simon king

Brief into the literacy center
We started the LiteracyCenter.Net with a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract from the U S Department of Education. Today, it dynamically serves as many as 1.5 million free lessons a day to children in more than two hundred countries. Many ask why the LiteracyCenter.Net is free. Our answer is simple. We have a dream that all children will be able to access the same high-quality, research-based, education material. When you support the LiteracyCenter.Net you support our mission.

To the teacher/parent

The National Research Council’s study “Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children” states that children who are exposed to reading at an early age make the symbol/language connection and are more likely to be reading at the appropriate age level by the end of third grade.

The Literacy Center aims to provide safe learning activities for parents and teachers to share with young children. It follows a modified Montessori approach to teaching reading. As a pre and early reading curriculum, it assumes that each online lesson will be supported by appropriate offline instruction, either at home or in school.

The following are two flash based swf educational games/interactions. The first is based on colour and the second on shape giving very basic introduction and instruction of use.

Colour

By hovering  the mouse over the shape, it enlarges with text giving the colours title. Although the primary colours are shown, theory is not covered due to the younger age of the participant.

You are invited to scroll up and down through the colours and colour names by arrows, a congratulation message comes up as a reward for completion.

With this part of the interaction you are invited to use your memory to establish both colour matching with title and position making this enjoyable and challenging.

Shapes

In this shapes interaction there are more of a verity of puzzles as there are more you can do at this basic level. 

By hovering your mouse over a shape a title comes up giving its shape name.

Again you are invited to match up both shape with title

With this part of the game more of an interactive response is utilized, a drag and drop feature is featured allowing you to match up the shapes. A reward message pops up to congratulate on completion. 

Memory is again used in two ways both to match up title with shape and matching card

Shapes are given example in basic geometric shape by placement on this landscape, the moon is the circle and the star is, well the stars in the sky e.c.t 

This would encourage and lead into imagination of shape use.

The final step in the shape interaction allows you to spell the shape, in order to use the right letters examples are shown.. you can either click the letter buttons or use the keyboard.

Both interactions are excellent examples of how easily flash is used to demonstrate eduction interactive learning, with greater creative flair and process better results can be achieved.