Hour of Code is Underway

This week is Computer Science Education Week and many schools throughout the country have been participating in Hour of Code and thus I have been getting lots of questions from my friends on what resources are good for learning how to computer program.

Fortunately there are lots of wonderful resources out there. Unfortunately learning to code is intimidating and complicated and it is easy to become overwhelmed. Many people have a specific idea of what they want to make but then realize that they are going to need a lot of background knowledge before they can even begin to think about implementing their idea.

The resources are code.org, the site that is the center of the Hour of Code week, are great and there are easy to step through lessons. But many people and children have a hard time making the connection between the visual drag-and-drop language provided on code.org and "real" text based languages like Java, Javascript, Objective-C, etc.

Alternatively if you pick up a learn-to-code in language-of-your-choice book, almost always, it is complicated and makes an assumption that the reader already know something about computer programming. Essentially I have found that the materials currently available, neglect to explain clearly some of the most basic concepts of computer programming and thus create an unnecessary hurdle for the beginner.

Over the years I have been reading information on what makes a person successfully learn and/or struggle to learn computer programming and the two things that stuck out for me are:

1) People who never master the ability to write code, never grasp what variables are and how they work. Since variables are the most fundamental building block in writing a program, this is a huge problem. It is also very understandable because it is typically a topic that is breezed over very quickly.

2)  People who are successful coders do not dwell on trying to find meaning where it doesn't matter. Computers simply follow a set of rules and it doesn't matter if the rule looks like gobble-dee-gook to a person. When a computer sees a specific word/letter/symbol etc it does whatever the associated rules are for that word/letter/symbol are. Often the original meaning or intention behind the word/letter/symbol is no longer valid or relevant. Some people have a hard time getting over the meaninglessness that is frequently found in computer programming languages.

Thus when my seven year old said that she wanted to write "real" code I didn't use any prepared material and simply took out a white board and started explaining very simply what variables were and how they are used. I wasn't sure how much she would be able to grasp as her math knowledge is pretty limited, but amazingly she understood and started writing code and making her own simple programs. We continued learning about if statements and looping structures. I have also started teaching weekly lessons in her second grade class to groups of six or seven students at a time. In starting simply and explaining thoroughly the kids have been able to understand and write code in "real" text based programming languages.

Thus confident in my ability to explain these concepts I have started making a series of videos that are designed to fill in the missing information. The videos are designed for beginners who are planning on taking a computer science course, or those who want to learn a specific language but get overwhelmed at the books they have picked up. The videos are also good for kids either before or after they have worked through the lessons on code.org to help connect the relationship between visual programming languages and text based languages.

One thing to keep in mind is that learning how to code is similar to learning how to write or draw.  It is something in which there are a wide range of skill levels and in which mastery takes years of practice and study.

Here are the first few videos in the series. The whole series will be released as an app and/or website. If you want to be notified when the full product is completed you can sign up here. I will not sell, rent, or trade your email address. I will only use it to notify you about the status of this project.  I am estimating that the final product will priced at $10.

How to Create Variables

How to Change Variables

How to Name Variables

An Example Program that Creates and Changes Variables

In the meantime here are other good resources for learning how to code:

Code.org - This is a curriculum that uses a visual programming language (ie a drag-and-drop language that you don't have to worry about syntax errors), and helps develop the ability to think logically and use programming logic structures.

Scratch - This is another visual programming language that has been around for quite a while and allows you to create programs via a website.

repl.it - A website that allows you to run code via a website, meaning  you don't have to go through the complicated steps of installing a development environment and thus very nice for classroom environments.  I think Lua is the best language to use in this environment.

w3schools - Lessons and tutorials for web programming.  They also have an interactive display that allows you to write code and see the results directly from a browser.

Floors - For a free, easy lesson in video game design there is an app called Floors that lets you create Mario brother style video games by drawing the levels on an iPad.

Kindergarten Math and Literacy App Bundle

With the release of Learn to Read I created a kindergarten app bundle which has the Learn to Read app as well as the Kindergarten Pattern Completion app.  It is neat because both of these apps have a pattern recognition theme.  The math app is obviously a pattern completion game, but the reading app also is using pattern identification to pick out similarly spelled words.  The bundle gives you a dollar off discount.  Enjoy!

