September 29, 2014

The One About Farfaria {A product review}

Reading is fairly high on our must-do-everyday-with our-daughter list. We believe it is an important skill and, as a family, we promote it early because of its many advantages.

farfaria-logo_gold_high-res


We consider ourselves lucky enough to be approach by Farfaria to try their product. Farfaria is a paid app that gives its users access to children’s books and stories through an Android or Apple device. The genres are wide, ranging from fairytales to bedtime stories, and it’s a great tool to promote the crucial skill of reading.

We’ve been using the app for about a month now and we’ve grown to love its many features. Our findings are below:



Pro.Con


Accessibility—all books are in the palm of your hands. As a parent, we know all too well the value of the saying less is more, so having to do without physical books has been a great time and space saver for us.

Preschool Playground


Tiered reading—stories on Farfaria are tiered in levels: P for pre-readers (pre-school age) all the way up to 4 which are more advance. We loved that option because the app can, essentially, grow with our daughter. She can start with the basics and work her way up to more complex stories.

Auto-Read, Read-Myself, and Read-to-Me options: This is one of the great options of this app. Every story has all three of these choices. Auto-Read means the child just listens to the story and looks at the picture (the app even turns the pages for you!), while Read-Myself means my daughter and I read the whole story ourselves. Read-to-Me, however, is an option to those learning to read. It highlights the words as it is read to the child, so a bit of word and sound recognition is practiced. This is another option that grows with the user. New readers can get practice through the Read-to-Me or Auto-Read options, and as they advanced can choose the Read Myself option. It's quite fantastic!

Mt Make Believe


Genres: Upon opening the app, Farfaria has its stories separated into genre “islands”, among them are fairytale, classics, adventure, etc…. This is a great option to expose children to different vocabulary words, story structures and characters. And the fact that they made it so into islands adds creativity to it. I can already imagine that when my daughter gets older, she'll have a bit of fun selecting which island she wants to explore.

Cons


Attention-getter: Every child is different, but my daughter took a long while to get used to the idea that we’ll be reading from a gadget rather than a book. For at least a week or two, all she wanted to do was grab the screen and play with it; a far cry from her behavior with books. Usually, when my husband or I read to her, she is still and (for the most part) enthralled with the story. However, because of the change of scenery, she thought we were playing a game of some sort. Like I said, it took some time to reign her in, but once we did, all was well. Again, every child is different. I would imagine using the app with much older children will go smoother than with an energetic 9 month old such as my daughter.

BL
 Farfaria is a great tool for reading. And for the price, it’s a worthy investment to have.

Disclosure | This post was sponsored by FarFaria. While I was compensated by the company to write a post about their app, my opinion regarding the product is my own and were made without any outside influences.

September 18, 2014

The One with the Little Things (Volume 11)

Heard: “There’s Gold in Them Hills” Ron Sexmith

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGYAB9Rxrtg

Read: This particular cartoon from our local paper a few weeks back now hangs on our refrigerator door. The number is certainly appalling, but we’ve got to find the humor in something, right?

rearingkids_590_447



Watched: About Time. Such a lovely movie, and a great soundtrack too! (See heard section)

About Time trailer - video

Made: A decision for a color scheme instead of a theme for my darling girl’s first birthday celebration. That should make planning and coordinating much easier…right?

And Lastly...

Quote

...if only...
Have a safe and happy weekend!


Linking up with But Why Mummy Why's Love Little Things

September 11, 2014

The One with the Little Things (Volume 10)

Heard: On repeat three or four times a day…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xUfCUFPL-8

Read: This poem regarding the fleeting time we spend with our little ones

Watched: I always found Ana Wintour so intimidating, but watching this video, I realize she’s just straightforward and to the point. It’s quite lovely her 73 answers…Also: will make a conscious effort to rid myself of head to toe outfits from now on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhXwO_mkdzQ

Made: Plans for my little girl’s first birthday party (Yikes!!!)

And Lastly...This quote, my favorite about fall, is now framed and perched on our dining room table!

original autumn-chalk


Cheers to a lovely weekend!

Linking up with But Why Mummy Why's Love Little Things

September 8, 2014

The One with Usefulness and Beauty

We’ve settled quite nicely into our new house. It’s hard to imagine: just one year ago, we were swimming in boxes, our trips to the hardware store frequent, our expenses never-ending. But, slowly, we made this empty space into a home, defining corners as cozy, designating rooms for play and relaxation. We’re still in the midst of it, of course. And quite honestly, I don’t believe we’ll ever be finished. Perhaps that’s the price (among many) that one pays for being a homeowner: there’s always a knick to fix, a fixture to change, a color to paint.

I was recently in pursuit of finding art work to occupy one of our empty walls, and came across this lovely print.

Print

It’s a basic concept, that at times gets lost to many (including myself). How can a home NOT be filled with anything but functionality and beauty? After all, it is a sanctuary, a place all our own (I mean, we pay enough to inhabit the place, right?).

So as our quest continues to fluff our nest and make it as safe and conducive for us and our little girl, we’ll bear this simple, yet powerful concept in mind. Because aside from love, I’d like to be enclosed in a place of exquisite beauty and wonderful purpose as well.
Linking up with: Share with Me and All About You

September 4, 2014

The One with the Little Things (Volume 9)

Heard: Here’s a little secret: my daughter and I have little dance parties in the morning. After our walk and just before her lunch, we do house chores and dance to a playlist I made. This is one of her favorites; she goes crazy in her walker when she hears it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50GQjUZ4P3M

Read: 10 sweet musings from a father about having a daughter

Watched: Any excuse to watch and hear Adam Levine, I’m there!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCbfWGgp9qs

Made: a trip to the store to buy some warmer clothes for my daughter. Colder weather is upon us, and she’s so not ready…

And Lastly...

Planning on slowing down a bit this weekend. I hope you find time do the same!

7439f23fee77ac42b26f8598b70eaaa1
Happy Weekend!

Linking up with But Why Mummy Why's Love Little Things

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...