The WILD Word Learner app, based on the Wordsmyth Illustrated Learner’s Dictionary, is designed to help young native speakers and non-native speakers (K to 2) build their vocabulary through engaging word games. WILD Word Learner 1 (Fly Your Kite) is the first app in the WILD Word Learner series. With this app, kids drag and drop icons to match a word’s sound with its picture. Future apps will focus on matching spelling to picture and sound to spelling. • Carefully selected words Words chosen for the games are those most relevant to children’s everyday lives or to subjects children often study in school—things such as animals, land forms, types and parts of plants, foods, actions and activities, parts of the body, musical instruments, numbers, and shapes. In addition, the “Earth and Space” topic covers different planets in the solar system as well as named regions and geographical features of our Earth, such as its continents, major deserts, mountain ranges, and seas. In the “Language” topic, concepts described by prepositions and verbs are addressed. For fun as well as for enhanced understanding of the concepts involved, all words that are verbs or prepositions under this topic have animated illustrations. Every word in the Word Learner game is paired with a charming and child-friendly illustration, and all words have human-voiced pronunciation. Simple definitions and example sentences from the Wordsmyth Illustrated Learner’s Dictionary can also be accessed, at the child’s choosing, by clicking on the entry icon . This additional data makes the app a rich resource for the understanding of specific concepts as well as for the expansion of general knowledge. It also allows for greater adult-child interaction if the child needs or wishes to have the information read aloud by an adult. It can also serve as a source of simple and enjoyable reading practice and language-learning input. • Engaging game design with positive feedback Based on the latest educational theory and research, the game app is designed so that young children can actively engage in their learning process. Kids can choose what they want to learn, which cultivates their motivation for further learning. Positive feedback at every interaction creates an encouraging learning environment that helps children persist with an activity even when they encounter difficulties.The game’s audio instructions, which can be turned on or off, gently guide kids in their understanding of how the game functions. The instructions can be heard in three languages: English, Chinese, and Spanish. • Safe environment for kids No log-in is required, and we do not collect any personal data through the app. However, we would like to encourage parents and educators to use our website, kids.wordsmyth.net/wild, to expand their children’s learning through exploration of our 4000-word dictionary for young children—the Wordsmyth Illustrated Learner’s Dictionary (WILD). This interactive and highly engaging vocabulary learning resource includes all the data from the app and much, much more.
