Sarah0000 Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 What are all the ways that kids listen to audiobooks and music selections, chosen by the parent, independently? The devices would have to be transportable, have the ability to change content either on them or with cards or drives, and be dedicated to the specific purpose (in other words not a tablet where the child could just choose to play games instead). It would also only have the one or two options I put on it (so not like the Kindle that has every book you ever purchased on it). Scenario 1: Continent boxes with a CD, micro SD card, or what??? of music that child can either press play directly on or insert into some other device. This could also be used with other themed discovery boxes. Scenario 2: mp3s that child can freely listen to, and preferably be able to select by folders or something, for instance, piano music, Spanish music, composer of the month, etc. Scenario 3: Listening to a designated audiobook that can be paused, rewound, and progress saved, especially audiobooks on mp3, for instance Story of the World. So, what are my options for doing these things? I'm envisioning my child having one or two devices with my chosen content on them that I can switch out whenever. Thanks so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 For scenario 2, my nephews use an ipod classic or ipod nano. Should work for scenario 3 as well. Sansa MP3 players that have the display screen would work too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoutingmom Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 I have used an old ipod shuffle (no screen, so best when only a few things on at once), and then an old smartphone not hooked up to any service anymore. Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy the Valiant Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 We use non-internet-connected old phones for this purpose; I load & unload the content, and the kids select from what I've put on there. The older the phone, the less likely it is to be able to access games, etc. (haha). We have 2 in operation at this time (one is from 2001, seriously). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah0000 Posted November 9, 2015 Author Share Posted November 9, 2015 Do ipods save your spot, like if listening to a long audiobook? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah0000 Posted November 9, 2015 Author Share Posted November 9, 2015 I do have an old phone. I'll have to test the audio books out on it. I have no idea how all the tracks would display. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy the Valiant Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 I do have an old phone. I'll have to test the audio books out on it. I have no idea how all the tracks would display. On one of ours, we have to put the books into playlists, so that they group the chapters in order and continous-play; otherwise, they treat each track as an individual song / recording. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathkath Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Old iPhone, overdrive app. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 The kindle fire tablets have terrific parental controls. You're able to lock all the apps but have the audiobooks still work. On the ipad there's guided access, which isn't quite as good but at least holds them to the one app you put them in. I think android/samsung tablets also have some kind of parental controls. I love my ipad, but for my ds I went with the kindle fire. The parental controls allow me to keep the apps off unless I want them down. I can lock down the camera, wifi, anything. Amazon has TONS of free content, and Audible runs lots of deals. When you get the (often free) ebook, there's usually a discounted price for the audio. The other reason I like the kindle for him is because of the picture coverflow. He can look at a whole bunch of pictuers and choose what he wants. The most recent selections show up in a flow also. It's just especially easy for a non-reader to use. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 On my basic kindle touch I can store things on the device or in the cloud. I can also block access to the cloud so the kids can only get what i have left on the device not every book i ever bought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 My kids have Nook tablets. I have a parent account and a kid account on them. They only have access to the games in their kid accounts if I unlock them in my parent account. They have an Overdrive app and can download their own books from the library. The books disappear when the lending period is up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbes Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Do ipods save your spot, like if listening to a long audiobook? Yes. Each of our kids has an iPod Nano (garage sale finds!) and a speaker which they use daily for audiobooks during quiet time. The iPod remembers the last stopping point and they can just resume where they were the next day. We also use them for travel, etc. By far the best solution we have found, combined with our Audible account. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RKWAcademy Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 My kids use older kindle touches. I upload/remove audiobooks from the computer. Easy for my kids to use. They aren't always the most careful with the kindles, but it's getting better. There is a way to add mp3 music to the kindle touch but I haven't done that for my kids. They'd never listen to books if I gave them the option of music! downloading audiobooks from the library is easy via Overdrive on my computer. Lots of selections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Do ipods save your spot, like if listening to a long audiobook? I use Bookmobile for listening to Audiobooks on my iphone and it definitely saves the spot. I also use OVerdrive for listening to stuff downloaded from the library. Usually it saves the spot, but occasionally starts over at the begining of the Part (So I might be 40 min into part 3 and it starts over at time 0 on part 3) So I may a habit of occasionally checking where I am to make it easier to fast forward if need be in the future. (it is VERY easy to fast forward time to a particular spot) I do NOT use the iphone generic Music app because I do more than listen to audiobooks. It would be fine if all you wanted to do was listen to the audiobook until finished. If you want to also listen to music sometimes -- you lose your place everytime you leave the book to choose different songs to listen to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syllieann Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 Do ipods save your spot, like if listening to a long audiobook?We use an iPod for this. If you are transferring it from a cd it might show up as song content. In that case it doesn't save your spot, but you can go in and change the format to audio book so that it will save your spot. We also have a high quality portable speaker on which I can play things on from my iPad via Bluetooth. The kids can have the speaker right next to them, even in a different room, without access to the iPad, but they can still adjust volume and move around with the speaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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