I'm a full-time mummy

I received an email from April who is with the company who developed Koto Go Silence, an iPad app I reviewed last month (and Ben loves it still!) In my mind, I was thinking "What? Are you kidding me? You created an app which my boy still enjoys watching and you are now asking whether I want to review another app of your company?!" Of course YES!!!! Anyway, my review as below...

* Title: Ann Can't Sleep
* Price: $2.99
* Category: Books
* Released: Nov 11, 2011
* Current Version: 1.0
* Size: 52.3 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: April Peter
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 3.2 or later

Description from the product page:

"“Ann Can’t Sleep” is an animated book about companionship, friends, and a little girl who just can’t fall asleep. Which of her toys will help her get to slumberland? Have fun reading this book, at playtime or bedtime. Tap on the sentences to hear them read out loud, and then enjoy the colorful and funny animations. 

This App has been carefully designed, so that children of all ages can easily navigate through it and have a great experience on both iPhone and iPad."

This app book is about Ann, a little girl who tries to choose the right toy that can accompanies her to sleep.

What's good?

* Look at the picture below and tell me if you don't think it's cute! I totally love the illustrations on this book! So adorable and cute!

* I like how the words rhyme along as you read the story.

* There are some pages which got Ben's attention such as when Ann dreams and flies off in an airplane or when she gallops away on a horse.

* With this app, I get to explain to Ben the concept of dream as I realised Ben's curious and questioning look when he saw Ann picking up the ballerina doll and then trying to sleep and wonders why Ann suddenly dances with the doll! The moment he grasps the concept and realised it, his face goes 'Ahhhh... I see!' and from then on, he pays more attention to what happens to Ann in her dream! Cute!

Room for Improvement?

* I would love to see a longer storyline - somehow I felt the story is a bit short.

*  Would it be too much if I ask for an option to select a boy or girl character at the beginning of the app?

You can purchase the "Ann Can't Sleep" app from the iTunes App Store.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the promo code by the sponsor to redeem the application for free from iTunes Store in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous iPad Apps reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My iPad App Reviews"

I received an email from Patrice Cosier with regards to her music album and decided to review it. I mean, lullabies for my babies? Oh sure!! Here goes my review...

* Title: Good Night Lullabies
* Price: $9.99 (Digital Album), $14.95 (audio CD)
  * ASIN: B000R7I5LW
 * Label: Lily Pond Lane Music

More info:

"A blend of classical and traditional styles, these lullabies contain all the elements proven by research to help bring peaceful sleep to children of all ages.
* 15 beautiful piano compositions styled in the "cradle form"
* Matches the child's own natural heartbeat's rhythm
* More effective, less distracting than vocal lullabies
* Instrumental elements help to gradually slow and relax"

What's good?

* The songs are really soothing and I even found myself closing my eyes and relaxing as I listened to the album.

* In song #5 (Gentle Night), it feels like you are sitting alone enjoying the brisk air in the night... really nice!!!

* In song #15 (Starlight), it feels like the chirpier version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star! What a refreshing song!

* In general, a beautiful album to sooth and calm your child to sleep.

You can purchase it from http://www.goodnightlullabies.com/purchase.html, cdbaby website or Amazon.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the 15-track album in MP3 format to assist my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.

I have always been on the search for materials to use to educate Ben, or at least, expose him to more learning materials. So when I came across this review opportunity, I decided to try it out. So here goes my review for the "PreK Scholars":

Description from the product page:
"The Pre K Scholars preschool curriculum is being used in a variety of different preschools as core curriculum and as an enrichment program where it provides an additional revenue source. The lessons are fun, creative and easily adapted to a variety of thematic units because the Scholarville characters represent a broad spectrum of occupations and situations.

Licensed for single classroom use, the Pre K Scholars Preschool Curriculum is suitable for:
* Montessori preschools
* High/Scope approach
* Bank Street approach
* Home-based approach
* Play-based preschools
* Head Start
* Church-based preschools
* Remedial kindergarten programs"

I received the DVD version and the app for my review.

What's Good?

* The syllabus is free and easy as it is broken into 22 weekly lessons and you are not pressed to complete it as fast as you can. In fact, I am surprised that the alphabet starts with P instead of A!

* There are a lot of learning materials: guessing game, printable activities, videos and so on. Ben was attracted to the tracing game (you learned to write the alphabet by following the green star to red star) and also the matching game.

* I definitely will go for the iPad app as I can bring it along wherever we go. Learning on the go, awesome!

Room for Improvement?

* I will definitely prefer better illustrations as I feel the current illustrations are not sharp and enticing enough.

* As for the tracing game on the iPad app, I sometimes realised that the touch sensitivity is not strong enough, my boy and I had to trace slowly and there are several occasions when the app is not able to detect the area we trace through.

You can get the DVD version at: https://www.prekscholars.com/shopping-cart/default.aspx

The app version can be found at: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/phonics-fun-games/id470701115

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the product by the sponsor in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.