Top 5 Apps for Elementary Students
Remember the days when pretty much all you had to complement what you learned in grade school were flashcards and games on Sesame Street and The Electric Company? Today, however, elementary school children can immerse themselves in awesome, interactive learning apps that run the gamut from virtual painting to beginning astronomy. Suzann Connell, a Southern California-based author and teacher states that, “Apps are students’ first choice to focus on educational content.”
1. Star Chart is a virtual reality app that brings the cosmos right to your child’s eyes. Your budding star searcher just has to aim his smartphone at the night sky to learn about constellations, plus there are other cool interactive features that let Junior learn about planetary facts and space discovery.
2. Motion Math is an interactive math app for kids in Kindergarten through 6th grade that helps them learn and master many of the standards present in the Common Core. Your child can grow to love math with the app’s visual and adaptive games that will help her build fluency and conceptual understanding.
3. Social Studies Friendzy is an app for children in grades 1-8 and is chock full of games, videos and articles to help them learn about social studies. It acts as a complement to social studies’ learning standards and even provides kids with live tutors that focus on teaching U.S. government, history and a bit of geography – think states and their capitals!
4. Write About This Forget about re- and de-constructing sentences! This app introduces elementary school-age kids to writing in all of its genres. The app has a game-like approach and feel that can turn on creative juices in even the most shy of budding writers. Whether your child likes adventure, science fiction, westerns, comedy, mythology or something else, they’ll be inspired to put virtual pen to paper and let their imaginations soar.
5. Tayasui Sketches Kids (and probably their parents) will go wild with this innocuous sketchpad app. The blank sketchpad “canvas” gives blooming artists the choice to express themselves via virtual paints, markers, pens and pencils as well as cutout applications. Finished masterpieces can be shared with a click of a button; or printed out and framed to show off your child’s artistic flair. Another perk? No magic marker landscapes on your living room wall.
What’s cool about these apps is…you guessed it: Parents will love them too. Creating, learning and sharing with your kids just reinforces the bonding process and helps you keep an active hand (and mind) in their development. Connell adds, “Technology makes learning fun but the experience should not be isolated. Parent and teacher involvement with facilitated discussions enriches the students’ experiences.”
Shelley Moench-Kelly, MBA, is a New England-based writer and editor whose freelance clients include Google, L’Oreal Paris and TheWeek.com.