Learn to Read is Available for iPhone and iPad

I had started working on a port of this app over a year ago, but got distracted and never finished, but I had a customer email me begging for an Apple version as soon as possible.  I hadn't got as far along on it as I had hoped, but I did have enough time to get it in working order and release it.  I also added some cool new features (that will be included in the Android versions as well) including a new animation that is displayed when the correct answer is tapped.  

The other main new feature is one that I find very intriguing.  I came across a website of a person who had created a free font called OpenDyslexic that has been found to be easier to read by some people who have dyslexia.  I figured it would be a good option for a Learn to Read app and I am interested to hear if any children do benefit from the different font.  

App Bundle on the iPhone and iPad

Apple released a new feature where you can bundle apps into groups and sell them at a discount.  I created a bundle of the two math pattern game apps, so you can get them both for ~$3.  Enjoy!

Road Trip Tips With Kids

We set off for a road trip from Seattle, WA to Los Angeles, CA a couple months ago.  We did two 9 hour legs to get from Seattle to Los Angeles.  On the way back we did a 6 hour trip from Los Angeles to Monteray, and then we did a 14 hour trip from Monteray back home.

My kids are 4.5 (Allie) and 7 (Selena) and having mobile devices was extremely helpful throughout the trip. They provided such a variety of activities that we were never bored.

We had an iPad, an iTouch, an iPhone, an Android Note2, and a Win 7 phone and a Kindle e-reader for devices.  Unfortunately we had no car chargers which was kind of a bummer.

Movies-

We purchased Frozen, and one season of Wild Kratts from Amazon.  Amazon's service is nice because if you buy video recordings you can download them for offline viewing and they support multiple platforms. Unfortunately and ironically they don't support Android devices unless it is their own Kindle Fire.  This was a problem because I could fit a lot of content on my phone (the Note2) because of its micro SD card, and the battery lasts a long time, but my phone isn't supported so we were left with the Apple devices.

I could fit Frozen on the iPad, and I put all the Wild Kratts on the iTouch.  The iPad's battery held up really well, the iTouch's battery only lasted a couple hours.

Books on "Tape" -
The Overdrive app via the library allows you to listen to lots of books.  Floyd and I listened to Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend.  Selena had Guardians of Gahoole on the Win 7 device.

Music-

Music is pretty obvious on any device.  Allie and Selena liked listening to the Frozen sound track and Allie really likes the Fresh Beat Band.

Games -

We download Road Trip Bingo, and all three of us were able to play along on our own device. Unfortunately once we got out in the city many of the things were harder to find.

We had the app Toontastic on the iPad and we took turns making up a story and animating it via the app.

Kindle -

Driving through California after Redding is a long straight shot, which makes reading in the car much easier since their is not much risk for motion sickness.

Other non-device related entertainment-

I had a map printed out of Washington, Oregon, and California and I had drawn the cities that we would pass through on our way.  Selena enjoyed tracing our route as we went along.

I had got the book Drawing With Children which has some step-by-step verbal drawing instruction.  I would read the instructions to the kids while they drew in their sketchbooks.

The scenery of course was also entertaining.  My favorite was when we passed Mt Shasta.  On our way down it got dark and there was very little light pollution and the skies were clear so the stars were pretty impressive.


Overall the road part of the trip was a lot more pleasant than I had expected.  When we did take breaks the kids and I would do sprints to stretch out our legs and get some blood flowing which helped deal with some of the fatigue of sitting for so long.

Great Online Resource to Learn How To Draw

It started with my oldest daughter asking how she could learn to draw "really real".  I tried checking out some "how to draw" books at the library, some were better than others, but overall both of my kids had problems following the instructions even in the most simple books where the new lines were a different color. I had to specifically point out each new line to them.  This became tedious when helping one child, and impossible when both were wanting to draw.

Next I went to the internet to see what was recommended.  I found numerous posts recommending Mark Kistler's site, especially among homeschoolers.  There are plenty of free videos on the site, and they are perfect for kids.  The marshmallow lessons are fun for all three of us, and are simple enough that my youngest daughter could do them when she was just three years old.  My five year old was able to do the slightly harder Online Video academy videos, and both kids liked the School of Imagination, step by step animated lessons.  

The lessons are perfect because they can pause the videos when they need to, and his dialog, pace, and drawings are great for people of all ages.  It took us a few months but we went through all the free videos, had checked out all his videos of his PBS show from the library, but the kids wanted more.  Unfortunately the subscription for his lessons are a bit pricey at $100 a year.  But I finally decided the cost was worth it and was going to buy it as a birthday present, but lucked out even more when I found a discount coupon on the internet. 

