sam2368 Posted June 2, 2009 Posted June 2, 2009 I've seen these in a catalogue and am interested to know if anyone has bought and used them and are they any good? Sam
Guest Posted June 3, 2009 Posted June 3, 2009 I haven't seen or used them but if they are good, it will be nice to know!!
sam2368 Posted June 4, 2009 Author Posted June 4, 2009 Ok, found them. A bit pricey at £595 or £495 but they are good. Apparently one of our local childrens centres has them (surprise surprise!) the link is http://www.storyphones.co.uk/ Sam
Guest Posted June 13, 2009 Posted June 13, 2009 Do you mean story phones? Ours arrived recently and my class love them - we have used them for everything!! At the moment I have downlaoded descriptions of minibeasts that they are listening to as they hunt for them outside in our field. They have been used for listening to stories but we have used them in nearly every area of the curriculum.We recently made playdough minibeats and they had to listen to the instructions on the story phones, they are able to press pause every thime there was a new instruction so that they could do it - it was really effective. They are also being used across the school for those children with additional needs --I highly recommend them but they are expensive, although they are always doing a deal of somesort so well worth a look.
HappyMaz Posted June 13, 2009 Posted June 13, 2009 I highly recommend them but they are expensive, although they are always doing a deal of somesort so well worth a look. Its really good to hear the many uses you've put these to, nickynooblue! I'd love a set but at £600 they are just too expensive for us at the moment. Perhaps I'll add them to my wishlist in the light of your PR job though... Maz
lynned55 Posted August 4, 2009 Posted August 4, 2009 (edited) I'm so glad to hear these comments!! Jut before we broke up, we applied for (and got) a large grant for resorces. One of the things we asked for were the storyphones. I thought they looked great, bt you are ever quite sure are you? WE have 2 cd players with 6 headphones each, the children have loved using these, listening to songs & stories together. Unfortunately these headphones snap so easily though and at the ned of term we were down to just 5 (out of the original 12) working ones. I plan to replace them with these and obviously do so much more with them, just didn't get time at the end of term to order them Edited August 4, 2009 by lynned55
Guest Posted August 4, 2009 Posted August 4, 2009 I'm interested in these for myself. They were mentioned on radio 2 this morning. Zoe Ball was complaining about wanting to go to sleep while her husband was watching tv in bed. Some one e-mailed in to say she had the same problem until she bought her husband 'wireless earphones for his birthday' and solved the problem. My ears pricked up because i love Law and Order, CIS etc thats on after 11pm but him in the bed complains. I was hoping to ask for them for my birthday (after we;ve seen The Jam ) but didn't realise they would be so expensive.
alis2son Posted August 5, 2009 Posted August 5, 2009 Cant you apply for a small grant from Early years for them? They are a little expensive, but adults wireless headsets arent cheap either, and would be too heavy for most of the children i have. our small grants are around £500.
HappyMaz Posted August 5, 2009 Posted August 5, 2009 I'm interested in these for myself. We bought wireless headphones for my son who insists on listening to what he laughingly calls music at full volume at all hours of the day and night. They are Sony ones, cost about £70 from Argos. They have a rechargeable base so batteries aren't a problem. Not at all suitable for littlies though - sorry to go off topic! Maz
Upsy Daisy Posted August 5, 2009 Posted August 5, 2009 We bought wireless headphones for my son who insists on listening to what he laughingly calls music at full volume at all hours of the day and night. They are Sony ones, cost about £70 from Argos. They have a rechargeable base so batteries aren't a problem.Maz That sounds just what I need for my daughter. Just one question though - is there any mechanism for stopping them singing along because that seems to be worse than the music in my house. All suggestions from experienced parents of teenagers gratefully received!
