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SEGway

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Posts posted by SEGway

    MP3 players for audiobooks - anything better than a Sandisk Clip+?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    Thanks for the ideas.

     

    Price is another reason I'm looking away from the Sansa Clip+. Ours were in the $25-30 range new, but they are now much pricier. I figured there must be better options out there now vs. several years ago when we picked up the Clips. The $20-40 range is what I'm looking for.

     

    I really, really, really don't want to get a tablet for this - including a Kindle Fire. Sorry, OhE. I love Quizlet & Duolingo & would love to have something I could put Stack the States on, but I'm not going to introduce a tablet into our home at this time. DH feels even more strongly than I on this point, so that won't work for us. (If we get a tablet at some point, it will be mine and will only be available to "check out" on a limited basis for school stuff.) 

     

    As I said in the OP, we are not a tech household. We are also not a screen household. We have no video games, no cable, no NetFlix, etc. We have one computer hard-wired to the internet. Our one cell phone is over five years old (7? 8?) and we like its profound 'dumbness.' As hilarious as it sounds, I'm the most "techy" person in the house & many people's five year olds would run rings around me.

     

     

    Can you explain what "take the password off" means? Can you link to something that would work like what you talked about? I know absolutely nothing about smartphones and would have no idea even what to look for that would not allow calling or internet but that the kids could use just for their audiobooks?

    ETA:  Would something like this work??

    I'm not sure from the description if that phone can do apps (which is how I know how to get Audible files to work on a device like that).

     

    This is more like what I got for our kids. I think it's in the $30 dollar range, but I found one at a Shopko for 19.99 on sale.

     

    You can keep the sim card out entirely. (This means no telephone service possibility. We also have an older model "dumb" phone on purpose for our cell phone.) 

     

    You can buy up to a 32gb micro sd card to expand the memory on the particular phone linked above.

     

    First, you can have it search manually for your home network and put in your password. Then download whatever audible content you own and transfer mp3 files to the music folder (using a cord to your computer or wherever you have it stored). You get it all set up the way you want it (in my case that included deleting a bunch of the icons for stuff that we weren't going to use), and then go back to the internet connection and disconnect from your home network and pick don't remember (or something similar) so it won't automatically reconnect to your home wifi. When the content you want your kids to be able to access is all on the device you can make sure the password is no longer entered on the device and it will need to be typed back in if you want it to access the internet. Our crew is young enough that this is sufficient to make sure they're not attempting to navigate the web unless it's with a parent on the laptop. For older, savvier, or more determined kids, this might be enough of a safeguard.

     

    I don't put any games on the device. Basically, just our own music and audiobooks. (Although, you could do ebooks, too, if you're inclined. It's just a pretty small screen for that. But the kindle app would let you download a bunch of free stuff item by item and not have access to anything else without an internet connection.) Our kids can also use the camera/video feature to be silly, but they can't put anything online at all, they just use up some digital space and then erase it when they want to record something else.

     

    (There's also a librivox app, but that seems to not always work the way I think it should. If you like librivox recordings, it might be easier to just download them as mp3 files and put them in the music folder instead of trying to mess with the app.)

     

    I'm really pleased with this solution for our family. We've been listening to tons of audiobooks recently as a result of this. As always, YMMV. :)

    Hope this helps!

     

     

     

    Edited for clarity. Hopefully.

    MP3 players for audiobooks - anything better than a Sandisk Clip+?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    If you watch for sales, there are super cheap smartphones you can snag for $20 or so at Walmart or even on Amazon. They're usually in some rotten network which makes them undesirable as actual phones, but if you take out the sim card and use it just over your wifi (and then you could even take the password off and have it offline), you can put music/audible stuff on there and get tons more storage (if it can take an sd card) than a dedicated mp3 player. It's like a super cheap ipod substitution.

     

    Also, they make cases that actually protect the device.

     

    (I really like the ones we use--strictly on home wifi [mine] or offline [separate one for the kids, so they don't keep using mine].)

     

     

     

    ETA: These phones typically have external speakers so headphones aren't necessary, but they almost all have headphone jacks and/or bluetooth capability for earphones/speakers if desired.

