Xander Apps in 6 South African mother tongue languages

Xander apps

We have been downloading Xander apps for a while now. It's the only apps I kept on my iPhone after we downloaded most of Little Miss' apps on an iPad. We love the fact that it's in Afrikaans, our mother-tongue language.

The apps are available in 6 South African languages: Afrikaans, English, Xhosa, Zulu, Tswana and Swahili.
Every now and again the apps go for free. On Mandela day this Monday they were again for free. They are available on iTunes as well as the Google Play Store, and most of the times for free or for a very reasonable price.

Xander apps have been created to meet the school curriculum requirements and to prepare children for school in their own language.
Learning themes include ABC, 123, Wardrobe, Shapes & Colours, Animals, Fruit & Vegetables and Symmetry; while also creating opportunities for children to practice skills including fine-motor skills, sorting, matching, rhyming, literacy, numeracy, pattern recognition and problem solving.

It is well worth downloading it!


Xander featured MomAgain@40 on their blog today: Xander Mom: Karen du Toit 


Have you downloaded any of the Xander apps yet, and what are your thoughts on it?

No, today I will not stand up!

The students are protesting today about change at the North West University. They are doing it under the banner of  "Sal jy opstaan?" #saljyopstaan (Will you stand up?)

I personally won't be standing up today!

As a parent I am extremely grateful that they are finally doing something at the university.

I was appalled at the initiation practices three years back when my daughter started there as a first year. I could not believe that the same initiation practices that we were subjected to in 1985 were still being practices at a higher education institution. I complained at that stage, but was told that it is not initiation! Orientation is not the same as initiation.
This was/is initiation!
I felt like we had failed our children by allowing them to be subjected to this!

Change is a difficult thing, but it is definitely needed in this case!

I wanted my daughter to study at an institution where they are focused on learning and developing a well-rounded person, but in the first year (and even after that), they were subjected to bully behaviour where they are required to conform to the norm, or being forced out of their residences.

I am also glad to hear that other changes about the language and the culture will be instituted!
You can't keep on living in a bubble!


I am glad that the next generation of students won't be subjected to this!
Thanks North West University!


I know I am not going to be popular by saying this!
But as a parent I have to!

Related posts:

- Initiation still ongoing at university

- Initiation update - as sick as a dog!

Afrikaans apps by Cleverkiddo: Seisoene and Olke Bolke

I was alerted by Carien van Zyl, the developer of  the Cleverkiddo series apps for preschoolers, about it's existence on my blog post about Afrikaans on the iPad.

As I love hearing about new Afrikaans apps for our children, I downloaded it and Little Missy took it for the test-drive.

Little Missy busy with the Seisoene app in the
Summer dress-up section 

The Cleverkiddo series consists of  the Seisoene and the Olke Bolke apps.
They are both R21.99 (2.08 USD) on iTunes, which is not expensive at all, and luckily I have an iTunes gift voucher that comes in very handy.

Seisoene

Seisoene (print screen)

The "Seisoene" (Seasons) app addresses the four seasons of the year, with each season having four activities: Puzzles, forms, counting and dress-up.
The dress-up sections are especially cute since it  helps the children to identify which clothes comes with which season.

The app is also available in English: Seasons by Cleverkiddo
                                 AND      in French:  Saisons par Cleverkiddo


Olke-Bolke

Olke Bolke (print screen)

The "Olke Bolke" app is an app with 6 Afrikaans songs by Elizabeth Fourie:

* Lekker om te Lees
* Tekkies
* Olke Bolke
* Feetjies in die Reën
* Hondemaatjie
* Haasbek

What makes it interactive is that there are three musical instruments available for each song that the child can shake to add to the music.

"Haasbek" (tooth missing) song by Elizabeth Fourie
(screen print)

This will keep her busy for a while.

Please let me know of any other Afrikaans iPad apps?


Related posts:

- Afrikaans op die iPad

- An Afrikaans app on the iPad: Die Drie Varkies

- What makes pirates being afraid? - another Afrikaans app for the iPad

What makes pirates being afraid? - another Afrikaans app for the iPad

I found this cute adaptation of an Afrikaans book, "Waarvoor is seerowers bang?", as an application for the iPad.

Arrr! Everyone knows pirates aren’t afraid of anything! But when something on deck starts smelling worse than the breath of a hammerhead shark, Sanmarie suspects there might be one thing that makes her fearless pirate dad and his crew tremble in their dirty boots ... This hilarious, rip-roaring, rhyming pirate adventure by well-known children’s author Jaco Jacobs comes to life on your iPad – thanks to innovative animation, fun music and lots of interactive elements."

                                                                           - Waarvoor is seeerowers bang?

The story is written and narrated by Jaco Jacobs, with the illustrations by Chris Venter.
It was developed by Lapa and Full Circle cooperation.


There are three features available:

- Children can read the story by themselves.

- The story is read to them and they are able to interact with the animations on the screen. The animations include touch elements, flickering green arrows and an extra sidebar with extra character comments.

- There is also a puzzle game available.


This is definitely the small fee worth, especially since the hard copy is three times the price of the application.

I could not wait to hear what makes a pirate afraid!
Very cute!