I highly recommend these videos and they are a great representation of when tech makes learning easier.

Drawings by Selena age 6

Drawing by Allie age 4

My mistake equals free apps for you

*UPDATE
Kids Pattern Recognition's update in the App Store is live and is now working! 

Unfortunately I made a big mistake and released an app that
wasn't functional.  I can't believe it happened to me.  Over a week ago I updated all my apps on Apple to remove affiliate links because they probably violate COPPA.  I tested all the apps on my devices and simulators and they all worked.  I uploaded them to Apple and they were reviewed and approved.  A week went by and everything seemed good, but then I got an email from a customer who had bought the app and said it would not open.  I panicked because the app was due to go free in a few hours and would be heavily promoted and the last thing I want is for thousands of people to download a bum app.  Apparently there was a bug in the release version I sent to Apple that was not a problem in the debug versions I was testing.  While I was frantically trying to pinpoint the bug I was seriously doubting my sanity in having started this business, as my husband was not home, and thus not only was I trying to deal with this crisis, but I had to feed and put my two kids to bed.

But all is as well as it can be at the moment because I have fixed the problem and have submitted the update to Apple, and even requested an expedited review.  Even so it will probably be at least a couple days before it is live, so for all you lucky people not only will Kids Pattern Recognition be free Friday and Saturday, but Kids Sequences, Counting and Patterns will be too, and it will be the app promoted for App Friday. Granted you won't actually be able to play Kids Pattern Recognition till the update is out, but you can pick it up for free now, and enjoy Sequences and Counting in the meantime. 

App Friday Will Be Exciting Tomorrow

Kids Pattern Recognition will be set free for the first time ever. :) If you haven't already liked App Friday's facebook page, go and do so now.  http://blog.momswithapps.com/2013/07/11/app-friday-feature-kids-pattern/

COPPA - Child Online Privacy Protection Act

Over the past few months I have been working with a group of people to organize an effort to educate developers and parents on privacy and technology.  The result of our collaboration is Moms With Apps a part of ACT 4 Apps. The group's official launch is today, to coincide with the deadline for the new COPPA regulations the federal government instantiated going into effect.

As typical of many bureaucratic efforts COPPA shines in some ways and is lackluster in others, whereas Moms With Apps makes a call to developers to follow the spirit as well as the letter of the law.  It's main efforts are for clear disclosure.  Please keep an eye out for the MOMs with apps logo and support the developers that are a part of this group as it filled with high quality developers.

Great Deal on a Great Android Tablet

This is an awesome deal on a Nook Tablet HD, especially because Barnes and Noble opened up the Google Play app store for their Nook Tablets.

Jackpot in Free MP3 Stories for Kids

There is something quite satisfyingly old fashioned about listening to a story told by a talented storyteller.  It gives me imagined nostalgia for the oral tradition and a time when bards traveled the country, sharing their stories, or a time when families gathered around their radios.  Which is where the site Storynory comes into the picture.  While it is more tech in its delivery than a bard or a radio, its essence is still the oral tradition.

I discovered Storynory quite a while ago and have been meaning to share it, but kept forgetting.  I already shared Robert Munsch's free mp3 stories, but if you are looking for stories for a bit older group of kids Storynory.com is AMAZING!  There are hundreds of stories including a huge selection of original stories which are surprisingly good.  The majority of them better than most published children's books I read.  It is harder than you would think to make stories that both adults and children like, but Storynory has nailed it.

Natasha is the storyteller.  She has a wonderful British accent and does entertaining character voices.  We have listened to most of the Bertie the Prince stories, Katie the Ordinary Witch, Tick Tock Turkey and all have been hits, especially with my five year old daughter.

We mostly listen to the stories in the car either burned onto an mp3 disc, or by plugging in a phone or ipod to our stereo.  I also turn them on at night for my five year old in a pretty successful plot to keep her from coming out of the bedroom half a dozen times before she goes to sleep.  Though one night I forgot to limit how many stories played, and she listened to them for 2 1/2 hours before she came out of her room at 11:30pm asking for more.  Oops.

