Love to Count by Pirate Trio

by Next is Great

When you think about incorporating a mobile device with any grade level student or child, their goal should be to understand and grasp the skill(s) being taught, right? Well then come aboard a pirate ship as we land on the shores of unknown seas. As they use their mobile device, the hope is that they are discovering new mathematical skills rather than playing to memorize. Love to Count by Pirate Trio has been designed and tested to do just that in a very creative way to enhance numbers. It is a mathematical educational app designed for all Apple devices running iOS 4.0 or later. When you read the title of the app, Love to Count, you assume your child will only be working on basic skills. Well, you couldn’t be more wrong. Applicable2U was amazed at the number of mathematical skills that are reinforced as your son/daughter or student(s) are playing in the land of pirates.

Love to Count by Pirate Trio is accessible to multiple users. When entering you can choose from six diverse characters, 3 boys and 3 girls. As you dive down into the deep blue sea or hop aboard a pirate ship, your student or child will be working and exploring with adding, subtracting, shapes, counting and ordering. Each of these skills is then narrowed down even further to deepen their understanding of numbers. There are a number of things that Applicable2U loves about this application. Love to Count by Pirate Trio is accessible for all learners. It provides a great deal of repetition, verbal reinforcement, a hands on learning experience as they use their fine motor skills to move items around the page, rewards and even user statistics that a parent or teacher can view. When playing some math applications, users are at times stressed due to a timer, Love to Count by Pirate Trio does not incorporate such a feature. The captain aboard the ship, or the narrator, reads the question and basically waits until an answer is chosen or the “Done” green checkmark is selected. If a child needs to question repeated, the developers have an answer for that, simply click the speech bubble button in the top right hand corner and your captain will read the question once again.

As you successfully complete each question, users are verbally rewarded. If however, you have chosen an incorrect answer, not to worry, you can always try again. As you enhance your understanding of numbers 1 to 10, users will be asked to unlock a secret code word, once unlocked you can then enter a cave where hidden rewards are. These rewards are stored in your treasure chest and can viewed for others to see. The approach that is taken with this educational app is very well done. Although there are over 700 math tasks, Applicable2U would love to see an extension of numbers added for those having mastered the necessary skills. Such an extension could come through as a free update, or an in-app purchase to those that have downloaded Loved to Count by Pirate Trio.

Overall, Applicable2U will certainly recommend Love to Count by Pirate Trio to other educators and parents. If you would like to learn more about Next is Great, please visit their website here. If your son or daughter loves to count, then you will want to add this pirate adventure to your iTunes library, simply click here.