As a parent, I have been struggling to get my 5yro daughter interested in Hindi. She can speak decent Hindi now, but there was no interest in written language. 75% of her Hindi schoolwork stays incomplete. This app has helped tremendously. Both my daughters love the leaderboard screen that toggles between the alphabet and the object image. Audio is an added advantage. Even her little sister, who just turned 3, can recognize some of the alphabets.

While I was recording sound for this app, my 5yro pleaded to use her voice. Literally begged, willing to forgo play time. I guess it was the combination of the brand new headset and the excitement of hearing her voice playback. And that turned out to be the highlight of the app. Our extended family goes gaga over the audio for अः – अः se aha aha aha.

Highlights of the app:
- Leaderboard view of vowels that toggle between the alphabet and the object image that begins with that alphabet.
- Single page view with the alphabet in large font size, along with the image of an object that starts with that alphabet, with helper words in English.
- Scroll to any alphabet view at any time.

Download Link:
Download Hindi Vowels For Kids
Other Fliplog applications:
Annual Haircut Day for iPhone, iPad
Annual Haircut day for Android


To know more about Fliplog:
Visit us at www.fliplog.com
Follow @flip_log on Twitter
Join us on Facebook


iPhone version coming soon. Watch this space for updates.

A big thanks to Pratham Books for putting this book under creative common license and for their encouragement and support. Thanks to Radio Mirchi for the read-along recordings.

Annual Haircut Day is the story of Sringeri Srinivas – man with very long hair. For one reason or the other, everyone refuses to cut his hair. Poor fellow runs around the village asking for help. What happens? Does his wish get heard? Find out what the tiger did to cut his hair, which the barber, his wife and many other folks couldn’t do. It is a sure hit with the kids.

This eBook comes with read-along recordings. It also has curated videos about Pratham Books and their great work towards their goal – A book in every child’s hand.

Thank you @memetales for sharing the video of your kids enjoying the book. It sure made our day.

And the book is free to download. Enjoy!

Download Links:
Annual Haircut Day for iPhone, iPad
Annual Haircut day for Android


To know more about Fliplog:
Visit us at www.fliplog.com
Follow @flip_log on Twitter
Join us on Facebook


Watch this space for more updates. We have exciting news to share in the coming weeks.

iPad’s touch screen with a large real estate combined with simplistic design makes this app a favorite at home front. My girls(3 and 5) will do anything for 5 minutes of Doodle buddy.

Is is a simple paint app, comes with predefined background images and stamps. You can also choose any saved photographs from iPad’s photo album as the background image. Various brush styles including glitter and smudge. Best is the undo feature, one of the girls accidentally touches the screen spoiling the other’s “work”, we can simply undo and continue. Cool eh?

We have also stress tested the app

Highly recommend for young kids, especially if your kids like painting.

Download from itunes – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/doodle-buddy-for-ipad/id364201083?mt=8

iPad is Fun. TV is Boring.

Father: Can I ask you some questions.
5yrold: Sure.

Why do you want to go to school?
Because I don’t know some things.

ok. What do you like doing in school?
Worksheets.
Arts n Crafts.

Who is your favorite politician?
What is a “politician”?
hmm.. Like Prime minister of India, President of India, President of USA..
Don’t know. I have not even meeted (met) them. Don’t know how they look and how they talk.
(If only grown ups gave so much thought before electing!)

Who in your family do you like the most?
Mummy, paapa, bhaiyya. Actually I like everyone in our family here in Bangalore and tai-ji, tau-ji, bua-ji. Everyone. I love my whole family.
( 0% exaggeration here )

What is your favorite color.
All the colors
(Realised should not have asked this right after the family question)

What do you like the most in computer/internet?
Pbskids.org. My sister likes starfall.

If you had a TV at home(we don’t have one) and had an iPad, which one would you like to use?
I will take iPad. TV is boring.
(Note to self: Time to get TV and balance out this computer/internet nerdiness).

What do you want to be when you grow up?
What do you want me to be when I grow up?
hmm.. First you tell what you want to be, then I will tell what I would like.
ok. Designer. Decoration. Painter. Wall designer. Now tell what you want me to be.
Whatever you like to be. Singer, Artist, Writer, Traveler. Wall designer.
But, why you are a computer engineer? Why you did not become a wall designer?
Because I like being a computer engineer. I am not sure I would like to be a wall designer.
Oh, I see. Because, then you can make money and buy me things?
Huh! You could make money being a wall designer too. A lot of money. But you should like doing it na..

2 minutes pause..
Paapa, ask more questions. Please paapa.

