FABULIST: Apps/Sites for Kids to Make Your Life Easier
In the last week you’ve become an at-home, working parent and home-schooler. What’s more amazing is that both your office and your school expect you to do all of these things at the same time – and do them effectively.
I’ve heard from parents of second graders who have FOUR HOURS of work to do each day. Take photos of it. Send it in to the teachers. There wasn’t enough time in the day to send them to school and still get everything done – and now you have to teach them, too?
I get you. It’s not easy. It’s SO H-A-R-D! But it’s the world we’re in right now, so take all the help you can get. These apps might be able to keep you kid on a screen (which keeps them quiet, right) and learning at the same time. Happy schooling!
This app was introduced to me when I was having trouble helping my kids with math homework in first grade (!) and it really helped. Kahn offers exercises, quizzes, and tests as well as instructional videos to help your student learn or review material. And, since we’re all in this crazy boat together, the app/site offers schedules that might make your new life a little easier for you and your kiddos.
My kids have had teachers who use Quizlet which is how I was introduced to it. For them, it was a fun way to do flash-cards, but as I do a deep dive into this app, it can be used for Pre-K on up. Create your own flashcards, or use the millions that have already been posted. And if your student does better at hearing than reading, you can listen to the material “pronounced correctly” in 18 languages.
We are living in an age where our toddlers understand how to use our mobile devices better than we do. Put that innate ability to work! Tynker makes coding easy and fun for your kids – and for you. It’s courses have won tons of awards and, what’s awesome, is that Tynker is offering free premium courses during school closures. I love free.
Epic is an enormous digital library for kids up to about age 12. Not only are there tens-of-thousands of books available to read, but it also includes audiobooks and read-to-me books. This is the kind of screen-time you want your kids to have.
This is #1 in my house. We’ve downloaded Cool Math Games onto every device, so whenever the kids get bored they can play. Tori’s review: There are normal fun games, but they have math problems included in them so I don’t feel like I’m learning, I’m just having fun.