The easiest way to download the stories is to treat them like a podcast and get them via the RSS feed links  provided on the Storynory site.  For convenience I have provided some of the links below.  Storynory does have a main podcast link that gives you a different story and different character for each episode, but I, and my children, prefer to be able to pick out which stories they want and listen to, and listen to multiple ones of the same character, thus I choose to subscribe to each feed separately.

If you are unfamiliar with podcasts they are typically mp3 recordings, focused on a topic, usually delivered somewhat regularly.  Most often they are radio type shows, interviews, or in this case stories. (There are also video, pdf, and epub podcasts which deliver other types of digital content regularly). Usually you can download episodes individually via a website, or another, easier option is to use a podcast app.  A podcast app will notify you when new episodes are available, and more efficiently download and play the files.

For your desktop computer or apple device you can use the podcast section in iTunes.  Alternatively, for mobile devices, you can use the podcast app that comes on the iPhone, or download a dedicated podcast apps from Google Play.   For Android, I use BeyondPod.  Usually you can search for the podcast from an app, but some podcasts, like the individual feeds for each story series on Storynory will not show up through a search. For podcasts that cannot be found via search you have to copy and paste the link for the RSS feed into the app.

As far as I can tell Storynory gets money from a sponsorship from Audible.com as well as selling some ebooks via Amazon and apps via The App Store.  If you like these stories, I encourage you to support their site through their products or by donation.

For convenience I have included the RSS Feed links for various subscriptions to Storynory.com below:
Right click on the link and select, "Copy link address" and then paste it in your podcast app.  From storynory.com the links are at the bottom of each story series's description where it says "RSS feed for these stories."  Enjoy!

Storynory - Katie the Ordinary Witch

Storynory - Bertie the Prince

Storynory - Tick Tock Turkey

Storynory - Astropup

Storynory - Waking Beauty

Storynory - Chix

Storynory - Wiked Uncle

Storynory - Zoo Stories

Storynory - Jack and the Pirate School

Storynory - Rockfords Rock Opera

Open Face Chinese Poker for Android and iOS

I'm taking a little tangent from developing kids apps and am developing an app for adults.  The game is Open Face Chinese Poker and right now there is no Android version, so I am trying to target that part of the market as soon as I can.

I put up a new site, openfacechinesepoker.corvidapps.com, to keep the two genre's separate.

Does the English Language Hinder Our Numeracy?

What if the language you speak either helps or hinders your number sense?  This thought occurred to me the other day after a series of events:

The first was my brother and I were watching our kids play.  His son, who is 2.5 was counting: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16.  He skipped 13.  Young children are often stumbling and skipping over numbers through the teens.  I commented that our numbers really don't make sense anyway.  When counting in Japanese it is very simple.  You say the words for one, two, three through ten, and then after that you say ten-one(11), ten-two(12), ten-three(13), ten-four(14), ten-five(15), ten-six(16), ten-seven(17), ten-eight(18), ten-nine(19), two-ten(20), two-ten-one(21), two-ten-two(22), etc.  Even when they write out numbers as words the characters follow the same pattern.  My point is, do Japanese speaking children stumble over the teens as much as English speaking children?

A couple weeks later my eldest daughter, who is in Kindergarten, was talking to her younger sister.  The elder was talking about the number 28, the younger asked, "How much is 28?"  The elder said two-tens and eight more.  Then I remembered her showing me a 100's chart and counting how she learned at school.  When she got to the larger numbers she would say two-tens-and-one (21), two-tens-and-two(22), two-tens-and-three(23), etc.  Sound familiar?

100's Chart

Understanding place value is a foundational math skill.  In the early elementary age children teachers strive to help the kids understand place value, so that when they starting adding multi-digit numbers they can understand WHY you need to carry.   Teachers have students do exercises like the one my daughter did at school in analyzing 100's charts, finding the patterns, and counting the numbers like she was.

Unfortunately there are kids who do not get enough of this practice, and have a harder time making the connection that twenty is the same thing as two-tens.  My sister, who was student-teaching third graders met a few such kids.  The curriculum had moved beyond place value and onto addition and subtraction, but the kids who didn't understand place-value also didn't understand why you needed to carry numbers. She said that even when counting, one girl seemed surprised every time she switched from one set of tens to the next (ie from twenties to thirties).  For these students the rest of their math experience will most likely result in attempting to memorizing the steps to solve a problem and will not understand the meaning behind the steps.  They will probably have a harder time estimating and will be less able to look at a final answer and be able to tell if it is in the ballpark of the right answer.