What do you like in iPad?
Doodle Buddy
Annual Haircut Day
Figure it out.
(Note to self: Check what this Figure it out is!! )

Which books do you like? The paper book, not the books on iPad.
Pied Piper
Ekki Dokki
Annual Haircut Day
Song book – The one which has Sing a song of sixpence

A little later.. While I am typing this post, she reads couple of lines and asks
Why are you typing whatever I said? You want to email to your bestest friends?
No, I want to put it in the website.
My website? MyToyStory web site?

Cauvery Book Reading and a contest

More details here..

Wish I could participate, but there is somewhere else I need to be at the same time. The dreaded PTM!

Chasing the Plastic Pisach - Pratham Books

Our apartment initiated a Go Green campaign few weeks back, with posters all over the apartment complex, starting from the entrance gate to the lift. The poster clearly depicting the three colored waste collection bins, samples of recyclable waste etc. Our apartment has mandated us to have separate bins at home, one for recyclable wastes and another for compost-able waste. One going into white trash bags and another into black, so they can accordingly dispose them into the main waste bins.

We have been talking the importance of recycling, saving energy and such likes at home, in addition to my daughter’s school formally introducing the concept. This book came handy to dive in a little deeper into the “Why’s?” The usage of story as the medium to convey the point, along with characters like panchrangi the parrot, plastic as “pisach” aka monster just adds to the delight of story telling to these tiny tots.

My daughter made my day, when a new maid had started work and she instructed her to throw the milk covers into the white trash bin. Because they won’t decompose and if they end up burning, they will produce harmful gases that are bad for health. She now wants to save all the plastic into her “project box” and recycle them into a pencil box @ home!!! Shudder! This also means I will soon have to find some place (more likely a video ) where the kids can see this in action. Will update this post when that happens.

Some links:
The hindi version of this book is available on scribd here
More details on this and few other books in their environment series here.

Happy Reading!

Hoo's Tales 2010

The musical puppet show – Flying Flower – by Katkatha was mind blowing. Simply amazing. Using very little of technology and resources, they pulled it off flawlessly. Found this youtube video of one of their puppet shows. (Very different from the Flying Flower show).

The session by Jeeva Raghunath(The Story Masala) was my favorite. Man, was she fun! Loud, animated, funny, a complete story telling package using the power of facial expressions, sounds and hands. Here are some youtube videos for those who missed it. This was my personal favorite after the puppet show.
NOTE: The youtube video sounds rehearsed and is simply no match to the live show. You must see the kids jumping and screaming along side with excitement.

More about Richard Martin here.
More about Jeeva Raghunath here.
More about Craig Jenkins here.
More about Hippocampus here.
More about Katkatha here.

!! ;  H A P P Y   &nbsp R E A D I N G ;  !!

The January event results http://www.mytoystory.com/?p=301 Introducing Alphabet Tuesday’s! Every Tuesday, we plan to do an activity based on an alphabet. We start with “A”, who else!!

A is for Apple

We ended with a 2 minute pranayam yoga that was originally planned for 15 minutes Overall an hour well spent.

Sister Sister Why? Where?

Title: Sister Sister, Why is the sky so blue?
Author/Illustrator: Roopa Pai / Greystroke, Sanjay Sarka
Age Group: 4-7 yrs
Publisher: Pratham Books

We read one of the Sister Sister series(subtitled – Fun Conversations about Everyday Science) from Pratham Books. I must say I am floored! Simply in awe. How I wish the text books for first and second grades would be anything close to this.

The little brother’s imagination goes wild and he comes up with the cutest possibilities, like the sea must be upside down with a plastic sheet wrapped under it to contain the water. And maybe when the sheet tares a bit, it rains. I was smiling, but my 5 year old did not think it was funny and asked why it cannot be so? Is this really OR is it pretend? She had a hearty laugh when we came to the part where it might even be the old woman drying her long blue saree. The other thing I loved about the book is how the sister encourages the brother to think, accepts his answers with a “maybe, you are right. But in the books I read it says this..”.

My kids were so excited that the father had hardly stepped into the house, and was bombarded with – do you know why the sky is blue? This is the kind of curiosity we want to evoke in kids, especially at that tender age where anything and everything gets absorbed like sponge. Learning which is fun and filled with laughter and imagination will stay forever. I hope Pratham Books comes up with more of these kinds.

Read more reviews on this series here and here. Order here.

Phonics. Long Short Vowel Sound

The amazing animals is a series of 10 booklets, introducing long vowel sound, also allowing the child to note the difference between the long and short vowels. Each booklet also emphasizes on a certain phonetic skill. Like in the example above, it emphasis on the long “i” sound and the consonant blend “gl”.

Since we are on the topic on vowels, here is a quick cheat sheet.

