Learn with Rufus: Numbers vs Fun & Functional Usage & Stats
Have fun learning learning how to count and compare quantities, in both English and Spanish!
The ability to count and compare quantities is a basic skill each child should have before starting school. Many school systems consider this to one of the skills essential for school readiness and success. It has been generally shown that children who have early successes in school gain the confidence to achieve even greater successes later in life.
Learn with Rufus: Numbers and Counting aims to help children to prepare for Kindergarten. Children will learn the sequence of numbers, both forwards and backwards, and how to compare quantities (more and less) of various objects. The game is highly customizable to meet the needs of children with varying skills, ability levels, and learning styles.
This game was designed by Dr Holly Gastgeb, a clinical and developmental psychologist with over ten years of experience working with typically developing children and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Learn with Rufus: Numbers and Counting is organized into six (6) parts, a tutorial and five (5) separate games:
* Tutorial - Animated counting of various fruit
* Count It! - Count the fruit
* Group It! - Count the fruit in a specified group
* Compare It! - Compare two quantities of fruit and select the set with more or fewer fruit
* Follow It! - Determine the next number in a short sequence, either forwards or backwards
* Line It! - Place numbers onto a number line
To keep children interested and motivated, the following features are included:
* Reward sets - Choose from nine different colorful child-friendly reward sets including bugs, cars, cats, dinosaurs, and more.
* Toy break - A delightful respite, the child can pop balloons as they float up the screen. This feature can be turned off if the child does not need breaks or finds them distracting.
* Positive reinforcement - Rufus does a "happy dance" and gives positive verbal reinforcement when the child answers correctly. If the child answers incorrectly, the correct answer is restated.
* Music and sounds - Child-friendly music and sounds are included throughout the game. This feature can be turned off if the child is sensitive to or distracted by sounds and music.
* Text - For children who enjoy reading, the question that corresponds to each game is presented on the screen. This feature can be turned off if the words are distracting to the child.
Additional customizable features that are present include:
* Level of difficulty - The level of difficulty can be adjusted to match the child's ability level:
Easy - Numbers go from one (1) through ten (10)
Medium - Numbers go from five (5) through fifteen (15)
Hard - Numbers go from ten (10) through twenty (20)
* Languages - Choose between English and Spanish.
For parents, educators, and therapists:
* Profiles per child - More than one child can play the game and all data will be stored under each child's name.
* Track data and statistics - At the end of the game, a graph of the child's data will be presented. Touch the graph to enlarge it, and then touch each data point to gather information about the child's performance.
* Email data - From the graph screen, if the device is capable of email, select the Export button to send yourself a CSV file of the child's progress.
For Ages 3 & Up
- Apple App Store
- Paid
- Education
Store Rank
- -
Fun & Functional is an application developed by author and Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) Rosie Simms to improve language comprehension and expression in individuals of all age groups. The ability to identify and describe the function or use of real-world objects is a key language and life skill. Fun & Functional provides SLPs, parents and others with a tool to develop categorization and descriptive skills by interacting with pictures and audio.
Fun & Functional is based on research around vocabulary and word meaning development in students. Improving vocabulary, describing ability and associations between words assists students in language comprehension and reading skills (Bromley, 2007). In particular, students have more difficulty acquiring verb-based vocabulary (Loeb, Pye, Redmond & Richardson, 1996), a skill that is targeted by Fun & Functional. The application allows for a focus on identifying and describing words within essential categories such as vehicles and household items, consistent with research indicating that categorization improves word storage and retrieval (Miller & Eilam, 2008). The application is designed to provide visual supports shown to be helpful for students with autism spectrum disorder and also targets suggested goals for this population such as expansion of word knowledge and action words (ASHA, 2006). Fun & Functional is also applicable to the instructional goals of children with language learning disorders, whose difficulties with vocabulary acquisition and descriptive language put them at risk for difficulties with reading and writing (Chanly, 1994; Gray, 2003, 2006; Stahl & Fairbanks, 1986).
Fun & Functional can be used to:
-Help children identify items that have a particular use or function.
-Develop understanding and auditory comprehension of Wh-Questions and verb forms.
-Target categories of items such as clothing, school items, and occupations.
-Elicit and score students’ verbal descriptions of items.
-Measure treatment effectiveness and skill growth over time through reported data.
Fun & Functional has the following Features:
-Receptive Activity in which students identify items that perform a certain use or function (presented visually and with audio).
-Ability to customize Receptive Activity according to number of choices presented (2, 3, or 4) to modify level of difficulty. Receptive Activity can also be customized according to level of similarity within “incorrect” items.
-Choice of application responses when child selects incorrect item (move to next question, incorrect item disappears from screen, or “Try Again!” message)
-Selection of specific or all categories to target.
-Expressive Activity in which students verbally describe the function of items (e.g. “What do you do with a broom?), so that SLPs, parents or others can score their response as “Missed it!” “Almost” or “Got it!” within the application.
-Quick Play and Receptive-Expressive combination activities.
-Report presented at conclusion of activity; can be emailed to parent or for record-keeping.
- Apple App Store
- Paid
- Education
Store Rank
- -
Learn with Rufus: Numbers VS. 
Fun & FunctionalDecember 26, 2024