Maybe a dictionary doesn’t seem as fun of an app – but I have to say I am so excited that there was a dictionary app that had a voice search.
We have a reluctant writer in our house – I’m not going to name any names – but he’s the 5 year old that loves to read. I asked his Kindergarten teacher what we could do to help light that fire of interest in writing. His Kindergarten teacher has always been amazing with the class and how well she knows each kid, and knowing just the right thing to help them grow. She mentioned how it’s sometimes tough for early advanced readers that don’t yet have the spelling abilities to write something down and know that it’s not right but not know how to make it right. I was thinking ok, maybe we do some spelling lists etc but she said he’s to young for this and right now we should just let him build enthusiasm on letting all the ideas in his head get down to paper too. She suggested giving him some resources to help him find the spelling on his own and even a “Sal list”. I asked if this would be a high frequency word list and she said no, these would be words that Sal likes to talk about like ninjas and ankylosaurus.
The great thing about iOS devices are all the resources available. A quick search and I found that Merriam Webster put out a free app for the iPhone with voice search. Sometimes there is a little trouble recognizing the word but it’s a great start. I wanted to pass on the wonderful suggestion Sal’s teacher passed to us!
Adding to review: So – it was not quite the panacea I had hoped for for Sal. He gets a bit frustrated with the voice recognition, but he does seem to enjoy using it partially just from the chance to leverage the iPad for his homework.
Cost: Free!
