My First Words

My First Words: The Complete Collection

by Alexandre Minard © A&R Entertainment

Well it’s Sunday and our weekend series review of the “learning is fun” educational apps by AR Entertainment has come to an end. We chose to conclude our weekend series with My First Words: The Complete Collection for your iPad device running iOS 3.2 or later. For a $1.99, users will have access to three categories: animals, food and colors which is stocked with a large collection of words. Within each category, children ages 2-7 can be challenged to spell various words as there are three levels of difficulty. It is important to note that levels progress based on one’s learning needs as users will find their academic supports changing. Learn to spell new words or just reinforce those that you already know in upper or lower case and script. Flip through colorful animal graphics and make connections through a sound. With every splash of color, learn how the spelled word is similar to something else, like an alien or a flower. During each experience your child will learn to arrange letters from left to right as letters pronounced will make more than 50 new words.

My First Words: The Complete Collection is very intuitive and easy to navigate for our young target audience. Children will have an amazing experience as they learn of new animals that they may not see or hear in their backyard, food yet to be tasted and manipulation of colored words as they play with them on paper. AR Entertainment chose to take a spelling approach not with phonics, but rather by letter recognition. As we explored, we noticed words ranging from 3-6 letters in length. The goal of this educational app is to arrange scrabble like letter pieces by dragging and dropping them into place. Interactive spelling screens provide users with an image, a fill in the blank area and lettered tiles. As each letter is tapped, it is pronounced for users. If letters are picked and dragged in the appropriate order, then users will be rewarded with an animation, stars. If users do not see a star animation, then letters were not correctly arranged from left to right. In addition we also noticed that each level provided a different type of academic support as children spelled their way through levels 1-3.

Level 1 – is the introduction level as the “spelling area” indicates how to spell each given word. Users must simply match each letter into place.

Level 2 – is the first of the challenge levels as the “spelling area” no longer provides hints. Users will notice repetition of words seen in level 1 and are expected to recall how to spell each word. If letters are not arranged correctly, they will fall back into the letter line up. Level 2 is users first experience with the importance of reading and spelling from left to right.

Level 3 – is the final challenge. During this round, users will once again see those words from Level
1 and 2. It is important to note that level 3 will not provide users with any hints, users can drag and drop letters as they see fit. Once all letters are arranged, those that were correctly placed will not move. Whereas those letters that were incorrectly placed will fall back down. Thus allowing the user to try again.

As you exit this educational app, those words spelled are not saved to the device. Each return visit starts fresh, making My First Words: The Complete Collection a nice addition to a classroom setting or home environment. As you learn and have fun with My First Words, reinforce letters of the alphabet and see the importance of letter arrangement as a way to spell new words while developing your vocabulary. Although this educational app does not focus in on phonetic spelling, users who are familiar with that approach may want to apply it when necessary. If you have enjoyed our educational series this weekend, then you will want to visit AR Entertainment’s website by simply clicking here. If you have a toddler, preschooler or kindergartener looking to play with words, then download My First Words: The Complete Collection by clicking here to access it from your iTunes library today.