Price: $0.99


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My First Clock Review

Our Review

My First Clock is a learning app for iPad that I think would be highly effective in teaching kids how to tell time on an analogue clock. Kids will like interacting with these clocks which are adorned with friendly animal faces that nicely interact with the child who is playing, especially in Set Time and Tell Time Quiz modes.

During Free Play Mode kids are able to move the hands of the clock at will and then tap to hear the time spoken or see the time displayed digitally as well. I really like that the hands of the clock move the way one would expect, as the minute hand moves minute by minute, the hour hand also moves slowly as well, keeping the spacing consistent with an actual time unlike some other clock games I have seen where the two hands move with no relation to each other – more like dials or spinners than hands of a clock. There is also an option for youngest players to explore the clock with the minute hand moving in five minute intervals as well for a simplified introduction to telling time.

As with Free Play Mode, parents can also choose the appropriate difficulty level for their child in Set Time and Tell Time Quiz modes, making this app an excellent teaching tool for both beginners and more experienced players. In Set Time Quiz Mode the player moves the hands to correspond with a given time, made easier with dots holding the spaces of the minutes between each five-minute time slot between 1 and 12, something missing from other time-telling apps. Tell Time Quiz Mode challenges kids to read the time on an analogue clock and select the correct time.

I really appreciate that these exercises are very intuitive and it is fun that these clocks include cute faces that talk to and engage the player. I remember having a hard time learning to tell time and I think this is a skill that could be difficult to teach as well. This app makes learning this skill as simple as possible and I highly recommend it for this reason, as it avoids distracting bells and whistles and has an interface that is very easy to navigate. I will use this app when my son gets old enough to learn how to tell time, knowing that with the use of this easy-to-understand app, he will have an easier time that I did.

dataMarch 8th, 2011 by Amy Solomon Share

Application Detail

My First Clock

My First Clock


Download on iTunesDeveloper: Xkape Enterprises
Released: 2011-01-20 00:00:00
Price: $0.99

Description from the Developer

* Featured by Apple in "New & Noteworthy" and "What's Hot" in the App Store! *
* Used in schools around the world. *

Designed specifically for elementary and pre-school kids, My First Clock takes away the frustration and challenge of teaching a child the analog clock. This fully interactive application can be used as a teaching aid or a self-learning tool thanks to the multiple game play modes, sounds, animation and configurable difficulty levels.

My First Clock features movable hour and minute hands, a unique digital display that can be toggled when needed and spoken text that announces the time. This application consists of three game play modes: Free Play, Set Time & Tell Time. Each mode is uniquely designed to help your child master the analog clock and become proficient in the art of setting and telling time.

In the Free Play mode, your child has full freedom to move the minute and hour hands with their fingers in either clock or counter-clockwise directions. There are also two buttons to assist your child: the Speaker button to audibly announce the time and the Clock button to reveal the time on the LCD display.

In the Set Time Quiz mode, your child will be presented with various times and will be asked to set them on the analog clock by moving the minute and hour hands. The answer is submitted by pressing the Guess button. If they answer a question correctly, it will advance to the next question but if they make a mistake, they will be given unlimited retries to get it correct. They also have the option of skipping a question or having the question repeated.

In the Tell Time Quiz mode, your child will master the art of telling time. As the time appears on the analog clock, your child will tell the time by selecting the appropriate hour and minute values on the time picker.

Configurable difficulty levels complement all three game play modes. Your child will progress in the most effective way possible.

Features:
- Designed in collaboration with parents of young children
- Fun Animal Clocks with spoken time and animation (both Quiz Modes)
- Toy Clock with spoken time and LCD display
- Set Time Quiz mode with text and spoken words
- Tell Time Quiz mode with text and spoken words
- Configurable difficulty levels
- Interactive

Screenshots

(click screen shot to enlarge)