- What sound a vowel makes depends on its position in the word. In most cases, when a vowel is followed by another vowel immediately or after one consonant, it makes the long vowel sound, like in goal. Note the short vowel changing into a long vowel sound when a “e” is added at the end. At Vs Ate. Cut Vs Cute. Win Vs Wine. Mop Vs Mope.
- When one vowel is followed by another immediately, the second vowel becomes silent, like in goal, the “a” is silent.
- When a word ending with an “e” has another vowel in it, for the most part this ending “e” becomes silent. Like in cute, apple, adore.

Here are some words to practice the long and short vowel sounds.

Short vowel sound of “a” as in apple, ant, alligator.
Long vowel sound of “a” as in ape, game, race, lake.

Short vowel sound of “e” as in egg, elephant, .
Long vowel sound of “e” as in eat, seed, meat.

Short vowel sound of “i” as in silk, lips, ship.
Long vowel sound of “i” as in mice, white, smile.

Short vowel sound of “o” as in got, on, off.
Long vowel sound of “o” as in goat, nose, hole.

Short vowel sound of “u” as in lunch, bug, gulp, tunnel.
Long vowel sound of “u” as in mule, tube, cute, tune.

There are exceptions, but these rules can be applied for the most part.

Link to Publisher’s site.

!! H A P P Y    R E A D I N G !!

Apple's Tablet PC

The tech news room is flooding over the release of Apple’s tablet, with Steve Job claiming this is the most important thing he has done. If rumors are to be believed, this will bring a revolution in the textbooks and newspaper industry.

With the new tablet device that is debuting next week, Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs is betting he can reshape businesses like textbooks, newspapers and television much the way his iPod revamped the music industry

With some of us still adjusting to the e-book revolution, looks like it is a matter of time before we will have to leap frog and accept the electronic media even for textbooks and newspapers. What is appealing is the possibilities it brings. Instant access to teachers/resources/authors, get your questions answered on the spot. Face recognition technology to remember you, your needs and automatically adjust the environment. Add to it key less, touch screen and hand writing recognition technology.

One ipod per kid seems to be the norm these days, one tablet per kid might also materialize in future.

Khan Academy How To Videos

Their vision statement says “The goal of the Khan Academy (http://www.khanacademy.org or http://youtube.com/khanacademy ) is to use technology to provide a free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere. It is currently a library of 1176 videos on YouTube (and mirrored elsewhere) covering everything from basic arithmetic to advanced calculus, chemistry, economics and biology. The videos are supplemented by software that dynamically generates exercises and captures data on student usage and progress.”

I chanced upon some of their basic addition and subtraction videos. It is almost like siting in a classrom and listening to a lecture. Nothing fancy, the video’s are shot over an eblackboard, he explains the concepts with patience and clarity, show casing multiple ways to dealing with a said issue.

Sample here:

“It is our mission to accelerate learning for students of all ages” says their youtube channel message.

Salman khan received the 2009 Education Award Laureate.

The Khan Academy is a remarkable, one-person effort to educate the World.
Salman Khan has produced over 900 videos on YouTube-with 6 million views-covering everything from basic arithmetic to calculus, chemistry, and physics. Continuing to produce several hundred videos a year, Salman intends to provide instruction in all subjects to anyone, anywhere.

Millions of students around the world lack access to high quality instruction, especially in the sciences and math. The Khan Academy provides it for free in a way that can be accessed on-demand at a student’s own pace.

The videos are directly teaching tens of thousands of students on every continent on a daily basis. Other non-profit groups have even begun distributing off-line versions of the library to rural and underserved areas in Asia, Latin America, and Africa.
-Says the Tech Awards

- Print the uncut image.
- Glue it on a thick chart OR easy to cut cardboard sheet.
- Let dry.

Make your own Math Puzzle

- Cut along the red perforations.
- Jumble them up and let the kids solve.

Math Puzzles Kindergarten

!! H A P P Y P U Z Z L I N G !!

The importance of vocabulary through word power cannot be emphasized enough. Crosswords in addition to cognitive development, helps develop language, numeric and problem solving skills.This is an attempt to introduce picture and theme based, partially solved, 3-4 letter crosswords to Kindergarteners (Age 5). So, kids can identify and spell them easily. Idea is to introduce them to the concept of crosswords, clues down and across, associate the clues numbering with the one on the crossword.

Click, download, print and enjoy.

Snoring Shanmugam Cover

Title : Snoring Shanmugam
Author/Illustrator: Radhika Chadha / Priya Kuriyan
Publisher: Tulika Books

If we had a rough evening, dinner time battles and the likes, then one of my picks to read that night is Snoring Shanmugam. It simply takes my 5 year old into a giggling spree. The giggling is infectious enough to spread into my 2 year old, who is most of the time observing and imitating her older sister anyways. The giggling hits the roof when we all snore like Shanmugam, the Lion.

