'A' is for Apple.

What ever happend to barbies and GI Joe's huh? It astoundes me to see even pre-teenage kids walking round with white plugs in their ears at times. (Thank-you mummy and daddy!) i was reading the latest Apple news and found an article about kids bringing ipods to kindy with them.The Kindergardens apparently have bought kids the ipods for educational purposes. They come out during class to help master vocabulary for 'English as a second language' students, and are taken home for homework. "They beg for it," one kindergarten teacher says. "They don't think of it as homework. It's a good connection between school and home, taking the classroom home". The ipods propose a number of vobabulary and phonetic benfits. "Phonemic awareness is the No. 1 tool for reading success," a teacher says "Playing with the language is so important, being able to manipulate words, the ipods help do this". I seem to agree with what they are saying. Im presently trying to learn another language, using a tape deck ( yip, one of those ancient things), rewinding, stopping, playing, rewinding again. It gets frustrating. But its the fact that i am hearing the vocab and the pronounciation which really helps me learn. If its easier for me, why cant this be applied to children trying to learn english? i think early education could be heading in the right direction here. ( i also think the benefits of podcasting for educational purposes are heading in that direction too). Anywho, untill i get myself an ipod, im gonna have to keep learning language the traditional way.