A free educational software to help children improve reading, writing and basic maths skills.
Overview
SpeakingBuddy! offers a practical main bar with the main program functions, which stays always on the top of other applications and docks anywhere on the computer screen.
SpeakingBuddy!'s main bar, with its main functions.
SpeakingBuddy! comes with three useful features: the StoryPad!, the BasicMaths! and the BadWordFilter!.
The StoryPad!
The StoryPad! can be accessed by pressing the Read story! button on the main bar. A list of the current saved stories will show up, on the StoryList! window:
SpeakingBuddy!'s StoryList! window, where the saved stories are listed. The six stories shown are installed by default.
On the StoryList! window, the children may either have the animated characters reading a story, by selecting an item on the list and pressing the Read button, or start a new story by pressing the New button. Also, they may edit a selected story on the list (pressing the Edit button), or delete it (pressing the Delete button).
When the New button is pressed, the StoryPad! window is shown up:
The SpeakingBuddy!'s StoryPad! window.
In this simple, built-in text-editor, the children can compose and/or edit their own stories, also having the animated characters reading the texts for them before they save it.
The SpeakingBuddy!'s StoryPad! window, now with some text written.
When finished, they can save their story text by pressing the Save button. A save box will pop up, asking for the name of the new story, which will appear on the StoryList! after that.
The SpeakingBuddy!'s StoryPad! window, with the save box.
After pressing the Save button on the save box, the StoryPad! closes and the new saved story will appear on the StoryList!:
The SpeakingBuddy!'s StoryList! window, with the new story selected.
As a complimentary feature, the SpeakingBuddy! software offers a words list on the panel below the text editor.
By pressing the Add word button, the children can add words they commonly use, which will be available for other stories they will write.
Once the word is added, it can be copied from the words list to the text editor, either by pressing the Copy to story button, or by double-clicking the word, or even by right-clicking the text editor and choosing the word on the pop-up menu.
The SpeakingBuddy!'s StoryPad! window, featuring the words list's pop-up menu on the text editor area.
By clicking a word on the words list, the animated character reads it for them, which helps children to write or pronounce words.
The BadWordFilter!
To prevent improper words and terms to be read by the animated character, saved anywhere on the StoryPad!, or used on the main bar's Go Google™ button to search the Internet, SpeakingBuddy! presents the BadWordFilter! feature.
The BadWordFilter! is a safety tool that will block any word you want, intending to eliminate the chances of the SpeakingBuddy! software being used for malicious purposes.
Also, any text copied from external sources (for instance: from a website) cannot be pasted into the StoryPad! text editor area, if it contains a word listed on the BadWordFilter!.
You have to set up the BadWordFilter! after you install the SpeakingBuddy! software on your computer, otherwise the StoryPad! and the Go Google™ button will not work. This was made intentionally to force you to set up a list of bad words before the children can use the software.
Have in mind that the BadWordFilter! works as if it were an anti-virus software, so it's your responsibility, as a parent or a teacher, to add bad words to the list and keep it updated as soon as you identify a word or term that may be used on the software.
To set up the BadWordFilter!, just press the Settings... button on the main bar, and the password window will show up.
The password window to access the BadWordFilter!.
When you install the SpeakingBuddy! software on your computer, a default password to access the BadWordFilter! is given to you. I strongly recommend that you set up a new password immediately, so only you can have access to this feature.
WARNING: Do NOT lose or give away the password!
After you enter the default password, the following window will be shown up:
SpeakingBuddy!'s BadWordFilter! window.
On this window, there is a text editor where you can manage a list of any kind of bad words you may want to block. As a result of this action, bad words and texts containing bad words won't be read, saved or pasted anywhere on the SpeakingBuddy! software.
The BadWordFilter! window itself has instructions on how to use it, so just follow the instructions in there. Also, don't forget to set up a new password on the proper field below the text editor.
Once you finish it, just press the Save button, so both the password and the bad words will be encrypted and saved.
It's NOT necessary that you set a new password each time you access the BadWordFilter!. Do it once, and only do it again if you think that for any reason you have to change it, for instance, you wrote the password somewhere as a reminder and someone else found it.
The BasicMaths!
Using the BasicMaths! feature, children can practise the four basic operations while having fun with the animated characters. It works as a simple calculator with addition, subtraction, multiplication (with tables) and division.
To access the BasicMaths! screen, just press the Do maths! button on the main bar:
SpeakingBuddy!'s BasicMaths! window.
The numbers are big and easy to read, and the calculator works by pressing the ENTER key on the keyboard: just write the numbers in the boxes, and press ENTER to navigate between them.
When pressing ENTER on the big blue box, the animated character will tell the children if the result is right or wrong.
Also, the multiplication operation comes with the multiplication tables, from 0 to 10. Just press the Tables... button to show up the tables area.
SpeakingBuddy!'s BasicMaths! window, with the multi tables.
When the children choose a table on the list, the animated character reads the whole table while the current table item is highlighted, making it fun, and easy to follow and understand.