Really Helps Our Late Talking Child
We heard good things about the Storypod, and went all out at Christmas buying the main Storypod unit for 3 of our grandchildren, and about 10 characters and several books. It has only been one month, but this is what we’ve learned:
1. Our 2 year old, late-talking, grandchild loves it. He sits with it and carries it with him. He cries when we turn it off.
2. It seems indestructible. He has thrown it on the ground a few times to test that theory. He also knows how to use all the buttons, and he frequently fast forwards. He has learned how to turn it on because he hates when we turn it off. He prefers that it be playing all the time. The charge has lasted days, but when it ran out of power, he sat with it as it recharged.
3. I’m not sure if I purchased the owl or if it came with it, but buy the owl!! It comes with a couple hours of recording time. You download the app, click on the owl, choose to “record”, and then go for it. They download as he plays the unit. Tracks can be deleted by swiping left on them. I have been tempted to delete a few after listening to some very goofy homemade recordings, but our daughter told us not to. She is probably right, but that option is there for you.
His favorite tracks are the ones where he is also participating. We ask him questions like, what does a horse say? And, can you say mama? Where’s your nose? Fingers? Toes? He talks back to it! We sing songs together and we always introduce tracks by talking to him. He is focused on audio information, rather than audio/visual, which produces intellectual complacency.
4. At this point he only wants the owl, which is our own, personal, content. However, as he grows and as he learns to use it, we hope he will enjoy the books and other items we’ve purchased.
In closing, I’d like to say that we are only one month into using the Storypod and we are still learning how to best use it. I would purchase it solely based upon how effective the owl has been in his development. However, when your child placed a different Storypod figure onto the unit (and they learn this quickly) it immediately switches to the new content. In other words, it grows with your child’s needs.
