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Health & Fitness

Word of the Day iPad

iPad and iPhone for halloween?

Good day,

I have one word to say - iPad.  If you know me, you already know I drank the "Apple" juice long ago.  I am a pure MAC guy - if they sell it, I will buy and use it.  Yes, I was one of the hundreds who waited in line at our local Apple Store for the iPad on release day (did we meet that day?) and I did it again for the iPad 2.  When I brought my first iPad home and started downloading apps, my daughter, who was four at the time, at the time gravitated to it.  I didn't even have to tell her what to do.  She had played with the iPhone and to her, this was just a giant version of the iPhone.

But that day was magical for me.  As a educational software veteran, I saw that this was the way of the future for education.  There were so many ideas floating around in my head, I didn't know where to start.  I found and downloaded my first storybook app, thinking it would be a fun change from our normal story time at night.  I snuggled up in my daughter's bed, and like we had done many nights before with "regular" books, we began reading the book on my iPad.  She could see the words, but now the pictures were animated with a finger touch and the story was being read to her.  For me, being dyslexic and known to miss a word or three, this was magical.  Over the next few weeks we downloaded many books and I came to discover that while all those animations can be fun, they can also be distracting - especially at bedtime.  

After a few weeks, my daughter started reading the words herself.  The use of audio with text is a proven method to teach reading and I knew this first-hand as that is how I learned how to read in college.  I got so excited about this, I love when things work and have a purpose.  The more we played, the more we found apps for what we wanted.  Like any good Technogeek dad, I always had my iPad in hand. "Daddy, what does a mole look like?", prompted me to find one youtube video after another of moles - just like the one who must live in that hole in our backyard.  Another question en route home from school about the solar system - by the time we arrived home we had a 3D app of the solar system complete with user controlled animations up and running.  Was that worth the 99 cents we spent on it?  Yes!    

The cool thing is no matter what you want to know about, you can find it.  With Halloween fast approaching, I have listed eight cool Halloween apps for the iPhone and iPad.

1. Make a Zombie Free
2. Halloween Soundbox Free
3. Halloween Gourmet (iPad only) 1.99
4. Carve a Pumpkin Free
5. Haunted Halloween Wallpaper Free
6. DJ Halloween           .99
7. Ghost Radar           .99
8. Ready to Sing with Andy Z: Scarecrow (iPad only)   .99  (on sale until 10/31)  

I will be coming back to this subject from time to time, and if anyone has apps to add, please add them!

Thanks again and happy APPING!

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