HappyMaz Posted August 5, 2009 Posted August 5, 2009 Just one question though - is there any mechanism for stopping them singing along because that seems to be worse than the music in my house. Duct tape. Going back to the original topic of storyphones - I am still struggling to justify the expense, even if I can put them on my bid for access funding. Although as I said before, nickynooblue makes a powerful case. One thing though - how much does the extra content cost to download? Maz
Upsy Daisy Posted August 5, 2009 Posted August 5, 2009 I could really use some of these. I've had a look on the website and just wondered if I am right in thinking that you have to buy them in sets of six? A set of two or three would be much more use to me as a childminder so I might have to get the Argos version and keep a close eye on them.
HappyMaz Posted August 5, 2009 Posted August 5, 2009 I could really use some of these. I've had a look on the website and just wondered if I am right in thinking that you have to buy them in sets of six? Yes - they sit on a little 'bank' and are really designed for group settings. However it may be worth having a good look at their website - they may do smaller sets for childminding settings (and if they haven't thought of it then perhaps you could suggest it to them!). Maz
sam2368 Posted August 5, 2009 Author Posted August 5, 2009 They come in sets of 4 or 6. Still dreaming about having them..... does anyone use the talking pen? I must go on their website to see if there are any idiots guidelines! Sam
Guest Posted August 5, 2009 Posted August 5, 2009 We have tested the storyphones over the last half term and they are fantastic. All the children from 2 - 8 years enjoy using them. I am hoping that we will be able to purchase the set we are using at the moment. I was given some downloads to test out but haven't had chance to try downloading any more. Is this simple to do? We are also trying the talking pen, which is good, but I think it is not so user friendly for our younger children. The pen does not necessarily recognise the next page and it is easy to miss a page. As most of our children are not readers they get a little confused. Anne[/font]
currycraver Posted October 3, 2009 Posted October 3, 2009 Do you mean story phones? Ours arrived recently and my class love them - we have used them for everything!! At the moment I have downlaoded descriptions of minibeasts that they are listening to as they hunt for them outside in our field. They have been used for listening to stories but we have used them in nearly every area of the curriculum.We recently made playdough minibeats and they had to listen to the instructions on the story phones, they are able to press pause every thime there was a new instruction so that they could do it - it was really effective. They are also being used across the school for those children with additional needs --I highly recommend them but they are expensive, although they are always doing a deal of somesort so well worth a look.
currycraver Posted October 3, 2009 Posted October 3, 2009 This is my first venture into commenting on a forum so I hope I have done it right. We purchased a set of storyphones last term and so far have used them to download Handa's surprise. The children :(love them. where did you find the mini beast description / and the instructions for playdough. They are an exciting resource which will have so many uses. Although they are expensive he freedom to use them indoors and out as well as in different areas of the setting make them a useful additional resource.
currycraver Posted October 3, 2009 Posted October 3, 2009 This is my first venture into commenting on a forum so I hope I have done it right. We purchased a set of storyphones last term and so far have used them to download Handa's surprise. The children love them. where did you find the mini beast description / and the instructions for playdough. They are an exciting resource which will have so many uses. Although they are expensive he freedom to use them indoors and out as well as in different areas of the setting make them a useful additional resource.
currycraver Posted October 3, 2009 Posted October 3, 2009 whoops sorry- not quite got the hang of it yet!
Guest Posted October 3, 2009 Posted October 3, 2009 This is my first venture into commenting on a forum so I hope I have done it right. We purchased a set of storyphones last term and so far have used them to download Handa's surprise. The children love them. where did you find the mini beast description / and the instructions for playdough. They are an exciting resource which will have so many uses. Although they are expensive he freedom to use them indoors and out as well as in different areas of the setting make them a useful additional resource. Evening 'currycraver'. For the descriptions and stuff I recorded it myself, you can do that on the main machine and then download it into the computer, then onto the story phones - it sounds more complicated than it actually is!!!!
Tigger Posted October 4, 2009 Posted October 4, 2009 I saw the storyphones at the education show yesterday and they looked fantastic, there are lots of additions and software you can buy/ download or you can record yourself or other children too. It was definatly in my top three list of must haves from all the other stuff on show. They look sturdy, practical and easy to use the only thing is the price/! They may come down in price though as it is a fairly new product? S
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