Phonological Awareness Series Disc 2: Syllabification

"This is the second in a series of discs, the first being 'Listening and Rhyming' and the third, due to be published in 2006, is 'Alliteration'. The aim of the disc is to support therapy and teaching objectives and enable children to develop skills in counting and sorting the number of syllables within words; building and removing parts of compound words; removing parts of non compound words and generating words with a certain number of syllables. Also included are useful picture materials, word lists, worksheets, certificates, a student record and a glossary to download. Designed to be used in school, clinic or home, it is possible for the package to produce either a male or female voice, and the spoken instructions given to the child are clear."

"The disc provides written instructions and information at each stage, however these were not brief. One piece of information I required, was found within the 'Help' section, rather than the main area."

"During the games, there are various themes, such as the use of numbers of giraffes for identifying numbers of syllables. Unfortunately this theme is not continued in the worksheets. The graphics used for the games, the worksheets and the certificates were disappointing compared to those in the cartoons which appeared at the end of the games and would be much more likely to hold a child's attention."

"The information provided does not specify how old the intended users of the package are likely to be. Some of the words used would not be accessible to a younger child or a child with limited vocabulary development. In various activities there were words which sounded similar at the beginning, which might cause difficulties for certain children. However, overall, I would recommend the disc as a resource."