As a parent of an elementary school age child I have come to
realize that kids today are being taught in a different manner than we
were. I remember having a chalk board
built into the wall in elementary school.
My son’s school was just built in the past 10 years and all of the class
rooms do have a chalk board but they also have a SMART board where the teacher
can plug in their computer and the kids can see anything on that computer, from
a power point presentation to the internet.
Technology is now fully integrated into our educational system. With that being said it is easier now to help
your child learn when they are at home.
Before you would have to either have the teacher send extra worksheet
home or go to the local educational store and buy a workbook. Not today!
It is as simple as typing in “educational games” on your smart phone or
tablet’s app store search and you will get a laundry list of applications for
your child. To shorten this list I would
suggest adding your child’s age or grade to the search for a bit of a more tailored
list.
My son, like most little boys, is no fan of school. He would rather play ALL day. This is what made me first go in search of fun/educational
apps. If he has to be playing and it has
to be on my iPad it needs to be educational in my house. Just a word of caution, as you go in search
of apps for your child to play on, all apps aren’t educational. Recently an app was removed from iTunes and
Google Play as it encouraged little girls to perform plastic surgery on what
the app described the character as “This unfortunate girl has so much extra
weight that no diet can help her,".
(Apple Removes App Following Twitter Uproar Over Sexism). Be sure to check out the description of the
app and even some of the reviews before you download.
Unfortunately, all apps will not be free. In this case get in touch with your child’s
teacher and see what apps and websites the school is already paying for and get
the login in information. I did this
with BrainPop and my son LOVES playing with the robot character. Below are a couple of useful articles that
detail the importance of using technology to encourage students, especially elementary school age, to
learn and other articles that list some of the best educational apps.
Love this! I have trouble finding educational apps my son will like!
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