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Five Little Ducks from SoftTouch

Available for either Macintosh or MS Windows based computers, Five Little Ducks is an ideal program with which to introduce number concepts through song. The program is simple in design and execution. The song, “Five Little Ducks” is played using a preferred access mode. The song is sung starting with one duck, two ducks … and so on, until introducing the Father duck. There are o total of 6 songs to be played. There is a non-interactive storybook with colourful screens for question and answer as well as story telling activities. Teachers and parents can introduce various concepts using the storybook pages, including the numbers from 1-5, the number words one through five, concepts of same/different, as well as big and little using these delightful pages. The pages onscreen are well illustrated. The songs will appeal to young children with special needs. Ideal for children who enjoy repetition and practice. You can purchase pre-made overlays for various membrane boards, or you could create and design your own using Overlay Maker (from IntelliTools). Single switch access could be achieved by using IntelliKeys, Discover:Switch, with the Mouser II (PC only) or switch adapted mouse.

Suitability: Preschool and junior primary, special school settings.
Access: Mouse, switch, TouchWindow, IntelliKeys
Rationale: To introduce early concepts of number, size and same/different.
Overlays: Sets of 3 overlays for IntelliKeys, Discover:Board, Key Largo (sold separately)

Away We Ride from SoftTouch

Children learn concepts through listening and singing along to six different songs about transport. Activities such as finding the correct picture, sound or associated object or word will activate the songs. A cause-and-effect option “Just for Fun” is also available. There are five activities. They include:

• Let’s Play screens build telling a story, accompanied by the song
• Find My Twin match 1,2, 3 or 6 pictures to a picture, the song is played with animation
• What Goes With Me match a saddle with the horse, fireman’s hat with firetruck, etc.
• Find My Word match the picture to the word, one picture to 1, 2, 3 or 6 words at a time
• Match My Sound match the sound of the transport mode to 1, 2, 3 or 6 pictures

The songs can be played in the classroom or in music therapy sessions. The illustrations are large, clear and well defined. The music effects and singing are professionally recorded. You can use the package for counting, matching, developing listening skills and elementary word recognition. Off-computer tasks can include drawing, matching pictures to Compic or PCS symbols, story telling about transport and one-to-one correspondence and counting activities with choice making as well.

Suitability: Preschool and junior primary, special school settings.
Access: Mouse, switch, TouchWindow, IntelliKeys
Rationale: To introduce concepts of number, encourage choice making and matching
Overlays: Overlays for IntelliKeys, Discover:Board, Key Largo (sold separately)

The Rodeo from SoftTouch

Centred about a rodeo, six characters can be chosen to ride horses, bulls and rodeo animals. The vibrant colours and active graphical representation of bucking animals will appeal to a range of children. They can sings along as well. It is ideal for introducing switches and other adaptive devices. The cartoon style images will engage and entertain. There are four activities. They include: Let’s Play, Let’s Find My Friend, Let’s Find the Number, Let’s Find a Song. You can set the number of characters onscreen from 1,2, 3 or 6.

Suitability: Preschool and junior primary, pre-teenagers with severe or multiple disabilities.
Access: Mouse, switch, TouchWindow, IntelliKeys
Rationale: To introduce cause-and-effect, choice making and identifying numbers from 1-6.
Overlays: Overlays for IntelliKeys, Discover:Board (sold separately)