May 13, 2012

Read Write Phonics App Review for Android

Dominique Parenting and Kids, Reviews Android App Review, Read Write Phonics App

Photo credit: Read Write Phonics.

Read Write Phonics is the latest App which I have tested out with Tiger girl. I had been looking out for educational Apps for my HTC phone so that we could have learning on the go when we are out. . I’m have started home schooling with my 20 month old girl and am starting to teach her the alphabets and phonics. I was thrilled to be able to test out this app with her.

This app is designed for children aged 3-6 years however I feel that it would work well for younger children who are ready to learn. The program aims to help teach them the 44 phonic sounds that make up the English language write basic letter shapes, and how to blend the different sounds to make words.

Each word /alphabet or vowel is read out in a clear female voice. Like in the picture above in the READ section. The vowel “A” is shown before the word ant is shown together with the picture with the word “ant” being read out.

write

I personally enjoyed the WRITE section the most . It starts off by showing you how to write the lowercase alphabet one letter at a time. After the letter has been written I helped tiger girl trace out the alphabet with her finger. I find this similar to writing in sand and makes a good exercise in teaching her how the alphabets are formed. There was even a 3 star rating to state how well the letter was traced out.

phonics

In the PHONICS section selected small words and big words are being read out one after the other.

You just have to watch the video below to get a comprehensive view of the three main areas- Read, Write and Phonics.

My thoughts

I find that this is a great app for teaching reading, writing and phonics to beginning readers. However it could do with pictures and maybe a bit of animation for the READ and PHONICS section as it would make it easier for the young child to associate the sound with the word.

You can purchase this app from the Google Play Store at £1.49

If you want to know more about ReadWritePhonics you can check out their Facebook page or follow them on Twitter

Disclaimer: I was given a free download of the Read Write Phonics app for the purposes of this review. All opinions are 100% my own.

May 13, 2012

Pearl Mountain Image Converter Review

Dominique Reviews image converter software

Pearl Mountain image converter

Do you need a software to help watermark the photos that you take of your kids? Do you need something that is easy to use and does not require too much time learning how to operate? Pearl Mountain Image Converter would be the product for you.

Product Information:

PearlMountain Image Converter is a photo converter as well as batch image converter, which helps you convert images to other formats, resize, rotate, crop, add watermark, apply effects and add border to thousands of images at a time. Some of the highlighted features include:
•   Convert thousands of files at once in batch mode.
•   Supports the most popular image formats: BMP, JPEG, TIFF, RAW, PNG, GIF, TGA, and PSD, and almost all image formats.
•   Save operations that you usually use as profiles and bring convenience to you in the future.
•   Convert between many different image file formats.
•   Resize image for any different use, such as for web, e-mail, photo printing, Facebook, MySpace, mobile phone, ipod/ipad/iphone, etc.
•   Add image and text watermark for Image Copyright Protection
•   Adjust image brightness, contrast and saturation in batch to make your images look more special.
•   Apply border to images.
•   Crop photos, removing unwanted areas.

screen

The software is easy to download and install. After installing it the screen above pops up. It is easy to navigate and not difficult to use. You need to choose the setting you wish to use from the left hand column before you can work on editing / formatting your photo on the right.

watermarking

I love how easy it is to add watermarks to the picture. You have a choice of text or image watermark and can even add in both on the same picture. This is really handy for me as I have the option of what type of watermark I wish to use and can add it in on the fly.

my picture

My watermarked picture after editing.

Suggestions for Improvements

It would be great if this product would also allow me to make collages or edit the photo so that I can have other “artsy” effects like lomo-lomo or film grain which I currently apply to my pictures using my current photo editor. However the watermarking capabilities of Pearl Mountain Image Converter makes the software the best I have used for this capabilities.

If you cannot wait and want to try the product now head on over to PEARLMOUNTAIN and purchase a copy for yourself or even as gift for only $29.99 !!

Disclaimer: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.