Teach Your Child To Type, Read + Spell Before Kindergarten

If you follow this blog and/or my social media, then you already know,  I'm all hung up on this new App, GameBooks, created by acclaimed software developer and first-time dad, Nicholas Nadirashvili. He created the app for his son after realizing NONE of his child's educational apps used the QWERTY keyboard, but rather a straight line of buttons in alphabetical order. A, b, c, d... 

With the help of early education experts, a solid team of designers, illustrators, children's book authors and some serious input from his son, the team created fully interactive children's books, or GameBooks, designed to teach children ages 2-6 to recognize and trace letters, understand word structure and syllables, spell, type and read.  (Download Gamebooks Here!)

If studies show it's easier for children to learn a new language than adults, will it be easier for a child to learn and remember the QWERTY keyboard at a young age? I'm all about giving my son a head start.

Thankfully, he is so consumed by the super cute characters, voices and sounds, he doesn't even realize he is learning. The app allows children to interact with the game naturally by bringing the entire book/page to life. ANYWHERE the child clicks the book will interact through sounds, words, spelling, and there's dancing and singing. It's just so so so cool! 

Throughout September, FTM&D readers can get a free no-strings-attached FREE 30-day premium trial membership, and get this, all you have to do is UN-click the box at the bottom of the registration form saying you want to try 30-days free. 

I know it sounds crazy, but that's the way the team set up the secret passage for my readers so you wouldn't even have to bother registration or a code.If you have a child who is six and under and learning to read, spell, and type, this app is worth the free download.

To get started with your free premium 30-day trial and be entered into the $50 monthly drawing grab your iPad and download GameBooks here. (iPad only right now)

TAKE THE SURVEY!

The GameBooks team also would love your feedback, if you fill out a short survey you'll also automatically be entered to win a $50 gift card.

Then come back to this post and click the survey link here to give your feedback and get an additional chance to win $50!

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The #1 Rule For Back-To-School

For so many of us first-timers, back to school is scary. We have to leave our child in the care of people we've only met for a few minutes during orientation. I don't know about you, but that's terrifying for me. All the unknowns send me into mommy-paranoia overload. The only thing that calms me is remembering, it's for the best.

My child's education is everything to me. Everything. I want nothing more than to give him the very best education and school experience possible. Education is, after all, a critical foundation for life.

When the time came to start Pre-K, I looked at every program in the city, weighed the pro's and cons, and made the best-informed decision possible. We ended up at a school that came highly recommended, with the caveat, there was a new principal.

It turned out, the new principal was ruffling feathers, teachers quit over the summer, and the moral had visibly tanked. There were a couple of occasions in the first two months I thought about sending my son back to his old Mother's Day Out program at the Church two days a week.

Two things kept me there:

1. My son had an exceptional teacher and was thriving.
2. There was a badass mother in the class I knew from the church program who constantly in the office fighting for our children. I LOVED watching her in action. She quickly became my school-mom hero.

My hero, who coincidentally is named, Ollie, is a mother of three beautiful children, one in elementary, middle and high-school. After ten years in the school system, this chick knows the ins-and-ous of state laws, how the system works and most of all, how to work with every department within a school to make things right, not only for her child but for the other children. Seriously, watching her in action is the most amazing thing in the world.

Last year, when the school was on its head, and us first-timers were scratching our heads unsure what to do, Ollie was in the office demanding answers and reminding them of State mandated laws. Long story short, Ollie got shit done. Fast.

Every time Ollie would rectify a situation for our school or tell me about something she had to deal with at another school, I would always be left in awe praising her, and every time she would say, "You have to be an advocate for your child in school. It's so important for your child's education and your sanity."

I'm so thankful that I had Ollie to help me with my first year of school. Seeing her stand up (alone) and make things right was not only amazing but empowering. She showed me that when things are not right say something immediately, because, in a classroom of 20+ children, it's easy to let things slide or get lost in the cracks.

Most of all, she taught me the most important rule for back to school:

To provide the best and safest education for a child, it's essential to be his/her biggest advocate every step of the way. When you know something is not right, address the issue immediately, don't wait or waste another day of your child's education hoping the issue will resolve itself. Even if that means asking tough questions, standing up to teachers, principals or the entire PTO, your child's education is worth it.