Pick of the Week: Decisions ColorCards – Teach reasoning skills in problem situations

Inspire rational decision-making with Decisions, a set of 30 beautifully clear images printed on large photo cards. This week only, you can take 15% off* your order of the Decisions ColorCards by entering in promo code DECIS6 at checkout!

Each card depicts an unexpected, unwelcome, or difficult situation to encourage logical thinking, using reasoning skills, and making prompt and rational decisions. Each scene presents a problem or requires specific decisions to be made, and varies from minor difficulties that upset daily life (e.g. missing a bus, waiting for a visitor) to elements of risk and danger (e.g. finding a pan on fire in the kitchen, stopping a water leak from the ceiling).

With the Decisions ColorCards, students will learn to:
  • make responsible choices
  • develop independent thought
  • keep safe
  • recognize consequences of intervening
  • understand the differences between minor difficulties and emergencies
  • find a balance between acting quickly and considering all aspects of a situation

Also included in this set is a CD-Rom that features printable versions of each card and graphic organizers that are useful for prompting meaning conversation.

Don’t forget—this week only, save 15%* on your purchase of the Decisions ColorCards by using or mentioning promo code DECIS6 when you check out online or over the phone with us!

*Offer is valid until 11:59pm EDT on June 24, 2014. Not compatible with any other offers. Be sure there are no spaces or dashes in your code at check out!

Different Roads iOS Apps Now Feature Family Sharing

Apple has recently introduced a new Family Sharing feature, which allows up to 6 family members to browse and access each other’s iTunes, iBooks, and App Store purchases, as well as share photos, calendars, and locations with each other. We’re excited to announce that all of our Different Roads apps in the iTunes App Store have also begun to support this feature. Family Sharing also includes parental controls, enabling parents to approve purchases and downloads initiated by children first.

Different Roads to Learning Apps

Clean Up Cateogory Sorting AppClean-Up: Category Sorting  This highly-rated interactive program develops language, reasoning, and sorting and classifying skills in young learners. Players must “clean up” by putting 75 photographic images of toys, food, and clothing away in the correct shopping cart, refrigerator, or toy box. Each target is introduced by its label (“Where does the Apple go?”) in each round where players see 15 unique images. Correct responses receive visual and auditory reinforcement while incorrect answers are corrected by a visual prompt of the correct answer flashing. This app builds foundational sorting skills for students just developing their sorting and classifying skills. Available on iPhone and iPad.

Whats that Sound App

What’s that Sound? Learning to Listen and Identify Sounds  This interactive and easy-to-grasp game develops auditory discrimination and processing skills in young learners. Players will improve their skills by matching objects and their associated sounds. Simple auditory processing skills lay the foundation for learning how to read, speak and spell.
Available on iPhone and iPad.

 

What Goes Together App

What Goes Together?  This interactive program develops language, discrimination, and reasoning skills in young learners. Clear, colorful images of everyday objects promote an understanding of functions and the relationships between items that children encounter on a daily basis. With built-in reinforcement and error correction, this game provides a solid foundation in building critical expressive and receptive language skills. Available on iPhone and iPad.

Tell Me About It App

Tell Me About It!  Featured as Editor’s Choice on Best Apps for Kids, this universal app is specifically designed for children with autism and other speech and language delays. Based on the Applied Behavioral Analysis approach, this program mimics an actual one-on-one instructional session with a therapist. The app provides 15 categories of language targets, such as body parts, household items, clothing and food, and six levels of difficulty, which progressively become more difficult, from labelling to shared feature, function, and category. This app also features an easy-to-read report card, which provides tracking data for each child and an option to e-mail the report card results. Available on iPhone and iPad.

To discover all of our current apps and what Family Sharing can do for your family, visit our iTunes App Store page.

Pick of the Week: Watch It! Elapsed Time Clock

Teach elapsed time with this classroom tool featuring two analog wristwatches with correlating digital clocks. The Watch It! Elapsed Time Clock is a simple, non-electronic, and clear way to teach elapsed time. This week only, save 15%* on your order of the Watch It! Elapsed Time Clock by using promo code WATCHIT at check out!