Related post:

- An Afrikaans app on the iPad: Die Drie Varkies

On the red carpet

Little Missy has been asking us to also go to a musical event. She gets very upset when she sees that we have been to a show and that she was not there.

I took her along to an Afrikaans music show on Friday. I thought that she would enjoy it, especially since she is always complaining that "hulle praat nie my taal nie" (they do not speak my language). We are being asked to translate the English songs playing on the radio.

She loved it! But sitting quietly for one and half hours is not a strong point yet!
It was an exercise in patience and "shhh..." on my side. Especially when she asked whether the artist is a boy or a girl. Very loud!

She was also very interested in the artist in the wheelchair, and why are his legs not working?

I was thankful for a packet of sweets and chewing gum in my bag. Next time I will remember to bring water  along as well. I had to distract her for longer than an hour because she was thirsty! (She had a drink just before the show).

I also had to dislodge chewing gum from her fingers, and mine, when she was finished with it. I ended up chewing the gum, and dislodged another piece of a tooth which needs to be fixed now!

I breathed a huge sign of relief when the show ended!

We will be going to more shows! But next time we will be sitting in the corner, near the isles, and not in the middle of the theatre!

An Afrikaans app on the iPad: Die Drie Varkies

Die Drie Varkies
iPad screenshot

Afrikaans children don't have that many choices with regards apps on the iPad, and mostly it doesn't matter. They get along just well with all the English apps and stories that are available!

I found this cute interactive story app in Afrikaans, which is worth the small fee!
Die Drie Varkies (The Three Little Pigs) is an adaptation by Abrie Byeleveld for Lapa Books, complete with the South African lanscape, objects and animals. There is even a plate of koeksisters (a sweet South African delicacy) at the end of the story.

There are three options: a read-to-me, a-read-by-myself, and a-read-and-play-option available.
The characters do somersaults when they are tapped, and blue and red dots signal the child for extra interactive activities.

The story is rewritten by Wendy Maartens, and Jaco Jacobs reads it.

There is also a game of putting a pig together again.



Related posts:

Afrikaans op die iPad

Excited about ZA Books

iPads for children #iStoreMomsandKids

Afrikaans op die iPad

Everyone who knows me, or have read some here, knows that I am extremely excited about the use of tablets at school.
iPads for children are really the next big step to revolutionize the education systems, worldwide, but specifically here!

Yes, for us here in South Africa it is still a new thing.
My Little Missy's schools does not have the technology incorporated at the moment! But there are some positive moves in the right direction...

I am excited about ZA Books, the eTextbook solution for South African schools that was launched a couple of weeks ago. There is an app available for the South African curriculum on your iPad.

I got excited last year when Apple in Education had their awards evening, and I learnt that 72 schools have already taken part in the competition, and to see how creative the children are with the technology!

One of the things that gets asked most is about the language barriers for children. I have found that the children does not see it as a barrier at all, and that our Afrikaans speaking children do not have a problem with it.

I attended Afrikaans the iPad way session at the iStore on Monday.
Liande Engelbrecht is the Afrikaans teacher at Redhill School who uses the iPad to make Afrikaans alive to the children.

Linade Engelbrech to the left, and Lulu Burger (Think Ahead)

I was amazed to hear that she does not suggest the apps to use, but mostly gives an assignment, and the children comes up with their own solutions on the iPad.

The apps that they are using in the Afrikaans class are as follows:

- Spelling Free
- 50 Languages: Afrikaans/...
- YouTube
- Google
- Paint
- Garage Band
- Spin Art Studio
- Comic Lite / Zoodle Comics
- Poplets
- Keynote
- Infinite canvas
- Maramedia e-boek
- Notes Plus
- Educreation
- Vegas
- 100 floors
- 4 pics 1 word

You will notice that most of the apps are not in Afrikaans, but are used for Afrikaans language teaching.

A student demonstrating Keynote

The children demonstrated how they used the apps, and showed us some of their work.
Very inspiring.
I have since downloaded some of the apps myself to test it out. ;-) (Feeling like a tech geriatric!)

One other interesting fact is the way how the children handle these devices.
Because it is so very expensive, and because it is expensive to repair, they take care of it!
Their school has built in a system of training of how to handle the devices, and they have lockers for it!

Another interesting development is that iPad Genius Clubs are being launched at schools. The children manage the iPad labs, and the training is for free.


I love the technology that's available now to our children!


Related posts:

Excited about ZA Books

Apple in Education 

iPads for children #iStoreMomsandKids

Toddler word creations: Flying House Bow

I want to record all the creative words that the Toddler uses while she acquires language. Her first language is Afrikaans, and it is not always possible to get the same connotation when trying to translate to English.

You tend to forget the cute word usage, as well as how they combine different word meanings.

(Don’t forget to write down these cute words. It stays a source of great delight when reading it back years later... Wink smile)

The Toddler came up with “vlieghuisboog” on Wednesday. “Vlieghuis” is her word for airplane. Literally translated it means “flying house”. In Afrikaans it should be “vliegtuig”, but no matter how many times we have tried to correct her, she still uses the same word.

We saw a rainbow (Afrikaans: reënboog), and showed it to her. The next moment she came up with this word: “vlieghuisboog” – “flying house bow”!
It just shows how the little mind works…

Cute! (I am allowed to say it!)