Fine Print: I was given release information and a special website URL to pass along to my readers which will allow the 1st 50 who sign up a free copy of the app. All opinions and statements below are my own.
Skill Champ is an educational iPad app for children on the Autism Spectrum. With Skill Champ, you can create customized lessons based on your child’s interests! Select from our 10 preschool-level skills including matching colors, identifying patterns, and recognizing happy/sad faces. Each lesson is based on best practice autism strategies and includes a printable curriculum so your child can practice skills on AND off the iPad (currently the only supported device)!
The app is geared for children who benefit from highly structured, visual, and routine learning – like most children with autism. You’ll be able to select any one of the 10 skills and combine it with any one of the 10 themes to create a customized lesson. Each lesson starts with only one possible correct answer and gets harder as a child does better – this is to reinforce following the correct routine first, before increasing the field of options (another best practice autism strategy). Also, if you’d like to extend the learning off of the iPad (a skill that is critical and very challenging for our children with autism and learning challenges), there are printable worksheets and games that go along with each skill.
I looked at this app with 6 year old who has been diagnosed on the Autism spectrum. He is currently in kindergarten and is very app savvy. He’s had his own iPad for a few years, so that may impact how easy it appeared!
When I asked if he would like to “play” this new game, he jumped right in. When you open the app, you have the choice of creating a lesson or just working a random lesson. He chose random. All lessons are created from 1 of 10 skills (like identifying happy or sad faces, shape matching, etc.) and 1 of 10 themes (like on the train, or at the zoo).
When you start the lesson it comes up a with a very easy choice. This is designed to reinforce what you are supposed to do. As you go through the lesson, if you do well, the choices get more difficult (like more answers to choose from or choices that look similar). If you get a choice wrong, you are given another chance and the correct answer is highlighted, again to reinforce.
Even after you correct the wrong choice, the next part of the lesson gets a little easier, to make sure you build that skill correctly before you move ahead. If you continue to get wrong answers, the lesson becomes easier and easier. I know this because the little guy who was testing the app for me would eventually get the big picture and choose the wrong answer on purpose!
At the end of the lesson, you can replay the lesson (which will give you a theme variation on the same lesson) or you can unlock the parental screen to build a new lesson. Building a new lesson is such a piece of cake! You scroll through skills and themes, put them together and boom you have a new lesson!
There are only two things about how the app works where I might suggest a change. While creating a lesson is really easy, it doesn’t save them (as far as I could see) so you are always starting from scratch. That may or may not be a problem because once you create (which barely takes a second) and then replay a lesson, you get a variation of the lesson. But if you want to track progress on a particular lesson you might to have that lesson to choose from.
Secondly, to move to another lesson instead of a replay, you have to unlock the parental control. For this little tester that was a problem, because he would only play/replay so many times before wanting to move to another lesson. I love having a new lesson as a choice (which could be on or off according to parental control) to keep an engaged child engaged!
Other than that two thumbs up from everyone! He liked the scenes and noises and that things changed in replay, his mom liked it because of the skill building, and I liked it because it was so easy to use and have fun with. Since he had a fairly good handle on most of the skills this was an easy game for him. For someone with less firm skills, this is a great skill builder! The interface was very intuitive so even a non-tech savvy person could pick it up easily!
Skill Champ recently launched and they would love to offer 50 free copies to my readers! Just visit http://skillchamp.org/free-
* Codes expire on December 15 and are redeemable only on the iTunes Store for United States. Requires an iTunes account, subject to prior acceptance of license and usage terms. To open an account you must be above the age of 13 and in United States. Compatible software and hardware, and internet access (fees may apply) required. Not for resale. Full terms apply; see www.apple.com/legal/
Alli is a Chicago based wife and mother of two children. She has turned money-saving into a game and enjoys searching out the best deals to help you save money! Alli shares her insight, tips and up-to-the-minute deals for local and national retailers and brands. Her hope is that you will play the game and learn to save money at the same time!