To operate the clock, simply move the minute hand on the first watch to your desired start time and the minute hand on the second watch to your finish time—the digital clocks underneath will automatically adjust. Then, slide open the cover on the answer window to see the elapsed time or keep it closed to quiz students. You can also use it to teach reading analog time and for practice on adding time. No batteries are required.

The Watch It! Elapsed Time Clock comes with two large, analog-geared wristwatches, two correlating digital clocks, an elapsed time answer window with a push-button quiz door, and a Teacher Guide with multilingual instructions (i.e. English, Spanish, French, and German).

This week only, take 15% off* your purchase of the new Watch It! Elapsed Time Clock by mentioning or entering promo code WATCHIT when you check out by phone or online.

*Offer is valid until 11:59pm ET on June 17, 2014. Not compatible with any other offer. Be sure there are no spaces or dashes in your code at checkout!

The MotivAider is back in stock!

DRT_382_MotivAiderOh, MotivAider, how we’ve missed you! Our favorite tool for providing a private prompt is back in stock after a long manufacturing delay. We wonder how we survived without it these past months!

We’re all breathing a collective sigh of relief that this versatile and invaluable resource is back and available to ship right away.

Pick of the Week: “Expanding and Combining Sentences” Interactive Workbook

For students who are already able to talk or write in simple, choppy sentences, this interactive workbook will open gateways to success in language and literacy! Save 15%* on your purchase of Expanding and Combining Sentences by speech and language pathologist Marilyn M. Toomey this week only, by applying or mentioning our promo code EXPAND8 at check out!

Color picture pages, along with specific instructions, provide a means of evoking interesting and descriptive sentences from students.

Students will learn how to expand their sentences by using the color cues provided in the book, as pictures become progressively colorful and a new detail is added to the sequence. In no time at all, young learners will be able to tell an entire story by using complex and detailed sentences!

97 pages in total with 40 colored pages.  Preview the book.

This interactive workbook will be the perfect resource to teach the challenging task of making sentences more interesting with descriptive words.  Don’t forget – this week only, take 15% off* your order of Expanding and Combining Sentences by applying code EXPAND8 at checkout!

Marilyn M. Toomey is also the author of several other popular speech and language workbooks, such as Talking in SetencesVerbal Reasoning ActivitiesThe Language of Perspective Taking, and much more.

*Offer is valid until 11:59pm EDT on 6/10/2014. Not compatible with other offers. Be sure there are no spaces or dashes in your code at checkout!

Pick of the Week: Robot Turtles – The Game for Little Programmers

We’re thrilled to announce the arrival of the highly-rated game Robot Turtles: The Little Game for Programmers to our store. Robot Turtles an innovative board game that teaches the fundamentals of computer programming to kids as young as 4 years old without a screen. That’s right – no screen, no keyboard, no special effects; just great design and an innovative concept! And this week only, we’re offering a 15% discount* on this great new game. Just enter TURTLES3 at checkout to redeem your savings on your set of Robot Turtles.

With its origin as the most backed board game in Kickstarter history, Robot Turtles sneakily teaches the fundamentals of programming, from coding to functions, while making silly turtle noises! This game takes seconds to learn, minutes to play, and provides endless learning opportunities. With 4 different levels of play, including basic game play, unlocking obstacles and lasers, unlocking a “write program,” and unlocking the function frog, Robot Turtles is a wonderful game for preschoolers to grow with.

Each set of Robot Turtles comes with:

  • 1 game board
  • 40 game tiles
  • 4 robot turtle tiles
  • 4 jewel tiles
  • 4 code card decks, with 45 cards each

As the best selling board game in all of Kickstarter history, Robot Turtles has been highly anticipated by game creators and consumers alike, and has received a considerable amount of mainstream press. In a recently published New York Times article, creator of the game Dan Shapiro explains his rationale behind creating the game. “Those [game] pieces are intended to represent the commands of a computer program.” Children are required to select cards to move their pieces around the board, pushing or destroying obstacles in their way. With the glowing reviews it has received on trending social media sites, Robot Turtles is sure to teach young learners the fundamentals of a necessary skill in modern technology in a fun and interactive way.

Don’t forget – this week only, take 15% off* your purchase of the brand-new Robot Turtles game by applying code TURTLES3 at checkout!

