We hit the ZPD

I wanted to give you a little update about the birthday gift we gave to R. It was the Osmo Little Genius starter kit that is used on a tablet. Since TM had gotten several people tablets for Christmas, including myself so I had parent controls, we had a tablet we could use it on. Normally this is not something I would even give a second glance to. I tend to shy away from screen based learning, and particularly when it adds the competitive, fear-driven label of 'genius'. But A. had watched the boys she babysits play with it and gave it a high recommendation. Since it is pretty difficult to find appropriate gifts for R., I was willing to give it a try.

On Sunday, A. got it all set up for her and they gave it a try.

The tablet sits on the stand and each game has some sort of work space that goes in front of it. You can't see it in this picture, but there is a red camera that sits on top of the tablet which connects what the child does on the mat to the tablet. Somehow. 

Here is R. pushing one of the buttons on the tablet to show she has completed the step she was working on. This alone could be worth the cost since she really has to use her eyes to focus on where her finger is moving in order to be able to push it. 

Here is a better picture of the whole set-up, and you can see that she was asked to make a 'C' on her work space to match what is on the screen.

There is more computer power in the this little game than sent the astronauts to the moon. Once the child has made the picture with the manipulatives, the camera takes a picture of it and moves it onto the tablet. There is a monster host (you can see him on the bottom of the screen) who guides the child through the whole process.

The alphabet learning game is right in the spot where R. can do it with some help. In educational literature, this would be her Zone of Proximal Development, or ZPD.  It is a good place for her to be, and I see us using this for some of her school activities.

We also gave her a second game which is a story telling game. She had a paper doll sort of figure with different sets of clothing. The monster host tells a story and asks the child to help solve problems and mysteries by finding the right things to put on the paper doll. She doesn't need as much help to do this one, so it is a good counter point to the game where she definitely needs help to complete it.

The other benefit, which I didn't even realize until she had been playing it for a while is that the tablet eventually runs out of battery. This puts a natural time limit on an activity that I didn't impose. For a child who can do the same thing over and over again for literally hours at a time unless I intervene, this is a very good thing, both for her and for our relationship.

So I am giving it a guarded thumbs up. There are also a variety of games for older children, so it has the potential to be useful for a wide range of learners here. Most importantly, R. is happy with it, which makes it a very good gift, indeed.