The jungle animals are tired of their snoring and gentle lion king. They figure the snoring stops when they roll Shanmugam to sleep on his side. Their relief does not last long, however. As Kamalnayan, the camel, breaks the bad news about the tawny, brawny, nasty villain lion almost intruding into their territory. They are petrified and irritated with their useless lion king. Just then Bahadur, the baby elephant has a brilliant idea. She whispers the idea to amma, the mother elephant, which brings an instant smile in amma. Idea sure works and gets the villain lion running for his life. What is the idea? Well.. what’s the fun if we reveal the climax?

This book is apparently a sequel to I’m so sleepy, which also features some of the characters. I am yet to get a hold of this.

Snoring Shanmugam Inside

I must add, it is becoming a wee bit difficult to read to my older daughter these days. You see, she has started to read by herself, and follows every word when I read. Those days are gone when I read with my eyes closed. Hell hath no fury like a word getting substituted for another. When I make the snoring sound, she wants to know where it is written in the book. So, now I have to snore exactly like this – “Khorhrhrh… phsheew…”. rh has to be said ONLY 3 times, 3 times only. I hope it is a phase she will overgrow and we go back into reading and giggling and making all sorts of faces and sounds along.

One thing I like about Tulika books is that they are not preachy. Simple stories with lot of room for interpretation and imagination. With a good dose of culture infused via the illustrations, names of characters and the context. Very Indian. Kamalnayan, the camel, Chandu the crocodile, Ritu the rabbit, Paytu the pig are some of the characters. Guess the villain lion’s name – Gabbar Singh!!! Mannu, the monkey is another topic of discussion leading to hysterical laughs, because.. err.. her cousin’s nick name in real world is mannu, a very naughty yet cute kid.

Some of the tulika books we own are listed here. Hope to review these soon. Keep an eye.
Maalu Bhaloo
The Boy Who Loved Color (My fav)
Rooster and the Sun (5 year old’s fav)
What shall I make ( This book is such a super hit, that we now have both the English and the bilingual versions)
Magic Vessels
Snoring Shanmugam
Mazoo Mazoo
Magic Vessels
Best Friends
The Seed
Help Help

Click, download, print, solve and Enjoy!

Logic Fun For PreK Kids

Read India initiative By Pratham Books

We were so impressed with the books, we ended up buying a whole lot for the kids. Tulika books have been an absolute favorite with the kids, but the Pratham Books seem to have over taken them for the moment It sure is easy on the wallet.

To my 2 year old, the top favorite from the lot we bought is “See You Tomorrow”. This is for the 3-6 year age groups. (Note: These books are read in rural areas, so I am guessing that the published age group on the conservative side. You could easily do the 3-6 age group books for the 2 – 4 year olds and the 7-10 age group books for the 4-8 year old’s).

See You Tomorrow By Pratham Books

The one’s topping my 5 year old’s fav list are the “City of Stories” and “One Green Drop”.
Title:  City Of Stories
Author/Illustrator:   Tanya Luther Agarwal and Partho Sengupta
Age Group:   4-10 years

City Of Stories By Pratham Books

What happens next?
That is for you readers to find out by reading it yourself
Some of the references are so colloquial, it brings back nostalgic memories. Like the doodhwaala’s illustration, where he is sitting down with the aluminum milk can. The “bhajjiwala” stops selling bhaji’s and many such references.


Title:  One Green Drop
Author/Illustrator:   Benita Sen and Baaraan Jilal
Age Group:   4-8 years

One Green Drop By Pratham Books

!! HAPPY READING !!

The Tiny Seed By Eric Carle

My almost 5 year old daughter has developed a liking to Eric Carle’s books. The minute she spots his name, she wants to read it. We were in a book shop couple of months back, when the kids got to choose one book each. I did not surprise me one bit to see The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle in her hands. I was surprised to see the Indian reprint, easing on the rupee, however

This book just like any other Eric Carle’s book is simply amazing. Beautiful, large and bold illustrations, simple words, repetitive sentences. It is the tale of a tiny seed’s journey through the seasons and how it survives amidst the larger, more powerful ones and finally makes it’s mark by blooming into a giant flower.

The author introduces different seasons, keeping the moral and the story line intact. The book starts with the tale of this tiny seed in autumn, how the tiny seed survives the winter, then spring and then summer. Autumn is back again, and it completes one cycle of seasons. It also show cases the life cycle of seeds, when the tiny seed that grows into a large flower, sheds it petals and then its seed, and the seed gets blown away by the wind, repeating the cycle all over again.

Depicts beautifully that size does not matter. A seed though tiny can sail along with the larger stronger one’s in its own way and can make it bigger than the rest, slowly and steadily.

More Reviews Here:
http://www.eric-carle.com/rev-seed.html
http://www.librarything.com/work/322241/reviews/
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/241074.The_Tiny_Seed

The Tiny Seed By Eric Carle