Ok, now you know about Munchkin's computer so I'm going to tell you about some of the places that we use it to access.
Starfall is a site that has some very good educational activities for kids. Classic Starfall is free and is wonderful in and of itself. This year I decided to get More Starfall which has more extensive activities including numbers. So far it has proven to be worth the yearly fee, and it's just been a month or so. (www.starfall.com)
We use Starfall to connect with other lessons in very simple ways. When doing phonics or numbers, we will go to Starfall. Munchkin will then complete the activity for whatever number or letter we are working on. When he's done with the Starfall activity we will go work with the activities I have planned. Sometimes it's matching cards. Other times it's worksheets. Sometimes it's crafts that incorporate the letter or number we are working on. But normally since we've started with Starfall, which he loves, he's more focused and willing to do the follow up activities. And he knows that when we are done, he can go back to Starfall which is proving to be a powerful motivator.
One part to More Starfall that I haven't used yet is the teacher section. I am planning on using it more since it's worksheets correlate well with the education activities. But given Munchkin's need to work on something multiple times to learn it we will continue using other materials as well.
If you're teaching at home or just trying to help your child, Starfall could be a real help. Especially for kids with disabilities that need repeated exposure to different things in order to learn them. Starfall offers repeated focused exposure that is simple for the kids to follow. And the computer activities have the patience to do the same thing repeatedly while always sounding cheerful and upbeat, even if your child makes the same mistake over and over and over again. This goes an amazingly long way in helping our kids to keep trying something until they master it.
I know that Munchkin is much more tolerant of his mistakes on the computer than during work time. If he makes a mistake during work time he gets more and more upset each time until he can't calm enough to to get the work done. If he makes a mistake on the computer he just keeps going until he gets it right. Big difference. Enough of a difference that if I feel that he's not getting a concept I will go looking for a program or app that he can work with until he gets confident enough to not spaz out when he makes a mistake. Most of the time it works.
Here's hoping that this might help your child as well.
(Oh, and again, no I didn't get paid for this or asked to do it. This has just proven to be a really, really useful site for us!)
And even more, I don't know why this has sat here in draft form for a few months now. But I'm fixing that.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Computer Modifications
Okay, from prior posts you know that my son has a tablet with a communication program. Actually he now has two. One 10" and one 4" tablet. We use the 4" tablet in public venues and the 10" tablet in private. Both are set up with JabTalk in the exact same way.
We also use the 10" tablet for lessons. In some areas it is great. In other areas not so great. For online activities, it is not so great because he gets to tapping with his fingers and ends up in Never Never Land. Even with a restricted kid browser. This is frustrating for both of us.
Also, I have yet to figure out how to link the tablet with ActiveInspire on my computer.
The end result is that Munchkin needed a computer of his own. I don't trust him with mine, even on a restricted user access setting. So with the help of the family we overhauled a very old laptop for him. Now I can do ActiveInspire activities with him on his laptop. And he can access online activities through ZacBrowser.
We had to make some modifications to the computer though in order for Munchkin to use it. The first modification was to change to the largest arrows/cursors that were available. This was so that he could more readily see the cursor when his hand is jerking it all over the screen. Because sometimes that's just how his body works.
Second, his fingers aren't any better on a mouse than they are one a touch screen. Right now he doesn't have the fine motor control to only click one mouse button at a time. This modification required that we get a Microsoft mouse which, fortunately, Dad had on hand. In older versions of Windows I had been able to modify the settings for any mouse but it's been a while and apparently that has changed.
Having gotten the appropriate type of mouse I went in and set it so that when Munchkin is in his programs only the left button on the mouse works. All of the rest of the buttons, and the wheel, are disabled. I'm doing this first so that he can learn that he has to click that left button in order to get the computer to react. Later on we will work clicking only one button at a time. The need to learn that control is why I didn't just get a single button switch. I'm working with Munchkin so that he can learn to work with what is readily available, not just specialty devices.
Anyways, there are quite a few built in access modifications in Windows. There are also quite a few programs out there to enable access modification if you can't find what you need built in to your operating system. So if you want your child to learn computers, they can. Just go looking online. If you don't have the blessings we did of a family to help with old computers then you can set up a restricted user profile for your child. At one point we were doing that here. And to protect my keyboard from my son, we actually found a waterproof keyboard that was for his use only. (That was another Dad bargain find.)
Your child may surprise you. I know mine did. He's learned how to maneuver through his allowed programs like a pro. And computer time is an educational reward that he loves. Oh the wonder of it! He will willing spend hours working on educational activities at the computer. And some of those activities make great lead ins to our home school lessons.
We also use the 10" tablet for lessons. In some areas it is great. In other areas not so great. For online activities, it is not so great because he gets to tapping with his fingers and ends up in Never Never Land. Even with a restricted kid browser. This is frustrating for both of us.
Also, I have yet to figure out how to link the tablet with ActiveInspire on my computer.
The end result is that Munchkin needed a computer of his own. I don't trust him with mine, even on a restricted user access setting. So with the help of the family we overhauled a very old laptop for him. Now I can do ActiveInspire activities with him on his laptop. And he can access online activities through ZacBrowser.
We had to make some modifications to the computer though in order for Munchkin to use it. The first modification was to change to the largest arrows/cursors that were available. This was so that he could more readily see the cursor when his hand is jerking it all over the screen. Because sometimes that's just how his body works.
Second, his fingers aren't any better on a mouse than they are one a touch screen. Right now he doesn't have the fine motor control to only click one mouse button at a time. This modification required that we get a Microsoft mouse which, fortunately, Dad had on hand. In older versions of Windows I had been able to modify the settings for any mouse but it's been a while and apparently that has changed.
Having gotten the appropriate type of mouse I went in and set it so that when Munchkin is in his programs only the left button on the mouse works. All of the rest of the buttons, and the wheel, are disabled. I'm doing this first so that he can learn that he has to click that left button in order to get the computer to react. Later on we will work clicking only one button at a time. The need to learn that control is why I didn't just get a single button switch. I'm working with Munchkin so that he can learn to work with what is readily available, not just specialty devices.
Anyways, there are quite a few built in access modifications in Windows. There are also quite a few programs out there to enable access modification if you can't find what you need built in to your operating system. So if you want your child to learn computers, they can. Just go looking online. If you don't have the blessings we did of a family to help with old computers then you can set up a restricted user profile for your child. At one point we were doing that here. And to protect my keyboard from my son, we actually found a waterproof keyboard that was for his use only. (That was another Dad bargain find.)
Your child may surprise you. I know mine did. He's learned how to maneuver through his allowed programs like a pro. And computer time is an educational reward that he loves. Oh the wonder of it! He will willing spend hours working on educational activities at the computer. And some of those activities make great lead ins to our home school lessons.
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