Educational Apps
Kids A-Z: This app offers a variety of eBooks, eQuizzes, and other eResoruces for children to choose from. Children are able to utilize interactive annotation tools that support close reading skills. This app is free.
Red Apple Reading: Island Adventure: In this app there are three island maps (levels C1, C2, and C3) comprise a total of 75 lessons for ages 6 to 9, with instruction and practice in advanced phonics skills, 200 sght words, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. This app is $4.99.
Elephant Learning Math Academy: Elephant Learning's algorithm provides realtime reports that let you know what your child is working on and how they're progressing through the growing library of math activities. This app focuses on concepts rather than procedures. This app costs $35 a month.
Chalkboard Math: This is a great app for students to practice and get skilled in basic math. The app, as the name suggests, some with an interface offering a chalkboard to go with the math practice. It helps children learn all the basic math facts corresponding to all four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) in a quickly engaging manner. It generates math practice in two different modes: answer mode and flashcard mode. WHile the first one allows entering answers and getting feedback, the second one allows verbal answering. The app is $0.99.
Singapore Math Games for Kids: This app is based on the special 3-step learning process known as Signapore math. Speciffically develped in Singapore kids into some of the world's best math students. Singapore mathematics approach complies with Common Core State Standards and has been proven effective by multiple studies. This app is free but access to certain content is only avaliable via subscription-based membership. Therare is a $7.99 /month with a 7-day free trail or a $49.99/year with a 30 day free trial.
Prodigy Math Game: Prodigy is a fantasy based math game. It offers content from every mjor math topic and covers 1,300+ skills from 1st to 8th grade, as well as DOK levels one to three. As players compete in math duals against in-game characters, it borrows elements from role-playing games such as Pokemon. This app is free.
Kids Planet Discovery:
The loads of interactive ways that kids can explore people, animals, and places on Kids Planet Discovery are lots of fun, but a mixed bag in terms of content quality. Some content here just doesn't fit all that well and other parts of the app could use improvement, too. For example, the dress-up character game featuring traditional clothing is fun and sweet, but it would be nice for kids to be able to see and choose clothing for boy characters as well as girls (currently, there are only girls). Also, kids need to be able to read or have an adult read the instructions to them, and in-app purchases are interspersed throughout game choices. For those reasons, it's important for parents be closely involved with younger kids who are using this app.
Still, whether you make the in-app purchases for full access or just peruse the free content, kids can learn a lot about other cultures and world geography from Kids Planet Discovery.
Stack the States:
This fun app is good for learning and practicing geography questions about the United States. The main game about stacking the states has a Jenga-type feel to it as you try to balance all the oddly shaped states on top of each other. This stacking part of the games is the most fun but the least educational part of the app from a geography perspective. It does exercise spatial awareness skills, but it can also be a bit frustrating for some students. If players don't rotate and line up the states to drop on the stack just so, the piece falls off and you lose it. The good news for learning is that when that happens, kids return to answering more questions about geography in order to earn another state. This app is $2.99.