But what if kids have spent their whole verbal life practicing place value?  I would imagine their understanding of place value would come faster and easier.  Multiplication by ten becomes trivial.  What is two groups of ten or two times ten?  Two-ten!  Combine that with a metric measuring system (also base ten) and you have practical math skills that make logical sense being used from the moment a child is verbal.  I would imagine such a language would make it easier for their speakers to understand the connections and relationships between numbers.

Japananese, Chinese and Korean languages all count this way, and have strong math scores in international standardized tests.  Finland, Norway, Singapore, and Canada do not have languages that count this way and also have strong math scores.  The Thai langauge counts in this way, yet have low math scores. Obviously there are many confounding variables, and the language one speaks isn't the silver bullet to being good at math, but it is an interesting idea nonetheless.

Must Have Educational Christmas Apps

If you are looking for educational apps for the classroom and at home you should join the Facebook group iTeach.AppsfortheClassroom .  All throughout the day sales and freebies for educational i Phone and iPad Apps are posted.

The iteachappsfortheclassrom blog also contains lots of great recommendations including this list of must have educational Christmas apps, in which Kids Christmas Pattern Game is included!  Check them out.

Kids Christmas Pattern Game is Free

I have decided to keep Kids Christmas Pattern Game free, at least for the time being. Enjoy!!!

Free and Discounted Kids Apps for iPhone and iPad

Check out App Friday today!  A lot of free and discounted kids apps for iPhone and iPad including my very own Kids Christmas Pattern Game.  Download it today! :)

Kids Christmas Pattern Game

Now on the App Store, Google Play, Nook Apps (TM), and Amazon Apps. 




Solve sequence and pattern puzzles to help practice foundational math skills in this educational math game.

WHO: For kids ages 4 and up. Some of the harder patterns may even stump some adults.

WHAT: 30 beginner ABAB patterns (ages 4 - 7), 30 intermediate level sequence and pattern puzzles including counting puzzles (ages 5 - 8), 30 advanced sequences and patterns (10+)

WHERE: Santa is traveling all over the world--England, France, Italy, Egypt, India, Antartica, Russia, Mexico, USA and the North Pole. This app provides some exposure to world geography with flags and famous landmarks.

WHY: Recognizing, analyzing and solving pattern and sequence puzzles promotes foundational skills for math, literacy and science.

This app provides practice for children in:
-Recognizing patterns and sequences.
-Recognizing differences in color.
-Recognizing differences in size.
-Practice counting by 1's, 2's, 5's, and 10's.
-Exposure to world geography with country flags and landmarks.

Parental Disclosure:
- This app does not collect any personal identifiable information.
- There are links to the Corvid Apps website and to Corvid Apps products.
- There are no third party ads.
- There are no in-app purchases, the app is fully functional upon purchase.
- View our privacy policy at http://www.corvidapps.com/p/support.html for more information.

Other Apps in This Series:

Kids Pattern Recongition - Beginner (Preschool and Kindergarten) : Kids math game with ABAB and ABCABC patterns

Kids Sequences, Counting and Patterns (Kindergarten and First Grade): Kids math game to help practice 1's, 2's, 3's, 5's and 10's.  

ChorePad Facebook Party

ChorePad is hosting a Facebook party meaning free codes for apps from an assortment of developers will be appearing all day starting at 9:00AM EST.

I have two contests going on.  See if you get lucky and can grab a free code right now for Sequences, Counting and Patterns, or at 9:30AM PST for Kids Pattern Recognition.

Kids Sequences, Patterns and Counting Math App is Available

Observing, comparing and categorizing are foundational skills for math, science and literacy.  In this game kids practice counting by 1's, 2's, 3's, 5's and 10's as well as puzzling the solution to various patterns and sequences that change in size and shape.

On App Store (iPad, iPhone, iPod touch),  Google Play, Nook Apps (TM),  Amazon Apps and coming soon to Nabi.

What's going on

We raised $29.30 for Hurricane Sandy. I wish it had been more, but thank you to everyone who bought apps during those two days.

In other news, Apple, suddenly and without warning, changed its policy and no longer allows me to use a DBA (doing-business-as) name in the App Store, so if you are looking for Corvid Apps in the App Store you will not find it. Search instead for Laura Bangerter. I'm not sure when, if ever, I will get around to converting my business from a sole proprietorship to a corporation. :S