    • Like 1

    How safe/secure is DIY?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    How long has it been around? How sure are people that it's a safe place for kids? How comfortable are you letting your kids post projects that include pictures/videos of themselves?

     

    Am I just super-paranoid? We try to keep everything possible offline when it comes to our kids. So, when they're old enough to know what an online presence/identity means, it's not too late and they have some sort of control.

     

    Thoughts? 

     

    (I think my kids would love earning the badges on diy, but I'm still trying to decide if the social aspect of it is worth starting this juggernaut.)

    Looking to do some *relaxed* math here, want to share ideas?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    Since SCM Pet Store Math was discussed positively upthread, I'll mention that I just got it to try (maybe for the summer?) from the Build Your Bundle (or whatever it's called) that's going on. I'm not referring anyone (if you google homeschool build your bundle, I think you'll find it.) If you have other stuff they're selling that you're looking at, too, it might be a deal. (Probably not if that's the only product you really wanted.)

     

    Just a head's up. 

     

    And, thanks to the people who bumped this. Lots of fun stuff in here! (My Amazon wishlist is expanding....again. :) )

    • Like 1

    Huge Great Courses sale on Audible

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    Thanks Jackie, So I can buy the mp3 and then listen only through audible app or any mp3 player? Does anyone know? The oldest has an "old" mp3 player ..

     

    Sorry, I posted and disappeared. Also, I'm not Jackie, but as I understand it, you can play your audible purchases on any device that does apps (download the audible free app).

     

    Unfortunately, the list of dedicated mp3 players that will play their files is pretty small. Alternatively, you should be able to put the file on iTunes and burn it to a cd. (But, I have not been able to do that successfully so I just play them all from cheap phones that I got specifically to use as audible players.)

     

    Hope that helps.

    Quark Chronicles: Botany (Volume 1)

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    Just fyi, I think the author might actually be Kathy Jo's husband, not son. 

     

    I let my 9yo dd read it for a free read, and she really enjoyed it. I looked at the notebooking pages/schedule for the zoology one, but I'm not sure if we'll try that next year for a bit or just use it as another free read. 

     

    Sorry, that's not a terribly informative review, I know. I'm planning to read more than the first three-five chapters, but that hasn't actually happened yet.

    Singapore Editions

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    Am I crazy for thinking I can continue to use the standards HIG and TB, but use the CC or US workbook and just not care that they don't line up perfectly? The IP is US edition and doesn't line up with standards edition, but everyone uses it anyway. I don't line up the TB and Wb now anyway. I usually teach 1 HIG lesson per day and My son does 2 pages a day in the WB this year, but I don't wait till he finishes all the matching WB pages before teaching the next lesson. We move on with HIG/TB lessons and he might be a unit behind in his WB. Then I don't have to worry if I'm unable to teach a math lesson one day, he can still do his WB.

    This. How bad could it be to use US edition workbooks with Standards HIGs and textbooks?

    Would it be crazy to buy all the Singapore Standard copies I need

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    My plan is to have the complete set of HIGs/TB/CWP (which I've collected already, just because, even though my oldest is just finishing 4B....) and buy the workbooks depending on how many of the real-live actual children in this house use them.

     

    If at some point the standards workbooks aren't printed anymore, I'll plan to teach from the textbooks and line up whatever edition workbook is currently being served up with the textbook I already have and know well. There might be some spots that don't ever correspond that way, but I'm finer (I know that's not a word) with that than with any other of the potential scenarios I imagined.

    • Like 1

    Winnie the Pooh, Audible daily deal, .99

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    You don't have to be an audible member to buy audio books outright. (Being a member means buying monthly credits to get books at a discount. But you can buy books without the credits.)

     

    I think if you have an amazon account you don't even have to sign up separately and start a new account with audible. But, they are linked to your amazon account. 

     

    Also, you have to have a mobile device that can play audible (not just any mp3 player, I found out). Or plan to listen by your computer. Or figure out how to import them to iTunes and burn cds. 

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