Happy App Friday!
Learn words in eight languages with Little Chatterbox, practice math facts with Fluent Maths, and keep a simple diary with DiaryZapp. Plus, how blue light can damage your eyes.
Garry Froehlich
Jellybean Tunes
Little Chatterbox for Kids
by The Appy Learning Company Ltd
Learn 300 keywords in 8 languages with Little Chatterbox for Kids. Select your languages, and then tap on the objects in the scene to activate the word. Download for free to observe how the app works with one scene, and then use the option to purchase additional scenes inside of the app. What’s different about this app is that it uses real video of real kids to show the user how each word is pronounced.
Fluent Maths Number Facts Key Stage 1
by Kavitha Rajendran
Fluent Maths is a free application for 5 to 7 year olds that uses a basic drill structure to reinforce math facts for addition and subtraction up to 20 at the easy difficulty, and certain times tables (1,2,3,5,10) at the harder difficulties. Kids answer questions as quickly as they can within one minute and then get a report on how they did (with right and wrong answers highlighted). On the downside, you cannot customize the quizzes to focus on certain operations. On the upside, the app is a no nonsense way of practicing math facts, and the harder difficulties will push any child (or app reviewer!) to improve their speed. It also takes a refreshingly strong stance on privacy, so it isn’t riddled with ads, and you can turn off analytics if you choose.
DiaryZapp
by DiaryZapp
DiaryZapp is a visually appealing app aimed at kids 4 to 8 for keeping a simple scrapbook-style diary. Create a page for each day and add stickers, pictures, drawings and text. Pages can be shared with others, but sharing is controlled and has to be set up by a parent. Challenges are included to keep up motivation and to encourage exploring the features of the app.
Blue Light and Macular Degeneration
Researchers at the University of Toledo have discovered how blue light damages cells by triggering reactions with the retinal in the eye to create toxic chemical molecules. Normally the eye protects against this damage, but age or immune system suppression can stop those defences from working. Cell phones and tablets are a source of blue light, as are fluorescent lights, but, importantly, so is the sun. They are still studying the intensity of light needed to cause damage, but in the meantime one of the authors offers this advice:
“To protect your eyes from blue light, Karunarathne advises to wear sunglasses that can filter both UV and blue light outside and avoid looking at your cell phones or tablets in the dark.” Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2018-08-
