8.99, it's a steal. Check out more about the app bundle below...

Educational Apps for Kids: Sentence Ninja by Smarty Ears Apps

As a pediatric speech-language pathologist with a lot of pre-teens and teenagers on my caseload, I'm always looking for engaging and motivating activities to make syntax and semantics goals a little more fun. It's not always easy to find apps that truly align with the goals I'm working on with my clients, so when I find a good one, I like to share it with our readers. This week I've trialed 'Sentence Ninja' by SmartyEars Apps to target sentence formulation goals and it was a big hit. There are so many features I like about the app and the scaffolding options allow me to use it with a wider variety of may caseload than I expected. Check out my thoughts below...

Educational Apps for Kids: Smarty Ears Phonological Awareness Lab

Phonological awareness is a critical foundational reading skill for kids. As an SLP, I work on this skill often with my school-age clients. Over the years, I've relied on hands-on manipulatives and paper-based activities to target these goals. The problem is, my days are filled with travel between the clinic and several schools every day. Lugging around materials for a full load of clients can become very cumbersome. When a friend told me about Smarty Ears Phonological Awareness Lab, I was really excited about the idea of transporting materials on my iPad instead of hauling around overflowing bags. The big question though...does the app offer quality activities that can replace some of my paper-based tasks? After reviewing it on my own and trialing it with a few of my clients, the answer is YES! This app is well worth adding to your bag of tricks. Not only would I recommend it for SLPs, it's a fantastic app for teachers and parents as well. Check out what it has to offer as well as my thoughts on each component below...

Educational Apps for Kids: PLAY-DOH Create ABCs and Chutes and Ladders #SLPapps #appsforkids

With the school year in full swing, I've been on the hunt to freshen up my pediatric sessions with new and engaging activities that will meet my clients' speech and language goals. This week, I've come across two new apps by PlayDate Digital that will be fun additions to my arsenal. Their new Chutes and Ladders: Ups and Downs app will be a great motivator for my articulation and social skills sessions and the PLAY-DOH Create ABCs app will excite my little ones as we practice letter naming, sounds, and written formation. Check out my thoughts on each app and be sure to enter the giveaway to win these apps for yourself as well!

Educational Apps for Kids: Teach Speech Apps

With the new school year upon us, teachers, parents and speech-language pathologists will love both the content and price point of the Teach Speech Apps Bundle 4! The apps are super user-friendly and easily align with Common Core Standards, so for those of you working in the schools, Teach Speech has just made life a little easier for you. Because this bundle targets many common receptive and expressive language goals seen in our pediatric clinic, I was eager to trial it with my school-age clients. Teach Speech was gracious enough to allow me to review each app in the bundle, so that I can share my experience with you. Check out my thoughts below!

Mobile Education's Language Apps for Kids and Teens #educationalapps #SLPapps

As an SLP, I'm always looking for innovative ways for my clients to interact with language. By the time many kids with language impairments reach the school-age years, they have developed negative feelings about their academic skills. This can lead to avoidance, shut-down, and push back during therapy sessions...unless they are packed with high-interest, fun activities that allow kids to enjoy learning. Since the sight of an iPad seems to put a smile on my school-age kids' faces, I've been trying to find solid language apps that I can incorporate into parts of our sessions to meet their goals. One app that was introduced to me by a client who liked using it with a prior SLP is called Sentence Builder. It was created by Mobile Education and aligns with her grammar goals perfectly. Turns out, Mobile Education has a wide variety of language apps that target goals well and bring excitement to traditional therapy sessions! I've trialed nine of their most popular apps and provided my thoughts below...

Speech Apps: Little Bee Speech Articulation Station Pro & Articulation Test Center Pro

As a pediatric private practice SLP, I have a significant amount of clients who are diagnosed with language impairments, but also have underlying articulation concerns. I'll admit that I've found articulation therapy to be pretty dry in the past and I've spent way too many hours trying to "craft" my way into a fun session. Martha Stewart, I am not. On one of my usual internet searches to spice up sessions, I came upon Little Bee Speech. As it turns out, I hit the jackpot. The Little Bee Speech site offers a handful of speech and language apps that are nothing short of incredible. This week, I was looking specifically for articulation apps, so I reviewed the Little Bee Speech Articulation Station Pro and the Articulation Test Center Pro. Check out my thoughts below...

Educational Apps for Kids: Word Search Articulation and Silly Sentence Articulation #speechapps

Whether you're a parent working on speech sounds with your little one or a speech-language pathologist in a school or clinic, you'll probably agree that teaching articulation skills can be less than exciting. The repetitive nature of the work is often a drag for adult and child alike and engagement can be tough. In my search to find ways to spice up dull sessions, I came across two articulation apps developed by fellow speech-language pathologist, Erik X. Raj that I can't say enough about! The Word Search Articulation and Silly Sentence Articulation apps for iOS devices create fun and interactive opportunities to practice speech sounds and keep kids engaged.

Family Game Night: Simply Suspects #SpyAlleyPartners

The family has been on a bluffing kick lately, so to add to that assortment we found Simply Suspects from Spy Alley Partners and tried it out over the weekend. It does not disappoint! Perfect for 2 to 6 players and easy to pick-up and learn in under 5 minutes, this game already has a ton of children's and parenting awards for logical reasoning.