*Offer is valid through 11:59pm EDT on June 3, 2014. Not compatible with any other offer. Be sure there are no spaces or dashes in your code at checkout!

Pick of the Week: Jumbo Magnetic Spin Wheel & Spinners – Transform Your Classroom Whiteboard!

Teachers, transform your classroom whiteboard into an interactive, whole-class game space with the Jumbo Magnetic Spin Wheel or the Magnetic Whiteboard Spinners. Simply place the spinners on your whiteboard and use dry-erase markers to create the games and activities or use the the spin wheel with its colorful accompanying templates to set up the class activities you need—the possibilities are limitless! This week, save 15%* on your order of one or both of our featured products—the Jumbo Magnetic Spin Wheel and Whiteboard Spinners, when you apply our code SPINZ8 at checkout!   

The jumbo 16″ Magnetic Spin Wheel comes with 3 double-sided write-on/wipe-off templates (right) that contain 4, 6, 8, 12, and 32 sections, along with a blank, to enable complete customization.

You can organize and manage classroom tasks from assigning responsibilities to choosing students and activities.

Create interactive learning games for a fun spin on subject-specific review and reinforcement. The includedTeacher Guide contains 16 math, language arts, readiness, and classroom management activity suggestions.

The set of Whiteboard Spinners includes three giant 11″ spinners (below) that help turn your whiteboard into a custom game or activity for the whole class.  Draw a circle, write in content, attach a spinner, and play!
    

This week only, save 15%* when you order the Jumbo Magnetic Spin Wheel and/or the Magnetic Whiteboard Spinners and use our promo code SPINZ8 at checkout!

*Offer is valid until 11:59pm ET on May 20, 2014. Good for one-time use only. Not compatible with any other offer. Be sure there are no spaces or dashes in your code at checkout!

Here’s What Was in YOUR ABA Toolbox

Thank you to all who participated in our ABA Toolbox giveaway last week! We’ve received some wonderful responses and feedback from parents, teachers, and therapists on their favorite products from our catalog and how they are using it with a special child, and we are thrilled to be sharing them with you!

Our biggest goal in this endeavor was to share with you the unbelievable wealth of experience and knowledge our community of parents, teachers, and therapists have in using our products in innovative and creative ways for their ABA programs.

 

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Pick of the Week: Spot It! Matching Game

Our absolute favorite matching and visual discrimination game, Spot It! provides endless fun and challenge to learners of all ages.  Out of the 55 cards, there is always one, and only one, matching symbol between any two cards.  Players can develop a sharp eye and quick reflexes, as they play any of the five included games. This week only, you can save 15%* on your order of the Spot It! matching card game by applying our promo code SPOTIT3 at checkout!

Easy to learn but never boring, this is a great resource for developing visual perception, focus, and reaction time.  This game is easy enough to include students of all skill levels but challenging enough to keep everyone interested in playing.

Take 15% off* your order of Spot It! this week by mentioning or using code SPOTIT3 over the phone with us at (800) 853-1057 or at checkout online.

*Offer is valid until 11:59pm ET on May 13, 2014. Not compatible with any other offer. Be sure there are no spaces or dashes in your code at checkout!

What’s in YOUR ABA Toolbox? Share and Win a $250 Gift Certificate

All of our products here at Different Roads to Learning are carefully selected to support both home and school ABA programs. Our community of parents, teachers and therapists have an unbelievable wealth of experience and knowledge in using our products in innovative and creative ways. We want to know What’s in Your ABA Toolbox?

Please fill out this form and share with us your go-to resource for working with students on the spectrum and tell us how you use it. All responses will be entered to win a $250 Gift Certificate* from Different Roads to Learning.

*Only one (1) response will be counted per person. Giveaway ends at 12:00pm ET on 05/05/2014. Submissions will be entered and selected by random for a chance to win a $250 Different Roads to Learning Gift Certificate good towards any future purchases from our catalog. Submissions will be shared on the Different Roads Blog at blog.difflearn.com on Monday, May 5th, 2014. Be sure to check back to our blog on that day to read all of the submissions! The winner will also be announced and contacted via email with their $250 Gift Certificate on May 5th, 2014. Entries for products and materials NOT included on www.difflearn.com or in the Different Roads Catalog will not be considered.